On the centennial of Jack Kirbys birth, his superheroes still pack a punch

[Behind the Aegis]

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He is known, quite simply, as the “King of Comics.”

Born Jacob Kurtzberg, artist and writer Jack Kirby, who would have turned 100 on Aug. 28, was a driving, creative force during the Golden Age of comics in the 1940s, and he revolutionized the comics industry again during its Silver Age in the 1960s.

Kirby was the co-creator of such comic book icons as the X-Men, Thor, Iron Man, Black Panther, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four and, most notably, Captain America and the Avengers. It was Captain America’s initial appearance that put Kirby on the map as a dynamic and provocative storyteller — especially since that appearance featured America’s First Avenger punching Adolf Hitler in the jaw, a full year before the United States entered World War II.

Kirby’s controversial drawing made a splash at the time, but his prolific, creative output from that point on proved that he was no one-hit wonder.

Artistically, Kirby injected comic books for Marvel, DC and others with a much-needed boost of energy. His vivacious, explosive illustrations are often described as too big for the page, imbuing the images with buoyant grandiosity. Kirby also became known for humanizing his superheroes, bestowing them with moral failings, romantic entanglements and petty grudges as a means of infusing them with more down-to-earth relatability. The Fantastic Four, co-created with Stan Lee in 1961, signifies this shift toward realism.

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Jewish contributions to society are often overlooked.

[murielm99]

1. K&R

I started reading these comics in the 1960's, as a way to wind down from studying.

[klook]

2. Great profile - thanks.

Kirby's influence on American culture is still strong. What a career, what a guy.

As I read the list of Jewish comic book creators, I thought of Will Eisner (The Spirit) -- lesser known but also great. A pioneer of the graphic novel, he produced a number of works that DUers might find of interest.

[Dave Starsky]

3. Eisner was awesome. I loved The Spirit.

Never saw the Frank Miller movie, because I knew there was no way he wouldn't fuck it up, and apparently I was right.

Two other Jewish giants in comic book history were those two kids from Cleveland, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. They gave us Superman.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. It is interesting how Siegel and Shuster lost their creation.

In the end, they got back some of the rights, but the story is very convoluted. They also infused Superman with lots of Jewish myth and lore, which I always found interesting.

Of course, Bob Kane was Jewish and gave us Batman!

[Dave Starsky]

5. I would have mentioned Kane...

But there apparently is some controversy as to how much of all the Batman stuff we love--dark shadowy figure of the night, brilliant scientific detective, etc.--were actually the contributions of cowriter Bill Finger, who wasn't formally credited by Kane until after he died.

But it turns out Finger was Jewish too!

I would be interested to learn more about WHY Jewish people seem to figure so prominently in the birth and growth of comic book adventure heroes as we know and love them today.

[Behind the Aegis]

7. I will look for the name of the program.

There was a recent documentary I watched, can't remember where, but it was about the Jewish influence in the early days of comics. It was brief, but it explained, at least partially, why Jews took to the medium (hint: it was one of the few places where Jews could work). If I find it, I will let you know the name of the program. But yeah, there are lots of Jews in the comics, especially the founding days.

[beam me up scottie]

6. Excellent read!

With the recent surge in anti-Semitism your last sentence is important.

Hatred of Jews is certainly nothing new but the amount and viciousness of it on social media right now is terrifying.

[MurrayDelph]

8. I went to his funeral

As his rabbi said, "No kid ever played hooky from Hebrew school on the days Jack Kirby was coming to visit."