How many comics was Jack Kirby drawing simultaneously in the 60s? 3 3

[William-James88]

6 minutes ago, 01TheDude said:

I'd be interested in the amount of art he was doing during those 1970s years at DC too. The Fourth World  books seemed like they were also churned out at amazing speed.

That one we know, it's not as tough since he had an actual contract for that and the output was made to connect all together. The contract was for 15 pages a week (so 3 a day) but Kirby did 20 a week instead. That specific output was from 1971-1972.

The books that came out within the same year during that time period were:

New Gods

Mister Miracle

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen

Forever People

[Ken Aldred]

As per the question in the thread title, Jack Kirby only had two hands, and so it’s likely that he could only work on a maximum of two comics simultaneously at any one time.

And that’s assuming he was ambidextrous.

Edited July 7, 2020 by Ken Aldred

[telerites]

2 hours ago, 01TheDude said:

I'd be interested in the amount of art he was doing during those 1970s years at DC too. The Fourth World  books seemed like they were also churned out at amazing speed.

I didn't run a GCD search on these like I did for the 1964 Marvel output posted earlier but by the 70s he was working too on some portfolios wasn't he?  

Kirby Unleashed and the Gods portfolios.  I am not sure if they coincided or if he had already completed the artwork to see print.  

Days of the Mob and Spirit World mags but I believe those were done prior to his Fourth World work.  

@KirbyJack would know a lot more on this but from what I have read and heard, Kirby was a tireless creator so I believe it is safe to assume that he was working on more than just the DC projects at the same time.   

One of the creators I wish I could have met.

[KirbyJack]

I caouldn't find the exact data. I'd have sworn it was in "The Art of Jack Kirby", but not compiled as such. 

Search continues; maybe in "The Jack Kirby Checklist"...

Edited July 9, 2020 by KirbyJack

[piper]

How much was he relying on his inkers?

[Unca Ben]

1 hour ago, piper said:

How much was he relying on his inkers?

For the most part, when Jack plotted and pencilled a book it was fully finished pencils.  There's plenty of examples of photostats of his pencil work.  (Jack Kirby Collector comes to mind)

I believe when he did layouts it could vary.  But he was plotting and pacing the story thru his layouts. 
A good example is X-Men 17 (just reread it the other day).  The page one splash is pure Kirby, very little Roth.  The rest of the story has a lot more Roth.  But the pacing is all Kirby, especially the shock ending!

[JohnFranklin]

I seem to recall reading somewhere that it was not unusual that Kirby could do a entire comic layout in one evening.  If true multiple, multiple books makes sense.

[RhialtoTheMarvellous]

Man, what a machine and such quality even at that speed.

[Ken Aldred]

1 minute ago, RhialtoTheMarvellous said:

Man, what a machine and such quality even at that speed.

Yup. A creative genius.

[MusterMark]

I saw him drawing simultaneously with his right hand, his left hand, and his right foot.  And each one was for a different comic. 

(He needed to use his left foot to keep himself anchored stably to the ground.)

 

So, the answer to the OP's original question in the thread title is:  3.

[Jasonmorris1000000]

It’s arranged alphabetically though.

[01TheDude]

It upset me a little bit that some inkers took shortcuts with his work in the sake of time. I believe Colletta was consistently guilty of this. Read that here I thought or possible from a link here. Can't find it now but the difference between the intricate pencils Kirby was doing and the half-arsed ink Colletta did is an injustice.

[01TheDude]