1972: West Magazine Pioneer Plaque spread

1972 September 10. Los Angeles Times.

The text accompanying Kirby's piece:
Comics illustrator Jack Kirby's design (right) was accompanied by an explanatory letter: "It appears to me that man's self-image has always spoken far more truthfully about him than does his reality-figure. My version of the plaque would have revealed the exuberant, self-confident super-visions with which we've clothed oursleves since time immemorial. The comic strip super-heroes and heroines, in my belief, personify humanities innate idealism and drive. However, I would have included no further information than a rough image of the earth and its one moon. I see no wisdom in the eagerness to be found and approached by any intelligence with the ability to accomplish it from any sector of space. In the meetings between "discoverers" and "discoverees," history has always given the advantage to the finders. In the case of the Jupiter Plaque, I feel that a tremendous issue was thoughtlessly taken out of the world forum by a few individuals who have marked a clear trail to our door. My point is, who will come a-knocking - the trader or the tiger?

(Thanks to Greg THEAKSTON for donating a copy of West Magazine to the Kirby Museum's archive.)