The King as Cap

Over on Grognardia, I posted a comment on a recent post that showed a cool picture of sci-fi author E. E. "Doc" Smith dressed up as C. L. Moore's swashbuckling character "Northwest Smith."  I noted that it reminded me of a picture I saw of famed comic artist Jack Kirby aggressively brandishing a Captain America shield.  It takes "cosplay" to a whole 'nother level when a creator steps into the shoes of his or her own creation!

I couldn't find a link to the picture, but I did know I'd saved a copy... so here it be, true believers:

Boy does he look like one of his own characters there... maybe Mister Miracle's diminutive manager Oberon?

I wonder if his simmering look of righteous indignation has been on people's minds lately, since the recent Avengers movie has again raised the issue of how Jolly Jack was treated by Marvel Comics back in the day.  Comics creators in general usually didn't get to own the rights to their characters and often had to take legal action to even get back a fraction of their original art.  I'm not up on the current state of affairs with the Kirby estate, but I do hope his family will be reaping at least some of what the movie will make over the next few weeks...