What do you get when the NFL recruits the greatest superhero comic book artist of all time to create art for an “intergalactic Super Bowl?”
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Well, pieces of this art have surfaced here and there over the years, but with Super Bowl 50 being played tonight, Barnes & Noble gathered a bunch of them together and provided the backstory:
At the height of his power in the 1970s, Kirby was commissioned for a feature in the October 21, 1973 issue of Pro! Magazine, the official publication of the National Football League. At the time, Kirby had switched to DC comics from Marvel, and presumably had a little spare time to pick up extra commissions. Hyperbolically titled “Out of Mind’s Reach,” Kirby’s collection of art depicted a future pro football match and debuted bizarre new costume designs for four different teams.
That timeline is a bit questionable, since Kirby didn’t leave DC for Marvel until 1976 (announced in early 1975), but other than that, the story seems to hold up…and certainly so does the art, which you can check below, along with a 1975 pinup based on Fran Tarkenton, also for Pro! Magazine.
