Happy Birthday Jack Kirby! To understand how comic books, superhero comics, work and their appeal, you have to understand Jack Kirby. His extreme poses and action exploding out of the panels are the language of superhero comic books today. The King of Comics, started as an in-betweener at the Fleischer Studios working in animation. Then, he started work at the Eisner & Iger studio creating artwork working in many genres for Wild Boy Magazine. Kirby moved to Fox Feature Syndicate working with writer Joe Simon on the Blue Beetle comic strip. The duo worked together on Captain Marvel Adventures #1 (1941) for Fawcett Comics. They joined Timely Comics, which later became Marvel Comics, and created Captain America Comics #1 (1941). It sold out and became an iconic character for Timely/Marvel. Captain America was the hero of a movie serial in 1944, some movies in 1979, a film in 1990, and entered the MCU played by Chris Evans in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).
The Simon and Kirby duo created romance comics with Young Romance #1 (1947). Kirby then worked for DC creating the Challengers of the Unknown, a quartet of explorers who survive a jet crash to investigate strange dangers in Showcase #6 (1957). In Challengers of the Unknown #3 (1958), written and drawn by Kirby, the group gets super powers including projecting flame and invisibility. He worked with Stan Lee introducing monsters like Groot in Tales to Astonish #13 (1960). The tree-creature made his way to the screen in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). What launched the Marvel Age of Comics in the Silver Age was Fantastic Four #1 (1961). There have been numerous films that tried to capture the magic of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s creation with a cameo in this year's Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness. They turned a monster into a hero with The Incredible Hulk #1 (1962) who currently appears in She-Hulk. Then, Thor in Journey into Mystery #83 (1962). His latest solo film was Thor: Love and Thunder that opened on July 8th. They co-created Ant-Man in Tales to Astonish #35 (1962) with Larry Leiber. Also, the Wasp in Tales to Astonish #44 (1963) with Ernie Hart. Next year, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania opens in theaters.
Next, the team co-created Iron Man in Tales of Suspense #39 (1963). 2008's Iron Man started the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Lee and Kirby brought the heroes together in The Avengers #1 (1963). The recent blockbuster, Avengers: Endgame, featured the characters this year. They also created Black Panther in Fantastic Four #52 (1966). In 1977, Kirby wrote and drew Black Panther's solo series until issues 12. Coming up on November 11th is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The Lee and Kirby duo created the X-Men and villain Magneto in X-Men #1 (1963). When Kirby went to DC Comics, he created the Fourth World drawing and writing New Gods #1 and also their nemesis Darkseid, who Kirby introduced in Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #134 (1970). Kirby returned to Marvel and created the family of Homo immortals in The Eternals #1 (1976). The MCU film, The Eternals, opened in 2021. Kirby was entered the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1987. He was pioneering in comic books, animation, he created film concept art that was used by the CIA seen in Argo (2012). Post humorously, Kirby was made a Disney Legend on July 14, 2017. He died in 1994, but Jack Kirby legacy will always be remembered by comics readers and audience members who love the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Happy Birthday Jack Kirby!
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