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1966: writers rebelled
Patrick Ford
20 April 2017
The March 1966 Bullpen Bulletin carries a notice concerning the Marvel Method. This would have been written by Lee in either Nov. or Dec. of 1965. A time when Lee had a major insurrection on his hands. Wally Wood had already left due to not being paid for writing and then seeing his assignments reduced after he complained. Lee was not speaking to Ditko (and hadn't been speaking to Ditko since Spider-Man #24 was being written and drawn. And Kirby is said to have been on the verge of leaving along with Ditko and Wood. I believe Robert Beerbohm told me Kirby informed him he was set to quit at that time.
Circumstances suggest Kirby stayed on because he was given a substantial increase in his page rate. It is clear from Marvel's publication history that Kirby greatly reduced his workload in 1966. Stopped doing "layouts" and began putting more time and attention to detail in his work. Kirby also got his only two '60s era writing credits around this time.
One thing I like to point out is Kirby never got a plot credit during the '60s. At the same time plot credits were given to; Lee, Ditko, Ayers, and Dan Adkins.
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