Superman’s Home Planet Honors Jack Kirby in New World of Krypton Art

Warning: contains preview images for World of Krypton!

A new piece of art by World of Krypton artist Michael Avon Oeming shows Superman’s home world from DC Comics honoring the late artist Jack Kirby. In addition to his many epic creations at Marvel with Stan Lee, Kirby had a notable tenure at DC, where he expanded the publisher’s mythology, introducing characters such as Darkseid, Etrigan and Kamandi. Now, artist Oeming pays tribute to Kirby in a stunning new piece.

After a falling out with Stan Lee in the late 1960s, Kirby arrived at DC and hit the ground running, creating the massive, sprawling Fourth World Saga, which gave the DC Universe the world of Apokolips, ruled over by Darkseid and New Genesis, presided over by Highfather. Not content to stop there, Kirby created a number of other characters, such as the demon Etrigan, that have also had a major impact on the DC Universe. Kirby made amends with Marvel and returned in the mid-1970s, but the mark he left on DC was indelible, forever changing the publisher’s cosmic and supernatural sides. Now, a new piece of art for World of Krypton homages Jack Kirby, by mixing his unmistakable aesthetic with Superman’s home world. The World of Krypton mini-series is written by Robert Venditti, illustrated by Michael Avon Oeming, colored by Nick Filardi and lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

World of Krypton colorist Nick Filardi (@nickfil) shared the image to his Twitter, saying Oeming had “gone full Jack Kirby.” Jack Kirby had a style all of his own, particularly when it came to building and background designs, and Oeming’s art perfectly captures that, showing what a magnificent Kryptonian city might look like if Kirby had illustrated it. Kirby’s best work was jam-packed with small details that enriched the illustrations, and Oeming captures this as well, with small flourishes throughout, such as people and futuristic cars on the sky roads. Filardi joked that Oeming was also trying to “kill” him and his “flattered” Joel Bartlett, referring to the intricacy of Oeming’s art.

While mixing Krypton with Jack Kirby’s aesthetics may seem like an odd choice at first, it makes sense in light of Kirby’s history at DC. When he arrived in 1970, Kirby could have had his pick of any title in DC’s roster to illustrate—and he chose the mid-range Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen. Kirby jettisoned the oddball transformations that had been a hallmark of the title, and instead began seeding his Fourth World Saga in its pages. In essence, Kirby used the Superman mythos to introduce his creations into the DC Universe, and Oeming’s art is the perfect tribute.

Jack Kirby helped change the face of superhero comics through revolutionary work at Marvel and DC, and now artist Michael Avon Oeming homages the “King” in a new piece mixing Kirby with Superman’s home planet of Krypton.

Source: Twitter/Nick Filardi (@nickfil)

About The Author

Shaun Corley
(1377 Articles Published)

Shaun Corley is a pop culture enthusiast living in the Pacific Northwest. After stints in both customer service and academia, he’s turned his attention to writing about comic books–his lifelong passion. He is a graduate of Radford University, with a degree in English. When not reading comics, he enjoys spending time with his fiance and their dog.

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