Jack Kirby biography (extremely abbreviated)

http://www.bpib.com/illustra2/kirby.htm

Good short summary of the Kirby Kareer.

He has certainly been elevated to sainthood, largely at the expense of Stan Lee, but I still feel, as do several others around the place, that neither Kirby NOR Lee did much great stuff on their own. It was the combination that made the amazing Marvel explosion happen. The Silver Age was the Marvel Age- DC's horrendous characters and stories never did compete, and they still don't. If Marvel hadn't shot itself in the foot each time it did so, DC would be dead and buried by now. Unfortunately, the industry is more incestuous (and smaller) than ever so now the same fourteen usual suspects write 90% of everything and mash the two large companies' characters ever closer together in a mindless orgy of plagiaristic nonsense and never-ending crossover / spectacles / events. Pointless.

Still, the Kirby bio is interesting reading, and it's nice to see a simple summary.