"A.J." — he asked that I only cite that much of his name — sent the following questions about My Trip East…
It sounds like you really enjoyed your brief trip to New York to see them unveil that street sign for your old boss, Jack Kirby. I really enjoyed reading about your brief trip to New York but I have some things to ask. You said you didn't speak at the event but there are articles online about it that say you did. What's with that? Also, in one of the online news videos about the event, we see a young woman named Jillian Kirby speaking. She's identified as Jack's granddaughter but she's referring to Kirby as her father. What's with that?
Also, are there other people in comics who you think deserve to have a street corner named after them? And how's your knee now?
I did not speak at the event. The online articles that say I did and even report on what I said are all A.I. generated and therefore not to be held to any expectation of accuracy. (Well, I did see one that didn't seem to be written by A.I. but I think that was a human being quoting one of the A.I.-generated ones as his source.)
Jillian is indeed one of Jack's grandkids. Her father is Neal Kirby, Jack's son who for health reasons could not attend but sent along a letter for Jillian to read. When you hear Jillian in the news footage referring to Jack as "my father," it's an excerpt from when she was reading Neal's letter. I agree it's a bit confusing.
I think all my favorite comic book writers and artists and maybe even some editors are worthy of every kind of honor. I'm not sure most of them can be linked as tidily to a specific street or intersection the way Jack is to Essex and Delancey. I can think of one of Jack's inkers who oughta have a street named after him…that is, if we can find a street with no backgrounds.
I'm still happy I made that trip but I did some damage to my knee. I have an appointment with my knee doctor this week and I'll find out how much damage. It's getting better and I'll see if he can make it get better faster. I'd like to be more ambulatory for Comic-Con in July…and by the way, I'm currently up to sixteen panels there. I may be able to squeeze in a few more. Thank you for asking what you asked, A.J.
