I already partly ceded the point in my above post. Like Novick for me, who might not be a great artist for many, he is one of my favorites.
You are absolutely the first person I've ever heard say he doesn't like Berni Wrightson. Wrightson is among what I term the "comic book fine artists" movement, along with guys like Neal Adams, Barry Windsor-Smith, Michael Kaluta, Lou Fine, Al Williamson, Frank Frazetta, and a select few others. Up through the 1980's, there's very little Wrightson has done that isn't worthy of framing.
There are artists who despite not being artists I love, I can still see where their work is acclaimed by many. Such as Will Eisner. I can still see the appeal of it, and his level of influence on many other artists, despite his art not having great personal appeal to me.
I think Kirby is in that same category. You might not like his personal linestyle, but you have to acknowledge that in whatever era from the 1940's through the 1970's, Kirby both was (1) illustrating the best-selling series, as well as (2) widely imitated by other artists, especially at Marvel where he created the "house style" and damn near 100% of the characters.
Whether the popular character at the time was CAPTAIN AMERICA, BOY COMMANDOS, NEWSBOY LEGION, MANHUNTER, SANDMAN, romance comics, BLACK MAGIC or other horror comics, western comics like BOYS RANCH, FIGHTING AMERICAN, the pre-Marvel monster stories and western titles, Marvel's peak in the 1960's, Kirby's NEW GODS and other fourth world titles, THE DEMON, KAMANDI, OMAC, ETERNALS, 2001, new CAPTAIN AMERICA run, new BLACK PANTHER series, or the CAPTAIN VICTORY series for Pacific in 1981 that opened up the creator-owned alternative publishing market.
That's one hell of a winning streak for a "shitty artist".
