Jack Kirby

Jack Kirby was a transformative American comic book artist and one of the most influential figures in the history of the medium. 

Kirby was born Jacob Kurtzberg on August 28, 1917, at 147 Essex Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City; he grew up there. His parents, Rose (Bernstein) and Benjamin Kurtzberg, were Austrian-Jewish immigrants, and his father earned a living as a garment factory worker.

Raised in New York City, he was a self-taught artist who broke into the industry in the 1930s. Alongside Joe Simon, Kirby co-created the iconic Captain America for Timely Comics in 1940. The duo became a powerhouse team, pioneering several genres—including romance comics—and working for various publishers before and after Kirby’s service in World War II.

In the 1960s, Kirby became a chief architect of the Marvel Universe. Working with Stan Lee and others, he co-created a legendary roster of characters, including the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Hulk, Thor, and the Avengers. Despite his creative success, disputes over artist rights led him to defect to DC Comics in 1970. There, he developed the ambitious "Fourth World" saga, introducing the New Gods. Though the series was short-lived at the time, its lore remains a cornerstone of the DC Universe.

Kirby spent his later years working in animation and independent comics while finally receiving mainstream recognition for his contributions to art and storytelling. Often called the "William Blake of comics," he was an inaugural inductee into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame.

 Kirby remained married to his wife, Rosalind, for over 50 years until his death on February 6, 1994, aged 76, Kirby died of heart failure at his Thousand Oaks, California home.

In 2017, he was named a Disney Legend, acknowledging his work as the foundation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.