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How to Spot a Fake Kirby Signature?
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16 posts in this topic

First time poster, so if this is the WRONG board, I apologize! :)  I'm just getting into the hobby of getting signed comics, and of course, I pick Jack Kirby as one of my first goals.  I've done a good bit of reading and looking at confirmed signatures, the DF comics, etc...however, I haven't seen anything that kind of chronicles things to look for in fakes of his signature. I've seen the terrible knock off ones which bear no resemblance to his signature, but picking out the key things that all genuine ones possess has been elusive. For example, here's one I've looked at recently which in some ways compares favorably, but in other ways it looks fake to me (the "y" and the dot at the top of the "b" like it was start/stop). Does this one look genuine? The quick opinion from PSA/DNA was "likely genuine", but I know its still up in the air til they had it in-hand. I guess I'm looking for both opinions on this one, and what qualities or red flags tend to be rules with his autographs. Thanks!!

 

KirbySigMaybe.thumb.jpg.7b98becf3a0ca91f0fc99d8413d65246.jpg

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I think its ok to ask here.  There are a few threads in the 'signature room' subforum about Jack Kirby sigs (there might even be one or two on the first 1-3 pages).  You can run a search and maybe find some helpful info.

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I don't have any handwriting training, but one of the main things I look for is provenance.  If it is from 1992-4, in my mind it is suspect because it is pretty well known that some other people were signing as Kirby during that time frame.  If it is on the cover of an FF 8, also probably suspect, b/c cover signatures on vintage books were not very popular until the CGC era and I don't think Kirby would do it. If it is a nice tight sig on the splash page of a SA BA book, that is good provenance, and if it looks good, chances are it is legit. 

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42 minutes ago, marvelmaniac said:

thumbnail.thumb.jpg.325f1a5185e8fe336212332cef5b4666.jpg

Cool signature. Comparing it to the OP's example, your example shows the signature smooth and flowing. The OP's example looks jagged, like somebody tracing with a start and stop motion ? I can see why he is concerned. 

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Yeah, I wouldn’t trust this. Besides the general shakiness of “Kirby” look at the ink deposits as it was written. There’s a dot/blob where the marker rested on the paper when the “i” was started, then another at the top of the “i”, at the top of the “b”, at the top of the “y” at the bottom of the “y”. It looks labored, like the writer kept pausing. As Jack aged he had eye/hand problems, but I’ve never seen a sig that looked shaky like this. I’d pass.

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1 hour ago, Bomber-Bob said:

Cool signature. Comparing it to the OP's example, your example shows the signature smooth and flowing. The OP's example looks jagged, like somebody tracing with a start and stop motion ? I can see why he is concerned. 

(thumbsu That is not close, at all.

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On ‎9‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 4:53 PM, Poboyross said:

First time poster, so if this is the WRONG board, I apologize! :)  I'm just getting into the hobby of getting signed comics, and of course, I pick Jack Kirby as one of my first goals.  I've done a good bit of reading and looking at confirmed signatures, the DF comics, etc...however, I haven't seen anything that kind of chronicles things to look for in fakes of his signature. I've seen the terrible knock off ones which bear no resemblance to his signature, but picking out the key things that all genuine ones possess has been elusive. For example, here's one I've looked at recently which in some ways compares favorably, but in other ways it looks fake to me (the "y" and the dot at the top of the "b" like it was start/stop). Does this one look genuine? The quick opinion from PSA/DNA was "likely genuine", but I know its still up in the air til they had it in-hand. I guess I'm looking for both opinions on this one, and what qualities or red flags tend to be rules with his autographs. Thanks!!

 

KirbySigMaybe.thumb.jpg.7b98becf3a0ca91f0fc99d8413d65246.jpg

Handwriting changes with aging, so it's hard to compare two signatures done twenty or more years apart.  With that said, the signature above looks similar to the autograph I got from King Kirby in 1975: signed on the bottom of the splash page, the distinctive 'J' and 'K', and the angle to the writing. The entire first name looks spot on.  With the last name, it's hard to say whether it was done with the stop and go of a forger or of an aging hand.

 

Edited by namisgr
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My gut is that it's quite possibly a fake, but seeing I have no real experience in this, I figured I'd put it out there to more experienced folks like yourselves. The comic also has a series of stamps on the back from the old comic shop "Comics and Comix" out of Berkeley, CA.  I've seen other comics from that shop who got the same stamp treatment on the back cover as well. I mean, it could work towards it's authenticity, but my paranoid gut also tells me that it may have made this comic a more likely target for a forgery. The ultra premium price that was being asked also makes me hesitant...moreso than even the Marvel Masterpiece X-Men #1 and FF #1's from Dynamic Forces.  SO hard to find ones with good provenance.

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On 9/12/2018 at 11:54 AM, TwoPiece said:

As someone, who as a younger self, was somewhat of an expert calligrapher and signature verification analyst... My initial instinct is that this is a forgery.

Those dots in the last name felt wrong to me, as well. It's a shame...but I guess perhaps not because of the sky high price that's being asked. The irony is that the PSA/DNA quick opinion service that I got on it said "likely real"...SIGH. I've heard about PSA/DNA problems with forgeries as well.

 

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16 hours ago, Poboyross said:

Those dots in the last name felt wrong to me, as well. It's a shame...but I guess perhaps not because of the sky high price that's being asked. The irony is that the PSA/DNA quick opinion service that I got on it said "likely real"...SIGH. I've heard about PSA/DNA problems with forgeries as well.

 

Really!? Wow. Must've been somebody's first day on the job.

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On 9/13/2018 at 11:16 AM, Poboyross said:

The comic also has a series of stamps on the back from the old comic shop "Comics and Comix" out of Berkeley, CA.  I've seen other comics from that shop who got the same stamp treatment on the back cover as well. 

Yep, have some 35 cent variants with that store stamp all over it.

Helps explain why that shop is no longer is business 

 

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