Yeah, we know that not all of you love the birthdays-of-the-famous-dead posts, but this one is important.
The kid who would become known to us all as the King of Comics was born on August 28 in 1917 as Jacob Kurtzberg. Jacob would, in his adolescent years, get into trouble with the Jewish gangs on Yancy Street in the early 30s. In the early 40s, Jacob took on the pen name "Jack Kirby" and helped to create the legendary super-hero Captain America!
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WWII Service
While many of the Golden Age creators can claim to have served during World War II, Kirby can along claim to have served on the front lines in Europe. Because Jack was an artist, he was asked to join advanced recon to sketch out the emeny encampments. While in Europe he suffered debilitating frost-bite in his legs. His wife, Roz, expressed relief at the news that it wasn’t his legs.
Legendary Work in the Comics
There is no other comic book luminary who can claim as many successes as Kirby. Regardless of where you stand in the debate on creative ownership between Kirby and Lee, there is no denying Kirby’s Midas touch in comics. Kirby had some sort of co-creator hand in all of the following works:
… and my personal favorite:
… and many more. Kirby’s style utterly dominated his time, and continues to inspire the current generation of artists. The last note I want to leave you with is my favorite books on the subject of Kirby’s life that I recommend.
- Tales to Astonish (much more focused on Kirby)
- Men of Tomorrow (much more academic)
