Jack Kirby homage in the New Yorker

Readers of the New Yorker are no doubt familiar with the last-page Caption Contest, where you can vote on reader-submitted captions for cartoons. This week's captionless cartoon is below, and as comics fans will recognize, it's an homage to the King himself. (Speaking of whom, if you haven't purchased Mark Evanier's new Kirby bio, do it now. Really. I'll have a longer write-up of it once the semester rush is over, but it's an absolute must-read, especially for non-comics folks who are interested in work, art and personal meaning.)

In the tradition of Deconstructing Roy Lichtenstein, here's the New Yorker cartoon and its inspiration. And if you feel inspired, you might want to submit your own caption for the contest.

In a fun coincidence, this isn't the only comics reference in the current Caption Contest. Below: the winning caption for this week, which not only sports a Batman reference but was submitted by a reader with a heroic heritage himself. Clearly Captain America isn't dead--he's in LA pursuing a career in comedy.

FYI: the artist behind the Kirby homage is Harry Bliss, who in addition to his New Yorker work is a contributor to Art Spiegelman's Little Lit.