Comic Book Apocalypse: The Graphic World of Jack Kirby opens at the CSU Northridge Main Gallery in just six days, on Monday, August 24, 2015—exactly in time for the launch of the new CSUN semester, and just days before Jack Kirby’s 98th birthday.

The CSUN Art Galleries team and I have been working like mad to ready this show: the first CSUN exhibition devoted to original comic art, the first university exhibit anywhere dedicated to Kirby, and, we believe, the US’s largest Kirby show ever. We’re also working to get the word out—across campus, in the press, and at local shops. At the same time, I’m figuring out how to make this exhibition the centerpiece of my teaching this semester.

This is a busy time. 🙂

Comic Book Apocalypse includes over 100 original artworks by Kirby, as well as scores of his published comics. It focuses on Kirby from the mid-1960s on, but gives an overview of his career (including the Simon & Kirby era) and features work from as early as 1943. Highlights include the originals for two complete Kirby comic books, plus unpublished pencils, Kirby’s 1975 painting Dream Machine, more than a dozen of his trademark double-page spreads, five collages, and walls devoted to The Fantastic Four and The Fourth World. Tablet displays provided by the Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center will enable viewers to see even more art than the Gallery’s walls can hold.

Thanks to Gallery Director Jim Sweeters and his team, plus the help of a great many others, this exhibition is a dream come true. I hope you can join us for our opening reception on Saturday, August 29, from 4 to 7pm; it’s free, informal, and open to the public. Also, on Monday morning, August 31, at 10am we’ll be presenting a gallery talk with Kirby biographer Mark Evanier, and on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 1pm we’ll be doing a panel discussion with Scott Bukatman, Doug Harvey, Steve Roden, and Ben Saunders. Please come!

PRESS ALERT: check out this article on the exhibit at CSUN Today, as well as this this teaser from the LA Weekly! And thanks to Meltdown Comics for featuring us on their homepage!

A final note: please help celebrate Jack’s 98th birthday by contributing to Kirby4Heroes!