View source for Jack Kirby

{{short description|American comic book artist (1917–1994)}}
{{Hatnote group|
{{Other people}}
{{distinguish|Jack Kilby|Josh Kirby}}
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{{Good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2016}}
{{Infobox comics creator
| image         = Jack-Kirby art-of-jack-kirby wyman-skaar.jpg
| caption       = Kirby in 1992
| birth_name    = Jacob Kurtzberg
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1917|08|28}}
| birth_place   = New York City, U.S.
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1994|02|06|1917|08|28}}
| death_place   = {{nowrap|[[Thousand Oaks, California]], U.S.}}
| art           = 
| write         = 
| pencil        = 
| ink           = 
| edit          = 
| publish       = 
| letter        = 
| color         = 
| alias         = {{ubl|Jack Curtiss|Curt Davis|Lance Kirby|Ted Grey|Charles Nicholas|Fred Sande|Teddy|The King}}
| notable works = {{ubl|''[[Fantastic Four (comic book)|Fantastic Four]]''|''[[Fourth World (comics)|Fourth World]]''|''[[Thor (comic book)|Thor]]''|''[[Captain America (comic book)|Captain America]]''|''[[Eternals (comics)|Eternals]]''|''[[New Gods]] ''|''[[Black Panther (comic book)|Black Panther]]''}}
| awards        = {{ubl|[[Alley Award]]|[[Shazam Award]]|[[Inkpot Award]]|[[List of Eisner Award winners#The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame|Will Eisner Hall of Fame]]|[[Bill Finger Award]]}}
| website       = 
<!-- | subcat        = American -->
| spouse        = {{marriage|Rosalind Goldstein|1942}}
| children      = 4
}}

'''Jack Kirby'''<ref>{{YouTube|id=XoXeiEXJrgc|time=11m50s}}</ref> (born '''Jacob Kurtzberg'''; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American [[comics artist|comic book artist]], widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew up in [[New York City]] and learned to draw cartoon figures by tracing characters from comic strips and editorial cartoons. He entered the nascent comics industry in the 1930s, drawing various comics features under different pen names, including '''Jack Curtiss''', before settling on Jack Kirby. In 1940, he and writer-editor [[Joe Simon]] created the highly successful [[superhero]] character [[Captain America]] for [[Timely Comics]], predecessor of [[Marvel Comics]]. During the 1940s, Kirby regularly teamed with Simon, creating numerous characters for that company and for [[National Comics Publications]], later to become [[DC Comics]].

After serving in the [[European Theater of Operations, United States Army|European Theater]] in [[World War II]], Kirby produced work for DC Comics, [[Harvey Comics]], [[Hillman Periodicals]] and other publishers. At [[Crestwood Publications]], he and Simon created the genre of [[romance comics]] and later founded their own short-lived comic company, [[Mainline Publications]]. Kirby was involved in Timely's 1950s iteration, [[Atlas Comics (1950s)|Atlas Comics]], which in the next decade became Marvel. There, in the 1960s, Kirby cocreated many of the company's major characters, including [[Ant-Man]], the [[Avengers (comics)|Avengers]], the [[Black Panther (comic book)|Black Panther]], the [[Fantastic Four]], the [[Hulk]], [[Iron Man]], the [[Silver Surfer]], [[Thor (Marvel Comics)|Thor]], and the [[X-Men]], among many others. Kirby's titles garnered high sales and critical acclaim, but in 1970, feeling he had been treated unfairly, largely in the realm of authorship credit and creators' rights, Kirby left the company for rival DC.

At DC, Kirby created his [[Fourth World (comics)|Fourth World]] saga which spanned several comics titles. While these series proved commercially unsuccessful and were canceled, the Fourth World's [[New Gods]] have continued as a significant part of the [[DC Universe]]. Kirby returned to Marvel briefly in the mid-to-late 1970s, then ventured into [[television animation]] and [[independent comics]]. In his later years, Kirby, who has been called "the [[William Blake]] of comics",<ref>{{Cite news |author-link=Grant Morrison |last=Morrison |first=Grant |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jul/23/grant-morrison-supergods-superheroes |title=My Supergods from the Age of the Superhero |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London, United Kingdom |date=July 23, 2011 |access-date=July 23, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224212935/http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/23/grant-morrison-supergods-superheroes |archive-date=February 24, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> began receiving great recognition in the mainstream press for his career accomplishments, and in 1987 he was one of the three inaugural inductees of the [[The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame|Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame]]. In 2017, Kirby was posthumously named a [[Disney Legend]] for his creations not only in the field of publishing, but also because those creations formed the basis for [[The Walt Disney Company]]'s financially and critically successful media franchise, the [[Marvel Cinematic Universe]].

Kirby was married to Rosalind Goldstein in 1942. They had four children and remained married until his death from heart failure in 1994, at the age of 76. The [[Jack Kirby Awards]] and [[Jack Kirby Hall of Fame]] were named in his honor, and he is known as "'''The King'''" among comics fans for his many influential contributions to the medium.

==Early life (1917–1935)==
Jack 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.<ref name=Kirbymuseum>{{cite web | url = http://kirbymuseum.org/biography | first1= Mark | last1= Evanier | author-link = Mark Evanier | first2=Steve| last2=Sherman | title = Jack Kirby Biography | publisher = Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center | access-date = February 24, 2012 | archive-date= September 17, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130917070658/http://kirbymuseum.org/biography/ | url-status=live|display-authors=etal| date= March 20, 2008 }}</ref> His parents, Rose (Bernstein) and Benjamin Kurtzberg,<ref name=Kirbymuseum/> were [[History of the Jews in Austria|Austrian-Jewish]] immigrants, and his father earned a living as a [[Clothing|garment]] factory worker.<ref name=hamilsue>Hamilton, Sue L. ''Jack Kirby''. ABDO Group, 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-59928-298-5}}, p. 4</ref> Kirby grew up in the [[Lower East Side]] neighborhood of [[New York City]]. Among his close friends was [[Leon Klinghoffer]], who grew up in the same neighborhood, and who in 1985 was shot, killed and thrown overboard from the cruise ship ''[[MS Achille Lauro|Achille Lauro]]'' by [[Palestinian Liberation Front]] [[Achille Lauro hijacking|hijackers]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kirbymuseum.org/blogs/dynamics/2010/08/31/jack-kirby-interview-part-iii/|title=Jack Kirby Interview – Part III|author=Rob Stiebel|publisher=Jack Kirby Museum|access-date=May 30, 2023|archive-date=December 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201220046/https://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/dynamics/2010/08/31/jack-kirby-interview-part-iii/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|u5xRfwvGXlw|Jack Kirby Interview (Part III)}}</ref> In his youth, Kirby desired to escape his neighborhood. He liked to draw, and sought out places he could learn more about art.{{sfn|Jones|2004|pages=195–196}} Essentially self-taught,{{sfn|Evanier|2008|page=34}} Kirby cited among his influences the [[comic strip]] artists [[Milton Caniff]], [[Hal Foster]], and [[Alex Raymond]], as well as such editorial cartoonists as [[Charles Henry Sykes|C. H. Sykes]], [[Jay Norwood Darling|"Ding" Darling]], and [[Rollin Kirby]].{{sfn|Evanier|2008|page=34}} He was rejected by [[the Educational Alliance]] because he drew "too fast with charcoal", according to Kirby. He later found an outlet for his skills by drawing cartoons for the newspaper of the Boys Brotherhood Republic, a "miniature city" on East 3rd Street where street kids ran their own government.{{sfn|Jones|2004|page=196}}

At age 14, Kirby enrolled at the [[Pratt Institute]] in [[Brooklyn]], leaving after a week. "I wasn't the kind of student that Pratt was looking for. They wanted people who would work on something forever. I didn't want to work on any project forever. I intended to get things done".<ref>{{cite journal|title= 'I've Never Done Anything Halfheartedly'|journal= [[The Comics Journal]]|publisher = [[Fantagraphics Books]]|number= 134|date = February 1990|location= Seattle, Washington}} Reprinted in George 2002, p. 22</ref>

==Career==
===Entry into comics (1936–1940)===
[[File:Captain America Comics-1 (March 1941 Timely Comics).jpg|thumb|right|''Captain America Comics'' #1 ([[cover-date]]d March 1941); cover art by Kirby and [[Joe Simon]]<!--credits per Jack Kirby Museum-->]]

Kirby joined the [[Lincoln Newspaper Syndicate]] in 1936, working there on newspaper comic strips and on single-panel advice cartoons such as ''Your Health Comes First!!!'' (under the [[pseudonym]] '''Jack Curtiss'''). He remained until late 1939, when he began working for the theatrical animation company [[Fleischer Studios]] as an [[Inbetweening|inbetweener]] (an artist who fills in the action between major-movement frames) on ''[[Popeye the Sailor (animated cartoons)|Popeye]]'' cartoons at the same time in 1935. He left the studio before the Fleischer strike in 1937.<ref name="Cartoon Research">[https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/in-his-own-words-jack-kirby-at-fleischers/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930114826/http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/in-his-own-words-jack-kirby-at-fleischers/|date=September 30, 2019}} at Cartoon Research.com.</ref> "I went from Lincoln to Fleischer," he recalled. "From Fleischer I had to get out in a hurry because I couldn't take that kind of thing," describing it as "a factory in a sense, like my father's factory. They were manufacturing pictures."<ref name="cj">Interview, ''The Comics Journal'' #134, reprinted in George 2002, p.&nbsp;24</ref>

Around that time, the American comic book industry was booming. Kirby began writing and drawing for the [[comic book packager]] [[Eisner & Iger]], one of a handful of firms creating comics on demand for publishers. Through that company, Kirby did what he remembered as his first comic book work, for ''Wild Boy Magazine''.<ref>Interview, ''The Nostalgia Journal'' #30, November 1976, reprinted in George 2002, p. 3</ref> This included such strips as the science fiction adventure "The Diary of Dr. Hayward" (under the pseudonym '''Curt Davis'''), the [[Western comics|Western]] crimefighter feature "Wilton of the West" (as '''Fred Sande'''), the [[swashbuckler]] adventure "The Count of Monte Cristo" (again as Jack Curtiss), and the humor features "Abdul Jones" (as '''Ted Grey''') and "Socko the Seadog" (as '''Teddy'''), all variously for ''[[Jumbo Comics]]'' and other Eisner-Iger clients.<ref name=gcdjack>[https://www.comics.org/credit/name/Jack%20Kirby/sort/chrono/ Jack Kirby] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413130500/https://www.comics.org/credit/name/Jack%2520Kirby/sort/chrono/ |date=April 13, 2019 }} at the Grand Comics Database.</ref> He first used the surname Kirby as the pseudonymous '''Lance Kirby''' in two "Lone Rider" Western stories in [[Eastern Color Printing]]'s ''[[Famous Funnies]]'' #63–64 (Oct.–Nov. 1939).<ref name=gcdjack /> He ultimately settled on the pen name Jack Kirby because it reminded him of actor [[James Cagney]]. However, he took offense to those who suggested he changed his name in order to hide his [[Jews|Jewish]] heritage.{{sfn|Jones|2004|page=197}}

===Partnership with Joe Simon===
Kirby moved on to comic-book publisher and newspaper syndicator [[Fox Feature Syndicate]], earning a then-reasonable $15-a-week salary. He began to explore superhero narrative with the comic strip ''The [[Blue Beetle]]'', published from January to March 1940, starring a character created by the pseudonymous [[Charles Nicholas (comics)|Charles Nicholas]], a house name that Kirby retained for the three-month-long strip. During this time, Kirby met and began collaborating with cartoonist and Fox editor [[Joe Simon]], who in addition to his staff work continued to freelance. Simon recalled in 1988, "I loved Jack's work and the first time I saw it I couldn't believe what I was seeing. He asked if we could do some freelance work together. I was delighted and I took him over to my little office. We worked from the second issue of [[Blue Bolt]] through... about 25 years."<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/25simon.html |title=More Than Your Average Joe – Excerpts from Joe Simon's panels at the 1998 San Diego Comic-Con International |journal=The Jack Kirby Collector |number=25 |publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]] |date=August 1999 |location=Raleigh, North Carolina |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130191556/http://twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/25simon.html |archive-date=November 30, 2010 |url-status=live |url-access=<!--WP:URLACCESS--> }}</ref>

After leaving Fox and collaborating on the premiere issue of [[Fawcett Comics]]' ''[[Captain Marvel (DC Comics)|Captain Marvel]] Adventures'' ([March] 1941),<ref>{{Cite web|title=GCD :: Issue :: 64 Pages of New Captain Marvel Adventures #[1]|url=https://www.comics.org/issue/1178/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612113220/https://www.comics.org/issue/1178/|archive-date=June 12, 2018|access-date=February 5, 2022|website=[[comics.org]]}}</ref> the first solo title for the previously introduced superhero, and for which Kirby was told to mimic creator [[C.C. Beck]]'s drawing style,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/simonandkirby/archives/4162|title=In the Beginning, Chapter 10, Captain Marvel and Others|first=Harry|last=Mendryk|date=November 19, 2011|access-date=May 29, 2018|archive-date=May 29, 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20180529232146/http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/simonandkirby/archives/4162|url-status=live}}</ref> the duo were hired on staff at [[pulp magazine]] publisher [[Martin Goodman (publisher)|Martin Goodman]]'s [[Timely Comics]] (later to become Marvel Comics). There Simon and Kirby created the patriotic superhero [[Captain America]] in late 1940.<ref>{{cite book|last1=DeFalco|first1=Tom|title=Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History|last2=Sanderson|first2=Peter|last3=Brevoort|first3=Tom|last4=Manning|first4=Matthew|publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]]|year=2008|isbn=978-0756641238|editor-last=Gilbert|editor-first=Laura|location=London, United Kingdom|page=18|language=en|chapter=1940s|quote=Simon and Kirby decided to create another hero who was their response to totalitarian tyranny abroad.|author-link=Tom DeFalco|author-link2=Peter Sanderson|author-link3=Tom Brevoort|author-link4=Matthew Manning}}</ref> Simon, who became the company's editor, with Kirby as art director, said he negotiated with Goodman to give the duo 25 percent of the profits from the feature.{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=25}} The first issue of ''Captain America Comics'', released in early 1941,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.toonopedia.com/capamer.htm|title= Captain America|first= Don|last= Markstein|year= 2010|publisher= [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]|access-date= April 9, 2012|quote= Captain America was the first successful character published by the company that would become Marvel Comics to debut in his own comic. ''Captain America Comics'' #1 was dated March, 1941.}}</ref> sold out in days, and the second issue's print run was set at over a million copies. The title's success established the team as a notable creative force in the industry.{{sfn|Jones|2004|page=200}} After the first issue was published, Simon asked Kirby to join the Timely staff as the company's art director.{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=21}}

With the success of the Captain America character, Simon said he felt that Goodman was not paying the pair the promised percentage of profits, and so sought work for the two of them at [[National Comics Publications]] (later renamed [[DC Comics]]).{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=25}} Kirby and Simon negotiated a deal that would pay them a combined $500 a week, as opposed to the $75 and $85 they respectively earned at Timely.{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=25-26}} The pair feared Goodman would not pay them if he found they were moving to National, but many people knew of their plan, including Timely editorial assistant [[Stan Lee]]. When Goodman eventually discovered it, he told Simon and Kirby to leave after finishing work on ''Captain America Comics'' #10.{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=27}} Kirby was bitterly convinced it was specifically Lee who betrayed them, ignoring Simon's willingness to give him the benefit of the doubt.{{sfn|Van Lente|Dunlavey|2012|page=49}}

Kirby and Simon spent their first weeks at National trying to devise new characters while the company sought how best to utilize the pair.{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=28}} After a few failed editor-assigned ghosting assignments, National's [[Jack Liebowitz]] told them to "just do what you want". The pair then revamped the [[Sandman (Wesley Dodds)|Sandman]] feature in ''[[Adventure Comics]]'' and created the superhero [[Manhunter (comics)|Manhunter]].{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=30}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wallace|first1=Daniel|title=DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle|last2=Cowsill|first2=Allan|publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]]|year=2010|isbn=978-0-7566-6742-9|editor-last=Hannah|editor-first=Dolan|location=London, United Kingdom|page=41|chapter=1940s|quote=Hot properties Joe Simon and Jack Kirby joined DC ... [and] after taking over the Sandman and Sandy, the Golden Boy feature in ''Adventure Comics'' #72, the writer and artist team turned their attentions to Manhunter with issue #73.|author-link=Daniel Wallace (author)}}</ref> In July 1942 they began the ''[[Boy Commandos]]'' feature. The ongoing "kid gang" series of the same name, launched later that same year, was the creative team's first National feature to graduate into its own title.<ref>Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 41 "The inaugural issue of ''Boy Commandos'' represented Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's first original title since they started at DC (though the characters had debuted earlier that year in ''Detective Comics'' #64.)"</ref> It sold over a million copies a month, becoming National's third best-selling title.{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=32}} They scored a hit with the homefront kid-gang team, the [[Newsboy Legion]], featuring in ''[[Star-Spangled Comics]]''.<ref>Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 41 "Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took their talents to a second title with ''Star-Spangled Comics'', tackling both the Guardian and the Newsboy Legion in issue #7."</ref> In 2010, DC Comics writer and executive Paul Levitz observed that "Like [[Jerry Siegel]] and [[Joe Shuster]], the creative team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby was a mark of quality and a proven track record."<ref>{{cite book|author-link= Paul Levitz|last=Levitz|first= Paul|chapter= The Golden Age 1938–1956|title= 75 Years of DC Comics The Art of Modern Mythmaking|publisher= [[Taschen]]|year=2010|location= Cologne, Germany|isbn= 978-3-83651-981-6|page= 131}}</ref>

====World War II (1943–1945)====
[[File:Jack Kirby.jpg|thumb|180px|Kirby in the U.S. Army during World War II]]

With World War II underway, Liebowitz expected that Simon and Kirby would be [[Conscription in the United States|drafted]], so he asked the artists to create an inventory of material to be published in their absence. The pair hired writers, inkers, letterers, and colorists in order to create a year's worth of material.{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=32}} Kirby was drafted into the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] on June 7, 1943.{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=33}} After basic training at [[Camp Stewart]], near Savannah, Georgia, he was assigned to Company F of the [[11th Infantry Regiment (United States)|11th Infantry Regiment]]. He landed on [[Omaha Beach]] in [[Normandy]] on August 23, 1944, {{frac|2|1|2}} months after [[D-Day]],{{sfn|Evanier|2008|page=67}} although Kirby's reminiscences would place his arrival just 10 days after.{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=33}} Kirby recalled that a lieutenant, learning that comics artist Kirby was in his command, made him a scout who would advance into towns and draw [[reconnaissance]] maps and pictures, an extremely dangerous duty.{{sfn|Ro|2004|pages=35}}

====Postwar career (1946–1955)====
[[File:Young Romance Issue 1.jpg|thumb|''Young Romance'' #1 (Oct. 1947); cover art by Kirby and [[Joe Simon|Simon]]]]

After the war, Simon arranged work for Kirby and himself at [[Harvey Comics]],{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=45}} where, through the early 1950s, the duo created such titles as the kid-gang adventure ''Boy Explorers Comics'', the kid-gang [[Western comics|Western]] ''[[Boys' Ranch]]'', the superhero comic ''Stuntman'', and, in vogue with the fad for [[3D film|3-D movies]], ''[[Captain 3-D]]''. Simon and Kirby additionally freelanced for [[Hillman Periodicals]] (the [[crime-fiction]] comic ''Real Clue Crime'') and for [[Crestwood Publications]] (''[[Justice Traps the Guilty]]'').<ref name=gcdjack />

The team had its greatest success in the postwar period by creating [[romance comics]]. Simon, inspired by [[Macfadden Publications]]' romantic-confession magazine ''True Story'', transplanted the idea to comic books and with Kirby created a first-issue mock-up of ''[[Young Romance]]''.<ref name="joesimon123-125">Simon, Joe, with Jim Simon. ''The Comic Book Makers'' (Crestwood/II, 1990) {{ISBN|978-1-887591-35-5}}; reissued (Vanguard Productions, 2003) {{ISBN|978-1-887591-35-5}}, pp. 123–125</ref> Showing it to Crestwood general manager Maurice Rosenfeld, Simon asked for 50% of the comic's profits. Crestwood publishers Teddy Epstein and Mike Bleier agreed,<ref name="joesimon123-125" /> stipulating that the creators would take no money up front.{{sfn|Evanier|2008|page=72}} ''Young Romance'' #1 (cover-date Oct. 1947) "became Jack and Joe's biggest hit in years".{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=46}} The first title sold a staggering 92% of its print run, inspiring Crestwood to increase the print run by the third issue to triple the initial number of copies.<ref name="Real Love">{{cite book|last= Howell|first= Richard|author-link= Richard Howell (comics)|chapter= Introduction|title = Real Love: The Best of the Simon and Kirby Love Comics, 1940s–1950s|publisher= Eclipse Books|year= 1988|location=Forestville, California|isbn = 978-0-91303-563-4}}</ref> Initially published bimonthly, ''Young Romance'' quickly became a monthly title and produced the spin-off ''[[Young Love (comics)|Young Love]]''—together the two titles sold two million copies per month, according to Simon<ref>Simon, p. 125</ref>—later joined by ''Young Brides'' and ''In Love'', the latter "featuring full-length romance stories".<ref name="Real Love" /> ''Young Romance'' spawned dozens of imitators from publishers such as Timely, [[Fawcett Comics|Fawcett]], [[Quality Comics|Quality]], and [[Fox Feature Syndicate]]. Despite the glut, the Simon and Kirby romance titles continued to sell millions of copies a month.{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=46}}

Bitter that [[Timely Comics]]' 1950s iteration, [[Atlas Comics (1950s)|Atlas Comics]], had relaunched Captain America in a new series in 1954, Kirby and Simon created ''[[Fighting American]]''. Simon recalled, "We thought we'd show them how to do Captain America".{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=52}} While the comic book initially portrayed the protagonist as an [[Anti-communism|anti-Communist]] dramatic hero, Simon and Kirby turned the series into a superhero satire with the second issue, in the aftermath of the [[Army-McCarthy hearings]] and the public backlash against the Red-baiting U.S. Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]].{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=54}}

===After Simon (1956–1957)===
At the urging of a Crestwood salesman, Kirby and Simon launched their own comics company, [[Mainline Publications]],{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=54}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=Beerbohm |first=Robert Lee |title=The Mainline Story |journal=The Jack Kirby Collector |issue=25 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |date=August 1999 |location=Raleigh, North Carolina |url=http://www.twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/25mainline.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526101151/http://www.twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/25mainline.html |archive-date=May 26, 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=March 26, 2008}}</ref> securing a distribution deal with Leader News<ref>{{cite book|last=Theakston|first=Greg|author-link= Greg Theakston|title=The Complete Jack Kirby|year=1997|publisher=Pure Imagination Publishing, Inc.|isbn=1-56685-006-1|page=29}}</ref> in late 1953 or early 1954, subletting space from their friend [[Al Harvey]]'s [[Harvey Publications]] at 1860 Broadway.<ref name=autobio1990p151>{{cite book|author-link=Joe Simon|last1=Simon|first1=Joe|last2=with Simon|first2=Jim | title=The Comic Book Makers|publisher=Crestwood/II Publications|year= 1990|page= 151|isbn=978-1-887591-35-5}} Reissued (Vanguard Productions, 2003) {{ISBN|978-1-887591-35-5}}. Page numbers refer to 1990 edition.</ref> Mainline, which existed from 1954 to 1955, published four titles: the Western ''Bullseye: Western Scout''; the [[war comics|war comic]] ''Foxhole'' because [[EC Comics]] and [[Atlas Comics (1950s)|Atlas Comics]] were having success with war comics, but promoting theirs as being written and drawn by actual veterans; ''In Love'' because their earlier [[romance comic]] ''[[Young Love (comic)|Young Love]]'' was still being widely imitated; and the [[crime comic]] ''Police Trap'', which claimed to be based on genuine accounts by law-enforcement officials.<ref>[http://www.comics.org/publisher/2515/ Mainline] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112074533/http://www.comics.org/publisher/2515/ |date=November 12, 2010 }} at the Grand Comics Database.</ref> After the duo rearranged and republished artwork from an old Crestwood story in ''In Love'', Crestwood refused to pay the team,{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=55}} who sought an audit of Crestwood's finances. Upon review, the pair's attorneys stated the company owed them $130,000 for work done over the past seven years. Crestwood paid them $10,000 in addition to their recent delayed payments. The partnership between Kirby and Simon had become strained.{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=56}} Simon left the industry for a career in advertising, while Kirby continued to freelance. "He wanted to do other things and I stuck with comics," Kirby recalled in 1971. "It was fine. There was no reason to continue the partnership and we parted friends."<ref>{{cite news|title='I Created an Army of Characters, and Now My Connection with Them Is Lost|publisher=interview, The Great Electric Bird radio show, [[WNUR-FM]], [[Northwestern University]]|location= Evanston, Illinois| date= May 14, 1971}} Transcribed in ''[[The Comics Journal|The Nostalgia Journal]]'' (27) August 1976. Reprinted in George 2002, p. 16</ref>

At this point in the mid-1950s, Kirby made a temporary return to the former [[Timely Comics]], now known as Atlas Comics, the direct predecessor of [[Marvel Comics]]. Inker [[Frank Giacoia]] had approached editor-in-chief Stan Lee for work and suggested he could "get Kirby back here to pencil some stuff.{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=60}} While freelancing for National Comics Publications, the future [[DC Comics]], Kirby drew 20 stories for Atlas from 1956 to 1957: Beginning with the five-page "Mine Field" in ''Battleground'' #14 (Nov. 1956), Kirby penciled and in some cases inked (with his wife, [[Jack Kirby#Personal life|Roz]]) and wrote stories of the [[Western comics|Western]] hero [[Black Rider (comics)|Black Rider]], the [[Fu Manchu]]-like [[Yellow Claw (comics)|Yellow Claw]], and more.<ref name=gcdjack /><ref>Kirby's 1956–57 Atlas work appeared in nine issues, plus three more published later after being held in inventory, per {{cite web|url=http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/simonandkirby/archives/1086 |title=Another Pre-Implosion Atlas Kirby |publisher=Jack Kirby Museum |date=November 3, 2007 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709112725/http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/simonandkirby/archives/1086 |archive-date=July 9, 2012 |url-status=live }} In roughly chronological order: ''Battleground'' #14 (Nov. 1956; 5 pp.), ''Astonishing'' #56 (Dec. 1956; 4 pp.), ''Strange Tales of the Unusual'' #7 (Dec. 1956; 4 pp.), ''Quick-Trigger Western'' #16 (Feb. 1957; 5 pp.), ''[[Yellow Claw (comics)|Yellow Claw]]'' #2–4 (Dec. 1956 – April 1957; 19 pp. each), ''Black Rider Rides Again'' #1, a.k.a. ''Black Rider'' vol. 2, #1 (Sept. 1957; 19 pp.), and ''Two Gun Western'' #12 (Sept. 1957; 5 pp.), plus the inventoried ''[[Gunsmoke Western]]'' #47 (July 1958; 4 pp.) and #51 (March 1959; 5 pp. plus cover) and ''[[Kid Colt Outlaw]]'' #86 (Sept. 1959; 5 pp.)</ref> But in 1957, distribution troubles caused the "Atlas implosion" that resulted in several series being dropped and no new material being assigned for many months. The next year Kirby returned to the nascent Marvel.

For DC around that time, Kirby co-created with writers Dick and Dave Wood the non-superpowered adventuring quartet the [[Challengers of the Unknown]] in ''[[Showcase (comics)|Showcase]]'' #6 (Feb. 1957),<ref>[[Alexander C. Irvine|Irvine, Alex]] "1950s" in Dolan, p. 84: "Kirby's first solo project was a test run of a non-super hero adventure team called Challengers of the Unknown. Appearing for the first time in ''Showcase'' #6, the team would make a few more ''Showcase'' appearances before springing into their own title in May 1958."</ref> while contributing to such anthologies as ''[[House of Mystery]]''.<ref name=gcdjack /> During 30 months freelancing for DC, Kirby drew slightly more than 600 pages, which included 11 six-page [[Green Arrow]] stories in ''[[World's Finest Comics]]'' and ''[[Adventure Comics]]'' that in a rarity, Kirby inked himself.<ref>{{cite book|last= Evanier|first= Mark|author-link= Mark Evanier|chapter= Introduction|title= The Green Arrow|publisher= DC Comics|year= 2001|location= New York, New York|quote= All were inked by Jack with the aid of his dear spouse, Rosalind. She would trace his pencil work with a static pen line; he would then take a brush, put in all the shadows and bold areas and, where necessary, heavy-up the lines she'd laid down. (Jack hated inking and only did it because he needed the money. After departing DC this time, he almost never inked his own work again.)}}</ref> Kirby recast the archer as a science-fiction hero, moving him away from his Batman-formula roots, but, in the process, alienating Green Arrow co-creator [[Mort Weisinger]].{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=61}}

He began drawing ''[[Sky Masters of the Space Force]],'' a newspaper comic strip, written by the Wood brothers and initially inked by the unrelated [[Wally Wood]].<ref>Evanier 2008, pp. 103–106 "The artwork was exquisite, in no small part because Dave Wood had the idea to hire Wally Wood (no relation) to handle the inking."</ref> Kirby left National Comics Publications due largely to a contractual dispute in which editor [[Jack Schiff]], who had been involved in getting Kirby and the Wood brothers the ''Sky Masters'' contract, claimed he was due royalties from Kirby's share of the strip's profits. Schiff successfully sued Kirby.{{sfn|Evanier|2008|page=109}} Some DC editors had criticized him over art details, such as not drawing "the shoelaces on a cavalryman's boots" and showing a Native American "mounting his horse from the wrong side."{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=91}}

===Marvel Comics in the Silver Age (1958–1970)===
Several months later, after his split with DC, Kirby began freelancing regularly for Atlas despite harboring negative sentiments about Stan Lee (the cousin of Timely publisher Martin Goodman's wife), who Kirby had always found annoying on top of his aforementioned betrayal he suspected in the 1940s. Because of the poor page rates, Kirby would spend 12 to 14 hours daily at his drawing table at home, producing four to five pages of artwork a day.{{sfn|Jones|2004|page=282}} His first published work at Atlas was the cover of and the seven-page story "I Discovered the Secret of the Flying Saucers" in ''[[Strange Worlds (Atlas Comics)|Strange Worlds]]'' #1 (Dec. 1958). Initially with [[Christopher Rule]] as his regular inker, and later [[Dick Ayers]], Kirby drew across all genres, from romance comics to war comics to crime comics to Western comics, but made his mark primarily with a series of supernatural-fantasy and science fiction stories featuring giant, [[drive-in movie]]-style monsters with names like [[Groot]], the Thing from Planet X;<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/groottta.htm|title= Groot|first= Jeff|last= Christiansen|date= March 10, 2011|publisher= Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131113231254/http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/groottta.htm|archive-date= November 13, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Grottu, King of the Insects;<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/grottu.htm|title= Grottu|first= Jeff|last= Christiansen|date= January 17, 2007|publisher= Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131113221123/http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/grottu.htm|archive-date= November 13, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Fin Fang Foom]] for the company's many anthology series, such as ''[[Amazing Adventures]],'' ''[[Strange Tales]],'' ''[[Tales to Astonish]],'' ''[[Tales of Suspense]],'' and ''[[World of Fantasy]].''<ref name=gcdjack /> His bizarre designs of powerful, unearthly creatures proved a hit with readers. Additionally, he freelanced for [[Archie Comics]] around this time, reuniting briefly with Joe Simon to help develop the series ''[[The Fly (Archie Comics)|The Fly]]''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/fly.htm |title=The Fly |first=Don |last=Markstein |year=2009 |publisher=[[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240527024407/https://www.webcitation.org/6RoNatZp3?url=http://www.toonopedia.com/fly.htm |archive-date=May 27, 2024 |url-status=live }}</ref> and ''[[The Shield (Archie Comics)|The Double Life of Private Strong]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/shield2.htm |title=The Shield |first=Don |last=Markstein |year=2007 |publisher=Don Markstein's Toonopedia |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130412002105/http://www.toonopedia.com/shield2.htm |archive-date=April 12, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> Additionally, Kirby drew some issues of ''[[Classics Illustrated]]''.<ref name=gcdjack />

At Marvel Kirby hit his stride once again in superhero comics, beginning with ''[[Fantastic Four (comic book)|The Fantastic Four]]'' #1 (Nov. 1961),<ref name=gcdjack /><ref>[[Tom DeFalco|DeFalco, Tom]] "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 84: "It did not take long for editor Stan Lee to realize that ''The Fantastic Four'' was a hit ... the flurry of fan letters all pointed to the FF's explosive popularity."</ref> which some have observed, shares many elements of Kirby's ''Challengers of the Unknown''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Challengers of the Unknown = Fantastic Four |url=http://zak-site.com/Great-American-Novel/challengers.html |website=The Great American Novel |access-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-date=May 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511142107/https://zak-site.com/Great-American-Novel/challengers.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The landmark series became a hit that revolutionized the industry with its comparative [[Naturalism (arts)|naturalism]] and, eventually, a cosmic purview informed by Kirby's seemingly boundless imagination{{mdash}}one well-matched with the consciousness-expanding [[youth culture]] of the 1960s.<ref name="century">{{Cite book|last= Krensky|first= Stephen|title= Comic Book Century: The History of American Comic Books|publisher= [[Lerner Publishing Group|Twenty-First Century Books]]|year= 2007|location= Minneapolis, Minnesota|page= 59|isbn= 978-0-8225-6654-0|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=n23M0Bn0JmwC&q=%22fantastic+four%22&pg=PA58|quote= Readers ... liked seeing Reed and Sue bicker, Johnny annoying everyone, and Ben being grumpy. ... Kirby's vivid illustrations created a whole new style for Marvel, where the imaginative art matched the colorful, loose style of the time.|access-date= November 12, 2020|archive-date= February 4, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210204065610/https://books.google.com/books?id=n23M0Bn0JmwC&q=%22fantastic+four%22&pg=PA58|url-status= live}}</ref><ref name=iowahistoricalreview>{{cite journal|url=https://pubs.lib.uiowa.edu/iowa-historical-review/article/id/1636/download/pdf/|title='Truth, Justice and the American Way: The Intersection of American Youth Culture and Superhero Narratives|first=Sebastian T. |last=Mercier| journal=Iowa Historical Review|publisher=[[University of Iowa]] |pages=37–38| volume= 1|issue= 2|date=2008|doi=10.17077/2373-1842.1010|quote = The liberalization of American culture allowed superhero comic books to challenge the assumptions behind 1950s censorship. ... Marvel was able to position themselves as a publishing maverick. Several of their new superheroes, including the Fantastic Four and the Amazing Spider-Man were able to reflect real-world sensibilities and problems. Other heroes such as the Invincible Iron Man and the Silver Surfer examined the political landscape of the 1960s. The close bonds shared with youth culture meant that superheroes had reasserted themselves into the American national consciousness.|doi-access=free}}</ref> For almost a decade, Kirby provided Marvel's house style, creating many of the Marvel characters and designing their visual motifs. At the editor-in-chief's request, he often provided new-to-Marvel artists "breakdown" layouts, over which they would pencil in order to become acquainted with the Marvel look. As artist [[Gil Kane]] described:

{{blockquote|text=Jack was the single most influential figure in the turnaround in Marvel's fortunes from the time he rejoined the company ... It wasn't merely that Jack conceived most of the characters that are being done, but ... Jack's point of view and philosophy of drawing became the governing philosophy of the entire publishing company and, beyond the publishing company, of the entire field ... [Marvel took] Jack and use[d] him as a primer. They would get artists ... and they taught them the ABCs, which amounted to learning Jack Kirby ... Jack was like the Holy Scripture and they simply had to follow him without deviation. That's what was told to me ... It was how they taught everyone to reconcile all those opposing attitudes to one single master point of view.<ref>Gil Kane, speaking at a forum on July 6, 1985, at the Dallas Fantasy Fair. As quoted in George 2002, p. 109</ref>}}

Highlights of Kirby's tenure also include the [[Hulk]], [[Thor (Marvel Comics)|Thor]], the [[X-Men]] and [[Magneto (Marvel Comics)|Magneto]], [[Doctor Doom]], [[Uatu|Uatu the Watcher]], [[Ego the Living Planet]], the [[Inhumans]]<ref>{{cite web | first= Brian|last= Cronin|url= https://www.cbr.com/a-year-of-cool-comics-day-261/|title= A Year of Cool Comics – Day 261|website= [[Comic Book Resources]]|date= September 18, 2010|access-date= December 13, 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101123190418/http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2010/09/18/a-year-of-cool-comics-day-261/|archive-date=November 23, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="DeFalco111">DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 111: "The Inhumans, a lost race that diverged from humankind 25,000 years ago and became genetically enhanced."</ref> and their hidden city of Attilan, and the [[Black Panther (comics)|Black Panther]]<ref>{{cite web |first= Brian|last= Cronin|url= https://www.cbr.com/a-year-of-cool-comics-day-262/ |title= A Year of Cool Comics – Day 262|website= Comic Book Resources|date= September 19, 2010| access-date= December 13, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110708181411/http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2010/09/19/a-year-of-cool-comics-day-262/|archive-date=July 8, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter |title='Black Panther' Co-Creator Jack Kirby Would've Adored Film Phenomenon, Family Says |date=February 15, 2018 |first=Ryan |last=Parker |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/black-panther-jack-kirby-wouldve-adored-film-says-family-1084730 |access-date=June 10, 2018 |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612135941/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/black-panther-jack-kirby-wouldve-adored-film-says-family-1084730 |url-status=live }}</ref> (comics' first black superhero) and his [[Afrofuturism|Afrofuturist]] nation, [[Wakanda]].<ref>DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 117: Stan Lee wanted to do his part by creating the first black super hero. Lee discussed his ideas with Jack Kirby and the result was seen in ''Fantastic Four'' #52.</ref> Kirby initially was assigned to pencil the first [[Spider-Man]] story, but when he showed Lee the first six pages, Lee recalled, "I ''hated'' the way he was doing it! Not that he did it badly—it just wasn't the character I wanted; it was too heroic".<ref name="Theakston">{{Cite book|last=Theakston|first=Greg|title=The Steve Ditko Reader|publisher=Pure Imagination|location=Brooklyn, New York|year=2002|isbn=1-56685-011-8}}</ref>{{rp|12}} Lee then turned to [[Steve Ditko]] to draw the story that would appear in ''[[Amazing Fantasy]]'' #15, for which Kirby nonetheless penciled the cover.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cowsill |first1=Alan |last2 = Manning|first2 = Matthew K.|chapter= 1960s|title = Spider-Man Chronicle Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging|publisher= [[Dorling Kindersley]]|year= 2012|location= London, United Kingdom|page = 15|isbn = 978-0756692360|quote= Kirby had the honor of being the first ever penciler to take a swing at drawing Spider-Man. Though his illustrations for the pages of ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 were eventually redrawn by Steve Ditko after Stan Lee decided that Kirby's Spidey wasn't quite youthful enough, the King nevertheless contributed the issue's historic cover.}}</ref> Lee and Kirby gathered several of their newly created characters together into the team title ''[[The Avengers (comic book)|The Avengers]]''<ref>DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 94: "Filled with some wonderful visual action, ''The Avengers'' #1 has a very simple story: the Norse god Loki tricked the Hulk into going on a rampage ... The heroes eventually learned about Loki's involvement and united with the Hulk to form the Avengers."</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/28/captain-america-x-men-iron-man-the-avengers-jack-kirby-king-of-comics |access-date=June 10, 2018 |title=Captain America, X-Men, Iron Man, the Avengers ... Jack Kirby, king of comics |newspaper=The Guardian |first=Graeme |last=Virtue |date=August 28, 2017 |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612145211/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/28/captain-america-x-men-iron-man-the-avengers-jack-kirby-king-of-comics |url-status=live }}</ref> and brought back old characters from the 1940s such as the [[Namor|Sub-Mariner]]<ref>DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 86: "Stan Lee and Jack Kirby reintroduced one of Marvel's most popular Golden Age heroes – Namor, the Sub-Mariner."</ref> and Captain America.<ref>DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 99: "'Captain America lives again!' announced the cover of ''The Avengers'' #4 ... Cap was back."</ref> In later years, Lee and Kirby disputed over who deserved credit for such creations as ''The Fantastic Four''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Batchelor |first1=Bob |title=Stan Lee : The Man Behind Marvel |location=Lanham, Maryland |isbn=978-1-4422-7781-6 |page=73|year=2017 }}</ref>
[[Image:Fantasticfour72.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Fantastic Four (comic book)|Fantastic Four]]'' #72 (March 1968). Cover art by Kirby and [[Joe Sinnott]], illustrating [[Kirby Krackle]]]]
The story frequently cited as Lee and Kirby's finest achievement<ref>{{Cite book|last= Hatfield| first= Charles|chapter= The Galactus Trilogy: An Appreciation|title= The Collected Jack Kirby Collector ''Volume 1''|page= 211|year= 2004| publisher= TwoMorrows|isbn= 978-1893905009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last = Thomas|first = Roy|author-link = Roy Thomas|author2=Sanderson, Peter |title = The Marvel Vault: A Museum-in-a-Book with Rare Collectibles from the World of Marvel|publisher= [[Running Press]]|year= 2007|location= Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page = 93|isbn = 978-0762428441|quote= Then came the issues of all issues, the instant legend, the trilogy of ''Fantastic Four'' (#48-50) that excited readers immediately christened 'the Galactus Trilogy', a designation still widely recognized four decades later.}}</ref> is "[[The Galactus Trilogy]]" in ''Fantastic Four'' #48–50 (March–May 1966), chronicling the arrival of [[Galactus]], a cosmic giant who wanted to devour the planet, and his herald, the [[Silver Surfer]].<ref>{{cite web |first= Brian|last= Cronin|url=https://www.cbr.com/a-year-of-cool-comics-day-50/ | title= A Year of Cool Comics – Day 50|website= Comic Book Resources|date= February 19, 2010|access-date= December 13, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100504111741/http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2010/02/19/a-year-of-cool-comics-day-50/|archive-date=May 4, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 115: "Stan Lee may have started the creative discussion that culminated in Galactus, but the inclusion of the Silver Surfer in ''Fantastic Four'' #48 was pure Jack Kirby. Kirby realized that a being like Galactus required an equally impressive herald."</ref> ''Fantastic Four'' #48 was chosen as #24 in the 100 Greatest Marvels of All Time poll of Marvel's readers in 2001. Editor [[Robert Greenberger]] wrote in his introduction to the story that "As the fourth year of the ''Fantastic Four'' came to a close, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby seemed to be only warming up. In retrospect, it was perhaps the most fertile period of any monthly title during the Marvel Age."<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Greenberger |editor-first=Robert|title = 100 Greatest Marvels of All Time|publisher = Marvel Comics|date = December 2001|page = 26|title-link=100 Greatest Marvels of All Time}}</ref> Comics historian [[Les Daniels]] noted that "[t]he mystical and metaphysical elements that took over the saga were perfectly suited to the tastes of young readers in the 1960s", and Lee soon discovered that the story was a favorite on college campuses.<ref>{{cite book|last = Daniels|first = Les|author-link = Les Daniels|title = Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics|publisher = [[Abrams Books|Harry N. Abrams]]|year = 1991|location= New York, New York|page = 128|isbn = 978-0-81093-821-2}}</ref> Kirby continued to expand the medium's boundaries, devising photo-collage covers and interiors, developing new drawing techniques such as the method for depicting energy fields now known as "[[Kirby Krackle]]", and other experiments.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Foley |first=Shane |url=http://www.twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/33krackle.html |title=Kracklin' Kirby: Tracing the advent of Kirby Krackle |journal=The Jack Kirby Collector |issue=33 |date=November 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130183009/http://twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/33krackle.html |archive-date=November 30, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1968 and 1969, Joe Simon was involved in litigation with Marvel Comics over the ownership of Captain America, initiated by Marvel after Simon registered the copyright renewal for Captain America in his own name. According to Simon, Kirby agreed to support the company in the litigation and, as part of a deal Kirby made with publisher Martin Goodman, signed over to Marvel any rights he might have had to the character.<ref>Simon, p. 205</ref>

At the same time, Kirby grew increasingly dissatisfied with working at Marvel, for reasons Kirby biographer Mark Evanier has suggested include resentment over Lee's media prominence, a lack of full creative control, anger over breaches of perceived promises by publisher Martin Goodman, and frustration over Marvel's failure to credit him specifically for his story plotting and for his character creations and co-creations.{{sfn|Evanier|2008|pages=126–163}} He began to both write and draw some secondary features for Marvel, such as "The Inhumans" in [[Amazing Adventures#1970 series|''Amazing Adventures'' volume two]],<ref>Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 146: "As Marvel was expanding its line of comics, the company decided to introduce two new 'split' books ... ''Amazing Adventures'' and ''Astonishing Tales''. ''Amazing Adventures'' contained a series about the genetically enhanced Inhumans and a series about intelligence agent the Black Widow."</ref> as well as horror stories for the anthology title ''[[Chamber of Darkness]],'' and received full credit for doing so; but in 1970, Kirby was presented with a contract that included unfavorable terms such as a prohibition against legal retaliation. When Kirby objected, the management refused to negotiate any contract changes, bluntly dismissing his contribution to Marvel's success since they considered Lee solely responsible.{{sfn|Evanier|2008|page=163}} Kirby, although he was earning $35,000 a year freelancing for the company<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/02/archives/shazam-here-comes-captain-relevant-here-comes-captain-relevant.html?scp=27|title=Shazam! Here Comes Captain Relevant|first=Saul|last=Braun|newspaper=[[The New York Times Magazine]]|date=May 2, 1971|access-date=January 18, 2012|archive-date=June 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612114833/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/02/archives/shazam-here-comes-captain-relevant-here-comes-captain-relevant.html?scp=27|url-status=live}}</ref> (adjusted for inflation it was the equivalent of over $271,000 in 2024),<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ |title=Inflation Calculator Determines Change in Dollar and Rates over Time |access-date=August 14, 2024 |archive-date=July 23, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723111922/https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> then left Marvel in 1970 for rival DC Comics, under editorial director [[Carmine Infantino]].{{sfn|Van Lente|Dunlavey|2012|page=115}}

===DC Comics and the Fourth World saga (1971–1975)===
[[File:New Gods 1971 1.jpg|right|thumb|''[[The New Gods]]'' #1 (March 1971)<!--officially "The New Gods", with the definite article, in postal indicia--> Cover art by Kirby and [[Don Heck]].<!--credits per GCD-->]]

Kirby spent nearly two years negotiating a deal to move to DC Comics,{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=139}} where in late 1970 he signed a three-year contract with an option for two additional years.{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=143}} He produced a series of interlinked titles under the blanket [[sobriquet]] "[[Fourth World (comics)|The Fourth World]]", which included a trilogy of new titles—''[[New Gods]],'' ''[[Mister Miracle]],'' and ''[[The Forever People]]''—as well as the extant ''[[Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen]].''<ref name=gcdjack />{{sfn|Van Lente|Dunlavey|2012|page=115}}<ref>McAvennie, Michael "1970s" in Dolan, p. 145 "As the writer, artist, and editor of the Fourth World family of interlocking titles, each of which possessed its own distinct tone and theme, Jack Kirby cemented his legacy as a pioneer of grand-scale storytelling."</ref> Kirby picked the latter book because the series was without a stable creative team and he did not want to cost anyone a job.<ref>Evanier, Mark. "Afterword." ''Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus;'' Volume 1, New York: DC Comics, 2007.</ref><ref>McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 141 "Since no ongoing creative team had been slated to ''Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen'', "King of Comics" Jack Kirby made the title his DC launch point, and the writer/artist's indelible energy and ideas permeated every panel and word balloon of the comic."</ref>

The three books Kirby originated dealt with aspects of mythology he had previously touched upon in ''Thor''. ''The New Gods'' would establish this new mythos, while in ''The Forever People'' Kirby would attempt to mythologize the lives of the young people he observed around him. The third book, ''Mister Miracle'' was more of a personal myth. The title character was an escape artist, which Mark Evanier suggests Kirby channeled his feelings of constraint into. Mister Miracle's wife was based in character on Kirby's wife Roz, and he even caricatured Stan Lee within the pages of the book as [[Funky Flashman]], a depiction Lee found hurtful while Kirby tried to downplay the insult when confronted about it by Lee's protege, [[Roy Thomas]], who was similarly insulted with Flashman's sidekick, Houseroy.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Raphael |first1=Jordan |last2=Spurgeon |first2=Tom |title=Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book |date=2004 |publisher=Chicago Review Press |isbn=978-1-61374-292-1 |page=218}}</ref>{{sfn|Evanier|2008|pages=172–177}}

The central villain of the Fourth World series, [[Darkseid]], and some of the Fourth World concepts, appeared in ''Jimmy Olsen'' before the launch of the other Fourth World books, giving the new titles greater exposure to potential buyers. The Superman figures and Jimmy Olsen faces drawn by Kirby were redrawn by [[Al Plastino]], and later by [[Murphy Anderson]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsfromme.com/2003/08/22/jack-kirbys-superman/|title=Jack Kirby's Superman|first=Mark|last=Evanier|date=August 22, 2003|publisher=POV Online|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308170721/http://www.povonline.com/notes/Notes082203.htm|archive-date=March 8, 2012|url-status=live|access-date=April 22, 2012|quote=Plastino drew new Superman figures and Olsen heads in roughly the same poses and positions, and these were pasted into the artwork.}}</ref><ref name="DAK2"/> Les Daniels observed in 1995 that "Kirby's mix of slang and myth, science fiction and the Bible, made for a heady brew, but the scope of his vision has endured."<ref>{{cite book|last = Daniels|first = Les|author-link = Les Daniels|chapter= The Fourth World: New Gods on Newsprint|title = DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes|publisher = [[Little, Brown and Company|Bulfinch Press]]|year = 1995|location= New York, New York|page = 165|isbn = 0821220764}}</ref> In 2007, comics writer [[Grant Morrison]] commented that "Kirby's dramas were staged across Jungian vistas of raw symbol and storm ... The Fourth World saga crackles with the voltage of Jack Kirby's boundless imagination let loose onto paper."<ref>{{cite book|last= Morrison|first= Grant|chapter= Introduction|title= Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus Volume One|publisher= DC Comics|year= 2007|location= New York, New York|pages= [https://archive.org/details/jackkirbysfourth0001kirb/page/7 7–8]|isbn= 978-1401213442|chapter-url= https://archive.org/details/jackkirbysfourth0001kirb/page/7}}</ref>

In addition to his artistic efforts, Kirby proposed a variety of new formats for comics such as planning to collect his published Fourth World stories into square-bound books, a format that would later be called the [[Trade paperback (comics)|trade paperback]], which would eventually become standard practice in the industry. However, Infantino and company were not receptive and Kirby's proposals only went as far as producing the one-shot black-and-white magazines ''Spirit World'' and ''In the Days of the Mob'' in 1971.<ref>McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 147: "Believing that new formats were necessary for the comics medium to continue evolving, Kirby oversaw the production of what was labeled his 'Speak-Out Series' of magazines: ''Spirit World'' and ''In the Days of the Mob'' ... Sadly, these unique magazines never found their desired audience."</ref>

Kirby later produced other DC series including ''[[OMAC (Buddy Blank)|OMAC]]'',<ref>McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 161 "In ''OMAC's'' first issue, editor/writer/artist Jack Kirby warned readers of "The World That's Coming!", a future world containing wild concepts that are almost frighteningly real today."</ref> ''[[Kamandi]]'',<ref>McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 153 "Kirby had already introduced a similar concept and characters in ''Alarming Tales'' #1 (1957) ... Coupling the premise with his unpublished "Kamandi of the Caves" newspaper strip, Kirby's Last Boy on Earth roamed a world that had been ravaged by the "Great Disaster" and taken over by talking animals."</ref> ''[[Etrigan the Demon|The Demon]]'',<ref>McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 152 "While his "Fourth World" opus was winding down, Jack Kirby was busy conjuring his next creation, which emerged not from the furthest reaches of the galaxy but from the deepest pits of Hell. Etrigan was hardly the usual Kirby protagonist."</ref> and ''[[Kobra (DC comics)|Kobra]]''<ref>{{cite journal| last= Kelly|first= Rob|date= August 2009|location= Raleigh, North Carolina|title= Kobra|journal= [[Back Issue!]]| issue= 35|page= 63|publisher = TwoMorrows Publishing|quote = Maybe that's because Kobra was the creation of the legendary Jack 'King' Kirby, who wrote and penciled the first issue's story, 'Fangs of the Kobra!'}}</ref> as well as working on such extant features as "[[Losers (comics)|The Losers]]" in ''[[Our Fighting Forces]]''.<ref>McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 161 "Jack Kirby also took on a group of established DC characters that had nothing to lose. The result was a year-long run of ''Our Fighting Forces'' tales that were action-packed, personal, and among the most beloved of World War II comics ever produced."</ref> Together with former partner Joe Simon for one last time, he worked on a new incarnation of the [[Sandman (DC Comics)|Sandman]].<ref name="gcdjack" /><ref>McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 158 "The legendary tandem of writer Joe Simon and artist/editor Jack Kirby reunited for a one-shot starring the Sandman ... Despite the issue's popularity, it would be Simon and Kirby's last collaboration."</ref> Kirby produced three issues of the ''[[1st Issue Special]]'' anthology series and created [[Atlas (DC Comics)|Atlas the Great]],<ref>McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 162: "Debuting with Atlas the Great, writer and artist Jack Kirby didn't shrug at the chance to put his spin on the well-known hero."</ref> a new [[Manhunter (comics)|Manhunter]],<ref>McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 164: "Though ''1st Issue Special'' was primarily DC's forum to introduce new characters and storylines, editor Jack Kirby used the series as an opportunity to revamp the Manhunter, whom he and writer Joe Simon had made famous in the 1940s."</ref> and the [[Dingbats of Danger Street]].<ref>{{cite journal|last= Abramowitz|first= Jack|title= ''1st Issue Special'' It Was No ''Showcase'' (But It Was Never Meant To Be)|journal= Back Issue!|issue= 71|pages= 40–47|publisher= TwoMorrows Publishing|date= April 2014|location= Raleigh, North Carolina}}</ref>

Kirby's production assistant of the time, [[Mark Evanier]], recounted that DC's policies of the era were not in sync with Kirby's creative impulses. Also Evanier said that he was often forced to work on characters and projects which he did not like.<ref name="DAK2">{{cite news | author = Kraft, David Anthony | author2 = Slifer, Roger | author-link = David Anthony Kraft | author-link2 = Roger Slifer | date = April 1983 | title = Mark Evanier | work = [[Comics Interview]] | issue = 2 | pages = 23–34 | publisher = [[Fictioneer Books]]}}</ref> Meanwhile, some artists at DC did not want Kirby there, as he threatened their positions in the company; they also had bad blood from previous competition with Marvel and legal problems with him. Since he was working from California, they were able to undermine his work through redesigns in the New York office.<ref>Ro 2004, chapters 12–13</ref>

===Return to Marvel (1976–1978)===
At the [[comic book convention]] Marvelcon '75, in 1975, Stan Lee used a Fantastic Four panel discussion to announce that Kirby was returning to Marvel after having left in 1970 to work for DC Comics. Lee wrote in his monthly column, "Stan Lee's Soapbox", "I mentioned that I had a special announcement to make. As I started telling about Jack's return, to a totally incredulous audience, everyone's head started to snap around as Kirby himself came waltzin' down the aisle to join us on the rostrum! You can imagine how it felt clownin' around with the co-creator of most of Marvel's greatest strips once more."<ref>[[Bullpen Bulletins]]: "The King is Back! 'Nuff Said!", in Marvel Comics cover-dated October 1975, including ''Fantastic Four'' #163</ref>

Back at Marvel, Kirby both wrote and drew the monthly ''Captain America'' series<ref>Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 175: "After an absence of half a decade, Jack Kirby returned to Marvel Comics as writer, penciller, and editor of the series he and Joe Simon created back in 1941."</ref> as well as the ''Captain America's Bicentennial Battles'' [[One-shot (comics)|one-shot]] in the oversized [[Marvel Treasury Edition|treasury format]].<ref>{{cite journal|last = Powers|first = Tom|title = Kirby Celebrating America's 200th Birthday: ''Captain America's Bicentennial Battles''|journal = Back Issue!|issue = 61|pages = 46–49 |publisher = TwoMorrows Publishing|date = December 2012|location= Raleigh, North Carolina}}</ref> He created the series ''[[Eternals (comics)|The Eternals]]'',<ref>Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 175: "Jack Kirby's most important creation for Marvel during his return in the 1970s was his epic series ''The Eternals''"</ref> which featured a race of inscrutable alien giants, the [[Celestial (comics)|Celestials]], whose behind-the-scenes intervention in primordial humanity would eventually become a core element of [[Marvel Universe]] continuity. He produced an adaptation and expansion of the film ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (comics)|2001: A Space Odyssey]]'',<ref>Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 180: "Marvel published its adaptation of director Stanley Kubrick and writer Arthur C. Clarke's classic science fiction film ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' as an oversize ''Marvel Treasury Special''."</ref> as well as an abortive attempt to do the same for the classic television series ''[[The Prisoner in other media#Marvel Comics|The Prisoner]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hatfield |first=Charles |url=http://www.twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/11prisoner.html |title=Once Upon A Time: Kirby's Prisoner |journal=The Jack Kirby Collector |issue=11 |date=July 1996 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114034446/http://twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/11prisoner.html |archive-date=November 14, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> He wrote and drew ''Black Panther'' and drew numerous covers across the line.<ref name=gcdjack />

Kirby's other Marvel creations in this period include [[Machine Man]]<ref>Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 185: "In [''2001: A Space Odyssey''] issue #8, cover dated July 1977, [Jack] Kirby introduced a robot whom he originally dubbed 'Mister Machine.' Marvel's ''2001'' series eventually came to an end but Kirby's robot protagonist went on to star in his own comic book series as Machine Man."</ref> and [[Devil Dinosaur]].<ref>Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 185: "Jack Kirby's final major creation for Marvel Comics was perhaps his most unusual hero: an intelligent dinosaur resembling a ''Tyrannosaurus rex''."</ref> Kirby's final comics collaboration with Stan Lee, ''The Silver Surfer: The Ultimate Cosmic Experience'', was published in 1978 as part of the [[Marvel Fireside Books]] series and is considered Marvel's first [[graphic novel]].<ref>Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 187: "[In 1978], Simon & Schuster's Fireside Books published a paperback book titled ''The Silver Surfer'' by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby ... This book was later recognized as Marvel's first true graphic novel."</ref>

===Film and animation (1979–1980)===
Still dissatisfied with Marvel's treatment of him,<ref>"Ploog & Kirby Quit Marvel over Contract Dispute", ''The Comics Journal'' #44, January 1979, p. 11.</ref> and with an offer of employment from [[Hanna-Barbera]], a job located in nearby Hollywood,<ref>Evanier, ''King of Comics'', p. 189: "In 1978, an idea found him. It was an offer from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon studio in Hollywood."</ref> Kirby left Marvel to work in animation. In that field for [[Ruby-Spears Productions]] he did designs for ''[[Turbo Teen]]'', ''[[Thundarr the Barbarian]]'' and other animated series for television.<ref name="DAK2"/> In addition to a superior pay to his comics work, Kirby enjoyed excellent relations with the staff, especially with the younger artists who typically credited him as their inspiration.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Evanier |title=Kirby |pages=189–191}}</ref> He worked on ''[[The New Fantastic Four]]'' animated series, reuniting him with scriptwriter Stan Lee and they kept their relations sufficiently cordial on a professional level.<ref>{{cite journal|last= Fischer|first= Stuart|title= The Fantastic Four and Other Things: A Television History|journal= Back Issue!|issue= 74|page= 30|publisher= TwoMorrows Publishing|date= August 2014|location= Raleigh, North Carolina|quote= Stan Lee was a consultant to this series, and Jack Kirby played a very important part in this show as an animator and helped design the show.}}</ref> He illustrated an adaptation of the [[The Walt Disney Company|Walt Disney]] movie ''[[The Black Hole]]'' for ''[[Walt Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales]]'' syndicated comic strip in 1979–80.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lambiek.net/artists/k/kirby.htm |title=Jack Kirby |date=March 6, 2009 |publisher=[[Lambiek|Lambiek Comiclopedia]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327061419/http://www.lambiek.net/artists/k/kirby.htm |archive-date=March 27, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1979, Kirby drew concept art for film producer Barry Geller's script treatment adapting [[Roger Zelazny]]'s science fiction novel, ''[[Lord of Light]]'', for which Geller had purchased the rights. In collaboration, Geller commissioned Kirby to draw set designs that would be used as architectural renderings for a Colorado [[theme park]] to be called Science Fiction Land; Geller announced his plans at a November press conference attended by Kirby, former American football star [[Rosey Grier]], writer [[Ray Bradbury]], and others. While the film did not come to fruition, Kirby's drawings were used for the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]'s "[[Canadian Caper]]", in which some members of the [[Embassy of the United States, Tehran|U.S. embassy in Tehran]], Iran, who had avoided capture in the [[Iran hostage crisis]], were able to escape the country posing as members of a movie location-scouting crew.<ref>{{cite journal |author-link=Joshuah Bearman |last=Bearman |first=Joshuah |url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.05/feat_cia.html |title=How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran |volume=15 |newspaper=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |issue=5 |date=April 24, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823200833/http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.05/feat_cia.html |archive-date=August 23, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Final years (1981–1994)===
[[File:Bombast1.jpg|thumb|right|Topps Comics' ''Bombast'' #1 (April 1993). Cover art by Kirby.<!--pencils & inks, per GCD-->]]

In the early 1980s, Kirby and [[Pacific Comics]], a new, non-newsstand comic-book publisher, made one of the industry's earliest deals for [[creator-owned]] series, resulting in ''[[Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers]]'',<ref>{{cite journal|last= Catron|first= Michael|author-link= Michael Catron|title= Kirby's Newest: ''Captain Victory''|journal= [[Amazing Heroes]]|issue= 2|page= 14|publisher= Fantagraphics Books|date= July 1981}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last = Morrow|first = John|chapter = The Captain Victory Connection|title = The Collected Jack Kirby Collector ''Volume 1''|publisher = TwoMorrows Publishing|year = 2004|location = Raleigh, North Carolina|page = 105|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KI-et-e206EC&pg=PA105|isbn = 978-1893905009|access-date = July 19, 2016|archive-date = February 7, 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170207094146/https://books.google.com/books?id=KI-et-e206EC&pg=PA105|url-status = live}}</ref> and the six-issue miniseries ''[[Silver Star (comics)|Silver Star]]'' (later collected in hardcover format in 2007).<ref>{{cite web|author-link=Erik Larsen|last=Larsen|first=Erik|url= https://www.cbr.com/issue-73/|title=One Fan's Opinion: Issue #73|website=Comic Book Resources|date=February 18, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113110640/http://comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=15495|archive-date=January 13, 2010|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Kean|first= Benjamin Ong Pang|url=http://classic.newsarama.com/Comic-Con_07/Image/KIrbyverse.html |title=SDCC '07: Erik Larsen, Eric Stephenson on Image's Kirby Plans|work=[[Newsarama]]|date= July 29, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090329225033/http://classic.newsarama.com/Comic-Con_07/Image/KIrbyverse.html |archive-date=March 29, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Kean|first= Benjamin Ong Pang|url=http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=111059|title=The Current Image: Erik Larsen on Jack Kirby's Silver Star|work=Newsarama|date= May 2, 2007| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090329012943/http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=111059 |archive-date=March 29, 2009}}</ref> This, together with similar actions by other [[independent comics]] publishers as [[Eclipse Comics]] (where Kirby co-created the character [[Destroyer Duck]] in a benefit comic-book series published to help [[Steve Gerber]] fight a legal case against Marvel),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/destroyd.htm |title=Destroyer Duck |first=Don |last=Markstein |year=2006 |publisher=Don Markstein's Toonopedia |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913135335/http://www.toonopedia.com/destroyd.htm |archive-date=September 13, 2012 |url-status=live |quote=[T]he centerpiece of the issue was Gerber's own Destroyer Duck ... himself. The artist who worked with Gerber was the legendary Jack Kirby, who, as co-creator of The Fantastic Four, The Avengers, X-Men and many other cornerstones of Marvel's success, had issues of his own with the company. }}</ref> helped establish a precedent to end the monopoly of the work-for-hire system, wherein comics creators, even freelancers, had owned no rights to characters they created.<ref>George 2002, p. 73</ref>

In 1983 Richard Kyle commissioned Kirby to create a 10-page autobiographical strip, "[[Street Code]]", which became one of the last works published in Kirby's lifetime. It was published in 1990, in the second issue of Kyle's revival of ''[[Argosy (magazine)|Argosy]]''.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Morrow |editor1-first=John |title=Collected Jack Kirby Collector |date=February 19, 2004 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=1893905004 |page=129}}</ref> Kirby continued to do periodic work for DC Comics during the 1980s, including a brief revival of his "Fourth World" saga in the 1984 and 1985 ''[[Super Powers Collection|Super Powers]]'' miniseries<ref>Manning, Matthew K. "1980s" in Dolan, p. 208: "In association with the toy company Kenner, DC released a line of toys called Super Powers ... DC soon debuted a five-issue ''Super Powers'' miniseries plotted by comic book legend Jack 'King' Kirby, scripted by Joey Cavalieri, and with pencils by Adrian Gonzales."</ref> and the 1985 graphic novel ''The Hunger Dogs''. DC executives [[Jenette Kahn]] and [[Paul Levitz]] had Kirby re-design the Fourth World characters for the ''Super Powers'' toyline as a way of entitling him to royalties for several of his DC creations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/comic-book-legends-revealed-454/amp/|title=Comic Book Legends Revealed #454|last=Cronin|first=Brian|date=January 17, 2014|website=Comic Book Resources|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409104134/http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2014/01/17/comic-book-legends-revealed-454/2/|archive-date=April 9, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1985, Kirby and [[Gil Kane]] helped to create the concept and designs for the [[Ruby-Spears]] animated television series ''[[The Centurions (TV series)|The Centurions]]''. A comic-book series based on the show was published by DC and a toy line produced by [[Kenner Products|Kenner]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/power-xtreme-everything-you-didnt-know-about-centurions |title=Power Xtreme! Everything you didn't know about Centurions |date=December 4, 2019 |website=[[Syfy Wire]] |access-date=December 4, 2019}}</ref>

In the twilight of his life, Kirby spent a great deal of time sparring with Marvel executives over the ownership rights of his original page boards. At Marvel, many of these pages owned by the company (due to outdated and legally dubious copyright claims) were given away as promotional gifts to Marvel clients or simply stolen from company warehouses.{{sfn|Van Lente|Dunlavey|2012|page=157}} After the passage of the [[Copyright Act of 1976]], which greatly expanded artist copyright capabilities, comics publishers began to return original art to creators, but in Marvel's case only if they signed a release reaffirming Marvel's ownership of the copyright. In 1985, Marvel issued a release that demanded Kirby affirm that his art was created for hire, allowing Marvel to retain copyright in perpetuity, in addition to demanding that Kirby forego all future royalties. Marvel offered him 88 pages of his art (less than 1% of his total output) if he signed the agreement, but reserved the right to reclaim the art if Kirby violated the deal.{{sfn|Van Lente|Dunlavey|2012|pages=157–160}} After Kirby publicly slammed Marvel, calling the company thugs and claiming they were arbitrarily holding his creations, Marvel finally returned (after two years of deliberations) approximately 1,900<ref name=tcjkirbygoliath>{{cite journal | title = Kirby and Goliath: The Fight for Jack Kirby's Marvel Artwork | first=Michael | last= Dean |url=http://www.tcj.com/kirby-and-goliath-the-fight-for-jack-kirbys-marvel-artwork/ | journal = The Comics Journal| date= December 29, 2002 | access-date = October 31, 2013 | archive-date= July 31, 2013 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130731000800/http://www.tcj.com/kirby-and-goliath-the-fight-for-jack-kirbys-marvel-artwork/}}</ref> or 2,100 pages of the estimated 10,000 to 13,000 Kirby drew for the company.<ref name=glengold>{{Cite journal|url=http://twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/19stolen.html|first=Glen|last= Gold|title=The Stolen Art|journal= The Jack Kirby Collector|issue =19|date=April 1998|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101223233337/http://twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/19stolen.html| archive-date= December 23, 2010|access-date=January 12, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=tcj116p15>{{cite journal|title= Marvel Returns Art to Kirby, Adams|journal= The Comics Journal|issue= 116|page= 15|publisher= Fantagraphics Books|date= July 1987|location= Seattle, Washington}}</ref>

For the producer [[Charles Band]], Jack Kirby made concept art for the films ''Doctor Mortalis'' and ''Mindmaster'', which were later released as ''[[Doctor Mordrid]]'' (1992) and [[Mandroid (film)|''Mandroid'']] (1993), respectively.<ref>{{Google books|f3Vig8A-GJsC|Collected Jack Kirby Collector|page=113|keywords=Mordrid+Mortalis+Jack+Kirby|text=|plainurl=}}</ref> ''Doctor Mordrid'' began as a planned adaptation of the Marvel Comics character [[Dr. Strange]], but Band's option expired.<ref name="Living Myth">{{cite web|last=Pauls|first=J. B.|title=The Rewind: ''Doctor Mordrid''|url=http://livingmythmagazine.com/blog/2014/04/21/rewind-doctor-mordrid/|work=Living Myth Magazine |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140717061204/http://livingmythmagazine.com/blog/2014/04/21/rewind-doctor-mordrid/|archive-date= July 17, 2014|url-status=dead|access-date=May 9, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Fischer|first=Dennis|title=Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895–1998|date=2011|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|isbn=978-0-78648-505-5|page=88|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7msrAwAAQBAJ&q=%22Doctor+Mordrid%22|access-date=November 12, 2020|archive-date=February 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204001334/https://books.google.com/books?id=7msrAwAAQBAJ&q=%22Doctor+Mordrid%22|url-status=live}}</ref>

For [[Topps Comics]], founded in 1993, Kirby retained ownership of characters used in multiple series of what the company dubbed "[[Kirbyverse|The Kirbyverse]]".{{sfn|Evanier|2008|page=207}} These titles were derived mainly from designs and concepts Kirby had kept in his files, some intended initially for the by-then-defunct Pacific Comics, and then licensed to Topps for what became the "[[Secret City Saga|Jack Kirby's Secret City Saga]]" mythos.<ref>{{cite book|last = Jon B.|first = Cooke|chapter= Twilight at Topps|title = The Collected Jack Kirby Collector ''Volume 5''|publisher = TwoMorrows Publishing|year = 2006|location= Raleigh, North Carolina|pages = 149–153|isbn = 978-1-893905-57-3}}</ref> ''Phantom Force'' was the last comic book Kirby worked on before his death. The story was co-written by Kirby with Michael Thibodeaux and Richard French, based on an eight-page pitch for an unused [[Bruce Lee]] comic in 1978.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=eHM3vW6ogDsC&q=Jack+Kirby+Phantom+Force+Bruce+Lee&pg=PA171|title= The Collected Jack Kirby Collector, Volume 3|publisher= TwoMorrows Publishing|location= Raleigh, North Carolina|first= John|last= Morrow|isbn= 978-1-89390-502-3|year= 2004|access-date= November 12, 2020|archive-date= February 6, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210206112025/https://books.google.com/books?id=eHM3vW6ogDsC&q=Jack+Kirby+Phantom+Force+Bruce+Lee&pg=PA171|url-status= live}}</ref> Issues #1 and 2 were published by [[Image Comics]] with various Image artists inking over Kirby's pencils. Issue #0 and issues #3–8 were published by Genesis West, with Kirby providing pencils for issues #0 and 4. Thibodeaux provided the art for the remaining issues of the series after Kirby died.<ref>{{cite book |title=Jack Kirby checklist. |date=2008 |publisher=TwoMorrows Pub. |location=Raleigh, N.C. |isbn=978-1605490052 |pages=57–8 |edition= Gold}}</ref>

==Personal life and death==
In the early 1940s, Kirby and his family moved to [[Brooklyn]].  Kirby met Rosalind "Roz" Goldstein, who lived in the same Brooklyn apartment building. The pair began dating soon afterward.{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=14}} Kirby proposed to Goldstein on her 18th birthday, and the two became engaged.{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=16}} They married on May 23, 1942.{{sfn|Evanier|2008|page=57}} The couple had four children: Susan (b. December 6, 1945),<ref name="TJKC10">{{cite journal|last= Morrow|first= John|title= Roz Kirby Interview Excerpts|journal= The Jack Kirby Collector|issue= 10|publisher= TwoMorrows Publishing|date= April 1996|location= Raleigh, North Carolina|url = http://twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/10roz.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131103065856/http://twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/10roz.html|archive-date= November 3, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Neal (b. May 1948),{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=46}} Barbara (b. November 1952),<ref>{{cite book|first=Greg |last=Theakston |title=The Jack Kirby Treasury Volume Two <!-- as spelled on copyright page-->| publisher=[[Eclipse Comics|Eclipse Books]]|location= Forestville, California|year=1991|page=39|isbn = 978-1-56060-134-0}}</ref> and Lisa (b. September 1960).<ref name="TJKC10" /><ref name=galacticlisa />

After being [[conscription|drafted]] into the [[U.S. Army]] and serving in the [[European Theater of Operations, United States Army|European Theater]] in [[World War II]],<ref>Ro 2004, chapter 3</ref> Kirby corresponded with his wife regularly by [[v-mail]], with Roz sending daily letters while she worked in a lingerie shop and lived with her mother{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=40}} at 2820 Brighton 7th <!--Brighton 7th is correct--> Street in Brooklyn.<ref>[[World War II]] [[V-mail]] letter from Kirby to Rosalind, in George 2002, p. 117</ref> During the winter of 1944, Kirby suffered severe [[frostbite]] and was taken to a hospital in London for recovery. Doctors considered amputating Kirby's legs, which had turned black, but he eventually recovered and was able to walk again.{{sfn|Ro|2004|pages=40–41}} He returned to the United States in January 1945, assigned to [[Camp Butner]] in North Carolina, where he spent the last six months of his service as part of the motor pool. Kirby was [[Honorable discharge|honorably discharged]] as a [[private first class]] on July 20, 1945, having received a [[Combat Infantryman Badge]], a [[European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal|European/African/Middle Eastern Campaign Medal]] with a bronze [[Service Star|Battle Star]].{{sfn|Evanier|2008|page=69}}{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=42}}

In 1949, Kirby bought a house for his family in [[Mineola, New York]] on [[Long Island]].{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=46}} It was the family's home for the next 20 years; Kirby worked out of a basement studio just {{convert|10|ft|m}} wide, which the family referred to jocularly as "The Dungeon".<ref name=HeroComplex>{{cite news | url = http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2012/04/09/growing-up-kirby-the-marvel-memories-of-jack-kirbys-son/#/0 | last = Kirby | first = Neal | title = Growing Up Kirby: The Marvel memories of Jack Kirby's son | date= April 9, 2012 | work = [[Los Angeles Times]] | access-date = December 28, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131027080956/http://herocomplex.latimes.com/comics/growing-up-kirby-the-marvel-memories-of-jack-kirbys-son/#/0 | archive-date= October 27, 2013 | url-status=live}}</ref> He moved the family to Southern California in early 1969, both to live in a drier climate for the sake of daughter Lisa's health and to be closer to the Hollywood studios Jack Kirby believed might provide work.<ref>Evanier, 2008, pp. 157, 160 (unnumbered): "... drove Jack to distraction, and from there to Southern California. In early 1969, the Kirbys moved west. The main reason was daughter Lisa's [[asthma]] and her need to live in a drier climate [than in New York State]. But Jack had another reason. ... Kirby had hopes that being close to Hollywood might bring him an entry to the movie business. ... Film seemed like the next logical outlet for his creativity. ...</ref>

In an interview, Kirby's granddaughter Jillian Kirby said Jack Kirby was a "liberal Democrat".<ref>{{cite web| url= https://news.marvel.com/comics/25014/jack_kirby_week_kirby4heroes/| title= Jack Kirby Week: Kirby4Heroes| date= August 25, 2015 | first= Jim| last= Beard| publisher= [[Marvel Comics]]| access-date= July 23, 2017| archive-date= July 23, 2017| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170723204108/https://news.marvel.com/comics/25014/jack_kirby_week_kirby4heroes |url-status= dead}}</ref> Jack Kirby held [[anti-communism|anti-communist]] views, once saying that "I was against the reds. I became a witch hunter. My enemies were the commies—I called them commies. In fact, [[Granny Goodness]] was a commie, [[Fighting American|Doubleheader]] was a commie."<ref>{{cite news|last=Groth|first=Gary|title=Jack Kirby Interview|url=https://www.tcj.com/jack-kirby-interview/5/|work=The Comics Journal|date=February 1990}}</ref>

On February 6, 1994, aged 76, Kirby died of heart failure in his [[Thousand Oaks, California]] home.<ref>{{cite news|title= Jack Kirby, 76; Created Comic-Book Superheroes|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/08/obituaries/jack-kirby-76-created-comic-book-superheroes.html|newspaper= [[The New York Times]]|date=February 8, 1994|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140701120738/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/08/obituaries/jack-kirby-76-created-comic-book-superheroes.html|archive-date= July 1, 2014|url-status=live|access-date= March 4, 2010}}</ref> He was buried at [[Valley Oaks Memorial Park]] in [[Westlake Village, California]].

==Artistic style and achievements==
Brent Staples wrote in the ''New York Times'':
{{blockquote|He created a new grammar of storytelling and a cinematic style of motion. Once-wooden characters cascaded from one frame to another—or even from page to page—threatening to fall right out of the book into the reader's lap. The force of punches thrown was visibly and explosively evident. Even at rest, a Kirby character pulsed with tension and energy in a way that makes movie versions of the same characters seem static by comparison.<ref name=nyt2007>{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/opinion/26sun3.html?_r=2&th&|title= Jack Kirby, a Comic Book Genius, Is Finally Remembered|first= Brent|last= Staples|date= August 26, 2007|newspaper= The New York Times|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140817032513/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/opinion/26sun3.html?_r=2&th&|archive-date=August 17, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Jack Kirby has been referred to as the "superhero of style", his artwork described by John Carlin in ''Masters of American Comics'' as "deliberately primitive and bombastic",{{sfn|Carlin|2005|page=101}} and elsewhere has been compared to [[Cubism|Cubist]],{{sfn|Hatfield|Saunders|2015|pages=119–123}} [[Futurism|Futurist]], [[Primitivism|Primitivist]] and [[outsider art]].{{sfn|Hatfield|Saunders|2015|page=11}} His contributions to the [[comic book]] form, including the many characters he created or co-created and the many [[genre]]s he worked on have led to him being referred to as the definitive comic book artist.{{sfn|Carlin|2005|page=261}} Given the number of places Kirby's artwork can now be found, the toys based on his designs, and the success of the [[List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films|movies]] based upon his work, [[Charles Hatfield]] and Ben Saunders said he was "one of the chief architects of the American imagination."{{sfn|Hatfield|Saunders|2015|page=9}} He was regarded as a hard working artist, and it has been calculated that he drew at least 20,318 pages of published art and a further 1,385 covers in his career. He published 1,158 pages in 1962 alone.<ref>{{cite web |title=1993: Jack Kirby: The Hardest Working Man in Comics by Steve Pastis |url=http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/effect/ |website=The Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center |access-date=May 31, 2018 |date=April 28, 2018 |archive-date=May 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180530161119/http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/effect/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Kirby defined comics in two periods. His work in the early 1940s with [[Joe Simon]] on the [[Captain America]] strip, and then his superhero comics of the 1960s with [[Stan Lee]] at [[Marvel Comics]] and on his own at [[DC Comics]].<ref name=RC>{{cite journal | author=Harvey, R.C. |author-link=R.C. Harvey| title =What Jack Kirby Did | journal = The Comics Journal | issue =167 | date=April 1994 | issn=0194-7869 }} Reprinted in George 2002, p. 61-73</ref> Kirby also created stories in almost every genre of comics, from the autobiographical ''[[Street Code]]'' to the apocalyptic science fiction fantasy of [[Kamandi]].{{sfn|Hatfield|2012|pages=6–7}}

===Narrative approach to comics===
Like many of his contemporaries, Kirby was hugely indebted to [[Milton Caniff]], [[Hal Foster]], and [[Alex Raymond]] who codified many of the tropes of narrative art in adventure [[comic strip]]s. It has also been suggested that Kirby drew from [[Burne Hogarth]], whose dynamic figure work may have informed the way Kirby drew figures; "his ferocious bounding, and grotesquely articulated figures seem directly descended from Hogarth's dynamically contorted forms."{{sfn|Hatfield|2012|page=61}} His style drew on these influences, all major artists at the time Kirby was learning his craft, with Caniff, Foster and Raymond between them imparting to the sequential adventure comic strip a highly illustrative approach based on realizing the setting to a very high degree. Where Kirby diverged from these influences, and where his style impacted on the formation of comic book art, was in his move away from an illustrated approach to one that was more dynamic. Kirby's artistic style was one that captured energy and motion within the image, synergizing with the text and helping to serve the narrative. In contrast, successors to the illustrative approach, such as [[Gil Kane]], found their work eventually reach an impasse. The art would illustrate, but in lacking movement caused the reader to contemplate the art as much as the written word. Later artists such as [[Bryan Hitch]] and [[Alex Ross]] combined the Kirby and Kane approaches, using highly realistic backgrounds contrasted with dynamic characters to create what became known as a widescreen approach to comics.{{sfn|Hatfield|2012|pages=63–65}}

Kirby's dynamism and energy served to push the reader through the story where an illustrative, detailed approach would cause the eye to linger.{{sfn|Hatfield|2012|pages=65–67}} His reduction of the presentation of a given scene down to one that represents the semblance of movement has led Kirby to be described as cinematic in his style.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hatfield |first1=Charles |title=Alternative comics : an emerging literature |date=2005 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |location=Jackson, Miss. |isbn=1578067197 |page=54 |edition= 1st}}</ref> Kirby had worked at [[Fleischer Studios]] before coming to comics and had a grounding in animation techniques for producing motion. He also realized that comic books were not subject to the same constraints as the newspaper strip. While other comic book artists recreated the layouts that format used, Kirby swiftly utilized the space a whole comic book page created.<ref name=RC /> As Ron Goulart describes, "(h)e broke up the pages in new ways and introduced splash panels that stretched across two pages."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goulart |first1=Ron |title=The great comic book artists |date=1986 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=New York |isbn=0312345577 |page=56 |edition= 1st}}</ref> Kirby himself described the creation of his dynamic style as a reaction both to the cinema and to the urge to create and compete: "I found myself competing with the movie camera. I had to compete with the camera. I felt like [[John Henry (folklore)|John Henry]]... I tore my characters out of the panels. I made them jump all over the page. I tried to make that cohesive so that it would be easier to read... I had to get my characters in extreme positions, and in doing so I created an extreme style which was recognizable by everybody."{{sfn|Eisner|2001|page=211}}

===Style===
[[File:Fantastic Four issue 51 page 14.jpg|thumb|left|''Fantastic Four'' #51 (June 1966) p. 14; collage and pencilled figure by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Sinnott, letters by [[Artie Simek]], dialogue by Stan Lee, illustrating Kirby's use of collage]]

In the early 1940s Kirby at times disregarded [[Glossary of comics terminology#Panel|panel]] borders. A character was drawn in one panel, but their shoulder and arm would extend outside the border, into the [[Glossary of comics terminology#Gutter|gutter]] and sometimes on top of a nearby panel. A character may be punched out of one panel, feet being in the original panel and body in the next. Panels themselves would overlap, and Kirby found new ways to arrange panels on a comic book page. His figures were depicted as lithe and graceful, although Kirby would place them thrusting from the page towards the reader.{{sfn|Hatfield|2012|pages=24–25, 69–73}}{{sfn|Hatfield|Saunders|2015|page=11}}<ref name=RCH>{{cite book |last1=Harvey |first1=Robert C. |title=The art of the comic book : an aesthetic history |date=1996 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |location=Jackson |isbn=0878057587 |page=[https://archive.org/details/artofcomicbookae0000harv/page/33 33] |url=https://archive.org/details/artofcomicbookae0000harv/page/33 }}</ref> In the late 1940s and 1950s Kirby moved away from superhero comics and working with Joe Simon worked in a number of genres. Kirby and Simon created the [[romance comics]] genre, and working in this as well as the war, Western and crime genres saw Kirby's style change. He left behind the diverse panel framing and layouts. The nature of the genres enabled him to channel the energy into the posing and blocking of characters, forcing the drama into the constraints of the panel.{{sfn|Hatfield|Saunders|2015|page=11}}

When Kirby and [[Stan Lee]] came together at [[Marvel Comics]], his art developed again. His characters and representations became more abstract, less anatomically correct. He placed figures across three planes of a panel's depth to suggest three dimensions.<ref name=AC>Hatfield (2005), pp. 54–55</ref> His backgrounds were less detailed where he did not want the eye to be drawn.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fischer |first1=Craig |title=Kirby: Attention Paid |url=http://www.tcj.com/kirby-attention-paid/ |website=The Comics Journal |publisher=Fantagraphics Press |access-date=May 31, 2018 |date=November 21, 2011 |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612144100/http://www.tcj.com/kirby-attention-paid/ |url-status=live }}</ref> His figures moved actively along diagonals<ref name=AC /> and he utilized [[foreshortening]] to make a character appear to recede more deeply into the panel, so that they appeared to move towards the reader off the page.<ref name=RCH /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Feiffer |first1=Jules |title=The great comic book heroes |date=2003 |quote= Muscles stretched magically, foreshortened shockingly. | publisher=Fantagraphics Books |location=Seattle, Wash. |isbn=978-1-56097-501-4 |page=59 |edition= 1st Fantagraphics Books}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Conversations With Jack Kirby|editor=Morrow, John|isbn=1893905020|magazine=The Collected Jack Kirby Collector|publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]]|date=2004|volume=3|page=40}}</ref> During the 1960s Kirby also developed a talent for creating [[collage]]s, initially utilizing them within the pages of ''[[The Fantastic Four]]''. He introduced the [[Negative Zone]] as a place within the Marvel Universe that would only be illustrated via collage. However, the reproduction within the published comics of the collages, coupled with the low page rate he was being paid and the time they took to develop saw their use discarded.{{sfn|Evanier|2008|page=171}} Kirby would later return to the use of collage in his Fourth World work at [[DC Comics]]. Here he used them most often in the pages of ''[[Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen]]''.{{sfn|Hatfield|Saunders|2015|pages=89–99}}

Kirby's style in the late 1960s was regarded so highly by Stan Lee that he instituted it as Marvel's house style. Lee would instruct other artists to draw more like Jack, and would also assign them books to work on using Kirby's breakdowns of the story so that they could more closely hew to Kirby's style.{{sfn|Hatfield|2012|page=9}} Over time, Kirby's style has become so well known that imitations, homages and pastiche are referred to as Kirbyesque.<ref>{{cite journal | title =Generally Speaking | journal = The Comics Journal | issue =107 | page=37 | date=April 1986 | issn=0194-7869}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sabin |first1=Roger |title=Comics, comix & graphic novels |date=2001 |publisher=Phaidon |location=London |isbn=978-0-71483-993-6 |pages=110, 134 & 150 |edition= Repr.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=[interviews] by [[Roy Thomas]] & Jim Amash; introduction by [[Stan Lee]] |title=John Romita --and all that jazz! |date=2007 |publisher=TwoMorrows Pub. |location=Raleigh, N.C. |isbn=978-1893905757 |page=155}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The Rick Veitch Interview |url=http://www.tcj.com/the-rick-veitch-interview/ |newspaper=The Comics Journal |date=May 24, 2013 |publisher=Fantagraphics Press |access-date=May 31, 2018 |archive-date=August 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825201617/http://www.tcj.com/the-rick-veitch-interview/ |url-status=live }} Originally published in ''The Comics Journal'' #175 (March 1995)</ref>

[[Kirby Krackle]], also referred to as Kirby Dots,<ref name="Keith">{{cite encyclopedia | title=Kirby, Jack | encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels | publisher=ABC-CLIO | author=Crowder, Craig | editor=Booker, M. Keith | year=2010 | location=Santa Barbara, CA | pages=353}}</ref> is Kirby's artistic convention of depicting the effect of energy. Within the drawing, a field of black, pseudo-[[fractal]] images is used to represent [[negative space]] around unspecified kinds of [[energy]].<ref name="Foley">{{cite magazine|last=Foley |first=Shane |url=http://www.twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/33krackle.html |title=Kracklin' Kirby: Tracing the advent of Kirby Krackle |magazine=Jack Kirby Collector |issue=33 |date=November 2001 |access-date=April 30, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130183009/http://twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/33krackle.html |archive-date=November 30, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Mendryk">{{cite web |first=Harry |last=Mendryk |url=http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/simonandkirby/archives/3997 |title=Evolution of Kirby Krackle |publisher=Jack Kirby Museum: "Simon and Kirby" |date=September 3, 2011 |access-date=April 30, 2015 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120604171405/http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/simonandkirby/archives/3997 | archive-date = June 4, 2012 | url-status=live}}</ref> Kirby Krackles are typically used in illustrations of [[explosion]]s, smoke, the blasts from [[Raygun|ray guns]], "cosmic" energy, and outer space phenomena.<ref name="Duncan-Smith">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M_bRZ_et8BIC&pg=PA413 | title=Icons of the American Comic Book: From Captain America to Wonder Woman: From Captain America to Wonder Woman | publisher=ABC-CLIO | author=Duncan, Randy | year=2010 | location=Santa Barbara, CA | pages=353 | isbn=978-0-31335-747-3 | author2=Smith, Matthew J. | access-date=May 31, 2018 | archive-date=June 17, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617053344/https://books.google.com/books?id=M_bRZ_et8BIC&pg=PA413 | url-status=live }}</ref> The advanced technology Kirby drew, from the [[Afrofuturistic]] state of [[Wakanda]] through the [[Mother Box]]es of the [[New Gods]] to the spaceships and design of [[Celestial (comics)|the Celestials]] is gathered together under the collective term "Kirby Tech".<ref>{{cite book |first1=Adilifu |last1=Nama |title=Super Black: American Pop Culture and Black Superheroes |date=2011 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0-29274-252-9 |page=48}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Duncan |editor-first1=Randy |editor-last2=Smith |editor-first2=Matthew J.|title=Icons of the American comic book : from Captain America to Wonder Woman |date=2013 |publisher=Greenwood |location=Santa Barbara, Calif. |isbn=978-0313399237 |page=368}}</ref> [[John Paul Leon]] has described it as "It's tech; it's mechanical even if it's alien, but it's drawn in such an organic way that you don't question it. It's just an extension of his world. I'm not sure who else you could say did that."<ref>{{cite book |editor-first1=John |editor-last1=Morrow|editor-first2=Jon B. |editor-last2=Cooke |title=Kirby100: 100 Top Creators Celebrate Jack Kirby's Greatest Work |date=2017 |publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]] |isbn=978-1605490786 |page=184}}</ref> Kirby's depiction of technology is linked by Charles Hatfield to [[Leo Marx]]'s idea of the technological sublime, specifically utilizing [[Edmund Burke]]'s definition of the [[Sublime (philosophy)#Edmund Burke|Sublime]]. Using this definition, Kirby's view and depiction of technology is that of it as something to be feared.{{sfn|Hatfield|2012|pages=144–171}}

===Working method===
[[File:The_Demon_issue_1_splash.jpg|thumb|right|Jack Kirby's detailed pencils for the splash page to ''[[Etrigan the Demon|The Demon]]'' #1 [[DC Comics]] (September 1972)]]

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Kirby did not use preliminary sketches, rough work or layouts. He would instead start with the blank board and draw the story onto the page from top to bottom, start to finish. Many artists, including [[Carmine Infantino]], Gil Kane and [[Jim Steranko]] have remarked on the unusual nature of his method. Kirby would rarely erase while working; the art, and therefore the story, would flow from him almost fully formed.{{sfn|Hatfield|2012|page=58}} Kirby's pencils had a reputation for being detailed, to the point that they were difficult to ink.<ref>{{Citation|title=Walt Simonson Interviewed|editor=Morrow, John|isbn=1893905020|magazine=The Collected Jack Kirby Collector|publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]]|date=2004|volume=3|page=112|quote= ... it's so powerful in pencil, it's really hard to ink it and really retain the full flavour of the pencils. I think a lot of really good inkers have not been able to do that}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Chic Stone Speaks|editor=Morrow, John|isbn=1893905020|magazine=The Collected Jack Kirby Collector|publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]]|date=2004|volume=3|page=90|quote=I was totally awestruck by the magnificent penciling ... no one inker could improve on Jack's penciling}}</ref> [[Will Eisner]] remembers even in the early years that Kirby's pencils were "tight".{{sfn|Eisner|2001|page=199}} Working for Eisner, Kirby initially inked with a pen, not confident enough in his ability to use the Japanese brushes Lou Fine and Eisner preferred.{{sfn|Eisner|2001|page=213}} By the time Kirby worked with [[Joe Simon]], Kirby had taught himself to use a brush, and would on occasion ink over inked work where he felt it was needed.{{sfn|Eisner|2001|page=209}}

Due to the amount of work Kirby produced, it was rare for him to ink his own work. Instead the pencilled pages were sent on to an inker; different inkers left their own stylistic stamp on the published version. As Kirby noted, individual inkers were suited to different genres.<ref name=ink>Interview, ''The Nostalgia Journal'' #30–1, November 1976 – December 1976, reprinted in George 2002, p. 10</ref> Harry Mendryk has suggested that for a period in the 1950s, Kirby inked himself due to other work drying up.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mendryk |first1=Harry |title=Jack Kirby's Austere Inking, Chapter 1, Introduction |url=http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/simonandkirby/archives/824 |website=Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center |access-date=May 30, 2018 |date=April 7, 2007 |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143015/http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/simonandkirby/archives/824 |url-status=live }}</ref> By the late 1960s, Kirby preferred to pencil, feeling that "inking in itself is a separate kind of art."<ref name=ink /> [[Stan Lee]] recalls Kirby not really being too interested in who inked him: "I cared much more about who inked Kirby than Kirby did... Kirby never seemed to care who inked him... I think Kirby felt his style was so strong that it just didn't matter who inked him".<ref>{{cite journal |editor1-last=Thomas |editor1-first=Roy |editor1-link=Roy Thomas |title=The Retrospective Stan Lee |journal=Alter Ego |date=2017 |issue=150 |page=13 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing}}</ref> [[Chic Stone]], an inker of Kirby's during the 1960s at Marvel, recalled "(T)he two best [inkers] for Jack were [[Mike Royer]] and [[Steve Rude]]. Both truly maintained the integrity of Jack's pencils."<ref>Morrow, p. 90</ref>

The size of the [[Bristol board|art board]] made a difference to Kirby's style. During the late 1960s the industry shrunk the size of the art board artists used. Prior to 1967, art boards were around 14 x 21 inches, being reproduced at 7 x 10 inches. After 1967 the size of the board shrunk to 10 x 15.{{sfn|Hatfield|Saunders|2015|pages=36–37}} This affected the way Kirby drew. Gil Kane noted that "the amount of space around the figures became less and less... The figures became bigger and bigger, and they couldn't be contained by a single panel or even a single page".{{sfn|Hatfield|Saunders|2015|page=28}} Professor Craig Fischer asserts Kirby at first "hated" the new size.{{sfn|Hatfield|Saunders|2015|page=37}} Fischer argues that it took Kirby around 18 months to negotiate a way of working at the smaller size. Initially he retreated to a less detailed, close up style, as seen in ''[[Fantastic Four (comic book)|Fantastic Four]]'' #68. In adjusting to the new size, Kirby began utilizing depth to bring the pages to life, increasing his use of foreshortening.{{sfn|Hatfield|Saunders|2015|page=37}} By the time Kirby had moved to DC, he started to incorporate the use of two-page spreads into his art more. These spreads helped define the mood of the story, and came to define Kirby's late era work.{{sfn|Hatfield|Saunders|2015|pages=149–157}}

===Exhibitions and original art===
Kirby's art has been exhibited as part of the Masters of American Comics joint exhibition by [[The Hammer Museum]] and [[Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles]] from November 2005 to March 2006.<ref>{{cite web|title=Masters of American Comics|date=November 20, 2005 |url=https://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2005/masters-of-american-comics/|publisher=[[The Hammer Museum]]|access-date=May 31, 2018|archive-date=June 9, 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20180609221650/https://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2005/masters-of-american-comics/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2015 Charles Hatfield curated the "Comic Book Apocalypse" exhibition at the [[California State University, Northridge]] Art Galleries. The exhibition focused on Kirby's work from 1965 onward.<ref>{{cite web |title=Comic Book Apocalypse: The Graphic World of Jack Kirby |url=https://www.csun.edu/mike-curb-arts-media-communication/events/comic-book-apocalypse-graphic-world-jack-kirby |website=California State University, Northridge |access-date=May 31, 2018 |date=July 2015 |archive-date=March 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330104710/http://www.csun.edu/mike-curb-arts-media-communication/events/comic-book-apocalypse-graphic-world-jack-kirby |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2018 "A Jack Kirby Odyssey" was organized by Tom Kraft. The exhibition displayed photocopies of unpublished Kirby pencils for stories intended for publication in the ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (comics)|2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' comic book adaptation series as well as reproductions of the published work.<ref>{{cite web |title=Take "A Jack Kirby Odyssey" in NYC May 11–13! |url=http://kirbymuseum.org/blog/2018/04/19/kirby-odyssey/ |website=Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center |access-date=May 31, 2018 |date=April 19, 2018 |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612140021/http://kirbymuseum.org/blog/2018/04/19/kirby-odyssey/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1994 [[The Cartoon Museum|The Cartoon Art Trust]] organized an exhibition in
[[London]] of Kirby art, "Jack Kirby: The King of Comic Books", in the wake of Kirby's death.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Morrow |editor1-first=John |title=Collected Jack Kirby Collector |date=February 19, 2004 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=1893905004 |page=67}}</ref> In 2010 Dan Nadel and [[Paul Gravett]] curated "Jack Kirby: The House That Jack Built", a retrospective of Kirby's career from 1942 to 1985. The exhibition was part of the [[Fumetto International Comics Festival]] held in [[Lucerne, Switzerland]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Jack Kirby: The House That Jack Built |url=http://www.paulgravett.com/articles/article/jack_kirby2 |website=Paul Gravett |access-date=May 31, 2018 |archive-date=July 23, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723034358/http://www.paulgravett.com/articles/article/jack_kirby2 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Kirby's original art regularly sells at auction, with [[Heritage Auctions]] listing the cover of ''[[Tales of Suspense]]'' #84, inked by [[Frank Giacoia]] as realizing a price of $167,300 in a February 2014 auction.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jack Kirby |url=https://fineart.ha.com/artist-index/jack-kirby.s?id=500022980 |website=Heritage Auctions |access-date=May 31, 2018 |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141444/https://fineart.ha.com/artist-index/jack-kirby.s?id=500022980 |url-status=live }}</ref> A large portion of Kirby's art remains unaccounted for. Work created around [[World War II]] would have been reused or pulped due to paper shortages. [[DC Comics]] had a policy of destroying original art in the 1950s. [[Marvel Comics]] also destroyed art until 1960, when it stored artwork prior to a policy which had art returned to the artist. In Kirby's case, it is reported that about 2,100 pieces of the estimated 10,000 pages drawn were returned to him. The whereabouts of the missing pages are unknown, although some do turn up for sale, provenance unknown.<ref>{{citation | author = Gold, Glen | magazine = Jack Kirby Collector | issue = 19 | date = April 1998 | title = The Stolen Art | url = http://www.twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/19stolen.html | access-date = May 31, 2018 | archive-date = August 1, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180801231454/http://www.twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/19stolen.html | url-status = live }}</ref>{{sfn|Hatfield|2012|page=79}}

==Kirby's estate==
===Subsequent releases===
[[File:Jack Kirby 1980s by Marc Hempel.jpg|thumb|right|Kirby in the 1980s]]

Lisa Kirby announced in early 2006 that she and co-writer Steve Robertson, with artist Mike Thibodeaux, planned to publish via the Marvel Comics [[Icon Comics|Icon]] [[imprint (trade name)|imprint]] a six-issue [[Limited series (comics)|limited series]], ''[[Jack Kirby's Galactic Bounty Hunters]]'', featuring characters and concepts created by her father for ''Captain Victory''.<ref name=galacticlisa>{{cite news |last=Brady |first=Matt |url=http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?threadid=63600 |title=Lisa Kirby, Mike Thibodeaux, & Tom Brevoort on Galactic Bounty Hunters |work=Newsarama|date=April 20, 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090915195759/http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?threadid=63600 |archive-date=September 15, 2009}}</ref> The series, scripted by Lisa Kirby, Robertson, Thibodeaux, and Richard French, with pencil art by Jack Kirby and Thibodeaux, and inking by Scott Hanna and [[Karl Kesel]] primarily, ran an initial five issues (Sept. 2006–Jan. 2007) and then a later final issue (Sept. 2007).<ref>[http://www.maelmill-insi.de/UHBMCC/icon.htm#S6219 ''Jack Kirby's Galactic Bounty Hunters''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725122638/http://www.maelmill-insi.de/UHBMCC/icon.htm#S6219 |date=July 25, 2015 }} at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators</ref>

Marvel posthumously published a "lost" Kirby/Lee ''Fantastic Four'' story, ''Fantastic Four: The Lost Adventure'' (April 2008), with unused pages Kirby had originally drawn for a story that was partially published in ''Fantastic Four'' #108 (March 1971).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/02/13/fantastic-four-the-lost-adventure-1-review|title=''Fantastic Four: The Lost Adventure'' #1 Review|last=Schedeen|first=Jesse|date=February 13, 2008|website=IGN|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802012123/http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/02/13/fantastic-four-the-lost-adventure-1-review|archive-date=August 2, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://www.maelmill-insi.de/UHBMCC/fantfo18.htm#S8055 ''Fantastic Four: The Lost Adventure''] at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160601025233/http://www.maelmill-insi.de/UHBMCC/fantfo18.htm Archived] from the original on June 1, 2016.</ref>

In 2011, [[Dynamite Entertainment]] published ''Kirby: Genesis'', an eight-issue miniseries by writer [[Kurt Busiek]] and artists Jack Herbert and [[Alex Ross]], featuring Kirby-owned characters previously published by Pacific Comics and [[Topps Comics]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Biggers|first= Cliff|title=Kirby Genesis: A Testament to the King's Talent|newspaper=[[Comic Shop News]]| number=1206|date= July 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsarama.com/comics/Kirby-Genesis-Dynamite-Ross-Busiek-100712.html |title=Alex Ross & Kurt Busiek Team For Dynamite's Kirby: Genesis|publisher=[[Dynamite Entertainment]] press release via Newsarama|date= July 12, 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629030303/http://www.newsarama.com/comics/Kirby-Genesis-Dynamite-Ross-Busiek-100712.html | archive-date=June 29, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Copyright dispute===
On September 16, 2009,<ref name=courtdecision /> Kirby's four children served notices of termination to The Walt Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and Sony Pictures to attempt to gain control of various Silver Age Marvel characters.<ref>{{cite news |last=Fritz |first=Ben |url=https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-marvel21-2009sep21,0,2439744.story |title=Heirs File Claims to Marvel Heroes |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=September 21, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100518174346/http://articles.latimes.com/2009/sep/21/business/fi-ct-marvel21 |archive-date=May 18, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Kit, Borys and Matthew Belloni |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/thr-esq/kirby-heirs-seeking-bigger-chunk-63343 |title=Kirby Heirs Seeking Bigger Chunk of Marvel Universe |newspaper=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=September 21, 2009 |access-date=March 15, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102202119/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/thr-esq/kirby-heirs-seeking-bigger-chunk-63343 |archive-date=November 2, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> Marvel sought to invalidate those claims.<ref>{{cite web |last=Melrose |first=Kevin |url=https://www.cbr.com/marvel-sues-to-invalidate-copyright-claims-by-jack-kirbys-heirs/ |title=Marvel Sues to Invalidate Copyright Claims by Jack Kirby's Heirs |work=Robot 6 |publisher=Comic Book Resources |date=January 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114021431/http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2010/01/marvel-sues-to-invalidate-copyright-claims-by-jack-kirbys-heirs/ |archive-date=January 14, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/marvel-sues-rights-superheroes-19297 |title=Marvel Sues for Rights to Superheroes |publisher=Associated Press via The Hollywood Reporter |date=January 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131075301/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/marvel-sues-rights-superheroes-19297 |archive-date=January 31, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> In mid-March 2010 Kirby's children "sued Marvel to terminate copyrights and gain profits from [Kirby's] comic creations."<ref>{{cite news |first=Eriq |last=Gardner |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/thr-esq/kirby-estate-sues-marvel-copyrights-63725 |title=It's on! Kirby estate sues Marvel; copyrights to Iron Man, Spider-Man at stake |newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter |date=December 21, 2010 |access-date=March 15, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102202301/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/thr-esq/kirby-estate-sues-marvel-copyrights-63725 |archive-date=November 2, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> In July 2011, the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York]] issued a [[summary judgment]] in favor of Marvel,<ref name=courtdecision>{{cite court |litigants= Marvel Worldwide, Inc., Marvel Characters, Inc. and MVL Rights, LLC, against Lisa R. Kirby, Barbara J. Kirby, Neal L. Kirby and Susan M. Kirby|vol= 777|reporter= F.Supp.2d|opinion= 720|court= S.D.N.Y.|date= 2011|url= http://www.leagle.com/decision/In%20FDCO%2020110803A12.xml/MARVEL%20WORLDWIDE,%20INC.%20v.%20KIRBY}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author-link=Nikki Finke |last=Finke |first=Nikki |url=https://deadline.com/2011/07/breaking-marvel-wins-summary-judgments-in-jack-kirby-estate-rights-lawsuits-151187/ |title=Marvel Wins Summary Judgments In Jack Kirby Estate Rights Lawsuits |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |date=July 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111009003625/http://www.deadline.com/2011/07/breaking-marvel-wins-summary-judgments-in-jack-kirby-estate-rights-lawsuits/#comment-962862 |archive-date=October 9, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> which was affirmed in August 2013 by the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit]].<ref>{{cite court |litigants= Marvel Characters Inc. v. Kirby|vol= 726|reporter= F.3d|opinion= 119|court= 2d. Cir.|date= 2013|url= http://www.leagle.com/decision/In%20FCO%2020130808073.xml/MARVEL%20CHARACTERS,%20INC.%20v.%20KIRBY}}</ref> The Kirby children filed a petition on March 21, 2014, for a review of the case by the [[Supreme Court of the United States]],<ref>{{cite web |url= https://deadline.com/2014/04/jack-kirby-marvel-disney-lawsuit-supreme-court-captain-america-xmen-stan-lee-708839/|title= Marvel & Disney Rights Case For Supreme Court To Decide Says Jack Kirby Estate|first= Dominic|last= Patten|date= April 2, 2014|website=Deadline Hollywood|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140405054443/http://www.deadline.com/2014/04/jack-kirby-marvel-disney-lawsuit-supreme-court-captain-america-xmen-stan-lee/|archive-date=April 5, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title = Kirby v. Marvel Characters, Inc.|url = http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/kirby-v-marvel-characters-incorporated/|publisher = SCOTUSblog|access-date = July 27, 2014|archive-date = July 27, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140727142823/http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/kirby-v-marvel-characters-incorporated/|url-status = live}}</ref> but a settlement was reached on September 26, 2014, and the family requested that the petition be dismissed.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://deadline.com/2014/09/jack-kirby-marvel-settlement-lawsuit-supreme-court-hearing-841711/|title= Marvel & Jack Kirby Heirs Settle Legal Battle Ahead Of Supreme Court Showdown|first= Dominic|last= Patten|date= September 26, 2014|website=Deadline Hollywood|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140926190546/http://deadline.com/2014/09/jack-kirby-marvel-settlement-lawsuit-supreme-court-hearing-841711/|archive-date= September 26, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> While the settlement has left uncertain the legal right to works governed by the [[Copyright Act of 1909]] created before the [[Copyright Act of 1976]] came into force, the Kirby children's attorney, [[Marc Toberoff]], said (in 2014) that the issue of [[creators' rights]] to reclaim the work done as independent contractors remains, and other potential claims have yet to become ripe.<ref>{{cite news|title = Marvel settlement with Kirby leaves freelancers' rights in doubt|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUK346771746120140929 |work = Reuters| first=Alison|last= Frankel | date =September 29, 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141006121541/http://blogs.reuters.com/alison-frankel/2014/09/29/marvel-settlement-with-kirby-leaves-freelancers-rights-in-doubt/|archive-date= October 6, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Ros Kirby grave.jpg|thumb|Grave stone of Rosalind "Roz" Kirby]]
[[File:Jack Kirby grave.jpg|thumb|Grave stone of Jack Kirby]]

* Glen David Gold wrote in ''Masters of American Comics'' that, "Kirby elevates all of us into a realm where we fly among the beating wings of the immortal and the omnipotent, the gods and the monsters, so that we, dreamers all, can play host to the demons of creation, can become our own myths.{{sfn|Carlin|2005|page=267}}
* [[Michael Chabon]], in his afterword to his [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning novel ''[[The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay]]'', a fictional account of two early comics pioneers, wrote, "I want to acknowledge the deep debt I owe in this and everything else I've ever written to the work of the late Jack Kirby, the King of Comics."<ref>{{cite web |last=Lalumière |first=Claude |url=http://januarymagazine.com/fiction/chabon.html |title=Where There Is Icing |publisher=(book review), [[January Magazine|JanuaryMagazine.com]] |date=January 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125213233/http://januarymagazine.com/fiction/chabon.html |archive-date=November 25, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Director [[James Cameron]] said Kirby inspired the look of his film ''[[Aliens (film)|Aliens]]'', calling it "not intentional in the sense I sat down and looked at all my favorite comics and studied them for this film, but, yeah, Kirby's work was definitely in my subconscious programming. The guy was a visionary. Absolutely. And he could draw machines like nobody's business. He was sort of like [[A. E. van Vogt]] and some of these other science-fiction writers who are able to create worlds that&nbsp;— even though we live in a science-fictionary world today&nbsp;— are still so far beyond what we're experiencing."<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.scribd.com/doc/146229501/Aliens-Arrives-on-Video-This-Week-James-Cameron-interview|title= ''Aliens'' Arrives on Video this Week|author-link= Frank Lovece|first= Frank|last= Lovece|publisher= [[United Media]] newspaper syndicate|date= February 26, 1987|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140821034100/http://www.scribd.com/doc/146229501/Aliens-Arrives-on-Video-This-Week-James-Cameron-interview|archive-date= August 21, 2014|url-status=dead|access-date= May 29, 2013|df= mdy-all}}</ref>
* Writer [[Marv Wolfman]]: "The imagination of Jack Kirby has no boundaries, no limits. ...When man eventually reaches the far end of the universe, he will undoubtedly find the name Jack Kirby signed on the lower right hand corner."<ref>Editorial in Forever People #1, DC Comics, 1970</ref>
* Several Kirby images are among those on the "Marvel Super Heroes" set of [[commemorative stamp]]s issued by the U.S. Postal Service on July 27, 2007.<ref name=stamps>{{cite web|url=http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2007stamps/#marvel |title="Postal Service Previews 2007 Commemorative Stamp Program" (October 25, 2006 press release) |publisher=USPS.com |date=October 25, 2006 |access-date= August 10, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090508223851/http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2007stamps/#marvel | archive-date=May 8, 2009}}</ref> Ten of the stamps are portraits of individual Marvel characters and the other 10 stamps depict individual Marvel comic book covers. According to the credits printed on the back of the pane, Kirby's artwork is featured on: Captain America, The Thing, Silver Surfer, ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #1, ''The Incredible Hulk'' #1, ''Captain America'' #100, ''The X-Men'' #1, and ''The Fantastic Four'' #3.<ref name=nyt2007 /><ref name=stamps />
* In the 1990s ''[[Superman: The Animated Series]]'' television show, police detective [[Dan Turpin]] was modeled on Kirby.<ref>[[Bruce Timm]] in {{cite news|url=http://twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/21timm.html|title=Bruce Timm Interviewed|last1=Khoury|first1=George|date=October 1998|work=Jack Kirby Collector|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230636/http://twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/21timm.html|archive-date=March 3, 2016|url-status=live|publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]]|last2=Khoury|first2=Pedro III|issue=21}}</ref>
* In the 1998 episode "The Demon Within" of ''[[The New Batman Adventures]]'', [[Klarion the Witch Boy|Klarion]] has [[Etrigan the Demon|Etrigan]] break into the '''Kirby Cake Company'''. Both characters were created by Kirby.
* In 2002, jazz percussionist [[Gregg Bendian]] released a seven-track CD titled ''Requiem for Jack Kirby'', inspired by Kirby's art and storytelling. Titles of the instrumental cuts include "Kirby's Fourth World", "New Gods", "The Mother Box", "Teaneck in the Marvel Age" and "Air Above [[Zenn-La]]".<ref>{{cite web | title = ''Requiem for Jack Kirby'': Gregg Bendian sketches memorable musical scenes from Jack Kirby's legendary comic-book images | url = http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue249/sound.html | publisher = Science Fiction Weekly (SciFi.com) | first = Jeff | last = Berkwits | date = January 28, 2002 | archive-date = February 11, 2003 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030211053133/http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue249/sound.html}}</ref>
* The [[Cartoon Network]]/[[Adult Swim]] series ''[[Minoriteam]]'' uses artwork as a homage to Jack Kirby (credited under Jack "The King" Kirby, who is credited under special thanks in the show's end credits).
* Various comic-book and cartoon creators have done homages to Kirby. Examples include the ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Mirage Studios)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' Mirage Comics series ("Kirby and the Warp Crystal" in ''Donatello'' #1, and its animated counterpart, "The King", from the [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 TV series)|2003 cartoon series]]). The episode of ''Superman: The Animated Series'' entitled "Apokolips ... Now!, Part 2" was dedicated to his memory.<ref>{{cite book|last = Eury|first = Michael|author-link = Michael Eury|title = The Krypton Companion|publisher = TwoMorrows Publishing|year = 2006|location= Raleigh, North Carolina|pages = 226–227|isbn = 978-1893905610}}</ref><ref>{{cite episode|title= Apokolips ... Now!, Part 2|series= Superman: The Animated Series|series-link= Superman: The Animated Series|credits= Fogel, Rich and [[Bruce Timm|Timm, Bruce]] (writers); [[Dan Riba|Riba, Dan]] (director)|network= [[The WB]]|airdate= February 14, 1998|season= 2|number= 39}}</ref>
* As of June 2018, Hollywood films based on characters Kirby co-created have collectively earned nearly US$7.4 billion.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=marvelcomics.htm|website= [[Box Office Mojo]]|title= Marvel Comics|access-date= June 9, 2018|archive-date= July 14, 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190714111507/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=marvelcomics.htm|url-status= live}} Excludes movies starring Blade, Daredevil, Deadpool, Doctor Strange, Elektra, Ghost Rider, Guardians of the Galaxy, Howard the Duck, the Punisher, and Wolverine solo.</ref> Kirby himself is a character portrayed by Luis Yagüe in the 2009 Spanish short film ''The King & the Worst,'' which is inspired by Kirby's service in World War II.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjcuxSl991s|publisher=[[YouTube]]|title=The King & the Worst|date=November 17, 2011 |access-date=September 22, 2012|archive-date=July 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729062233/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjcuxSl991s|url-status=live}}</ref> He is portrayed by [[Michael Parks]] in a brief appearance in the fact-based drama ''[[Argo (2012 film)|Argo]]'' (2012), about the [[Canadian Caper]].<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/toronto-4-and-the-winner-is|last= Ebert|first= Roger|author-link= Roger Ebert|website=RogerEbert.com|title= Toronto #4: And the Winner Is..|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140708193821/http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/toronto-4-and-the-winner-is|archive-date= July 8, 2014|url-status=dead|access-date= September 22, 2012|df= mdy-all}}</ref>
* A play based on Kirby's life, ''King Kirby'', by Crystal Skillman and ''New York Times'' bestselling comics writer [[Fred Van Lente]], was staged at Brooklyn's Brick Theater as part of its annual Comic Book Theater Festival. The play was a ''New York Times'' Critics' Pick selection and was funded by a widely publicized Kickstarter campaign.<ref>{{cite news |last=Webster |first=Andy |title=The Amazing Adventures of Pencil Man |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/23/theater/the-amazing-adventures-of-pencil-man.html?_r=0 |date=June 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126013918/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/23/theater/the-amazing-adventures-of-pencil-man.html?_r=1 |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |url-status=live |access-date=November 27, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=King Kirby: A Play by Crystal Skillman and Fred Van Lente |isbn=978-1-49928-849-0|last1=Lente|first1=Fred Van|last2=Skillman|first2=Crystal|date=July 31, 2014|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform }}</ref>
* The 2016 novel ''[[I Hate the Internet]]'' frequently mentions Kirby as a "central personage" of the novel.<ref>{{Cite book|title=I Hate the Internet: A Useful Novel|last=Jarett|first=Kobek|isbn=978-0-99642-180-5|edition= First|location=Los Angeles, California|oclc=923555197|year = 2016}}</ref>
* To mark Jack Kirby's 100th birthday in 2017, [[DC Comics]] announced a series of [[One-shot (comics)|one-shots]] involving characters that Kirby had created, including The Newsboy Legion and the Boy Commandos, Manhunter, Sandman, the New Gods, Darkseid, and ending with [[Black Racer (DC Comics)|The Black Racer]] and [[Mister Miracle (Shilo Norman)|Shilo Norman]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/37584/dc-unveils-its-kirby-one-shot-creators|title=DC Unveils its 'Kirby One-Shot' Creators|work=[[ICv2]]|date=May 23, 2017|access-date=June 9, 2018|archive-date=June 9, 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20180609215849/https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/37584/dc-unveils-its-kirby-one-shot-creators|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In May 2004, in ''Fantastic Four'' issue #511 (written by Mark Waid and penciled by Mike Weiringo), Reed, Sue, and Johnny travel to Heaven to recover the soul of the deceased Ben Grimm. After passing a trial, they are allowed to meet God himself, who is depicted as Jack Kirby. God explains that he is seen by them as what he is to them, and that he considers the fact that they see him as Kirby to be an honor.
* [[Alan Moore]] delivers his tribute to Jack Kirby in his next-to-last issue of the [[Supreme (comics)|''Supreme'']] series, ''Supreme'' #62 (The Return #6) "New Jack City" (March 2000), illustrated by [[Rob Liefeld]] and, for the Kirbyesque part, [[Rick Veitch]]. In this story Supreme enters a realm of pure ideas where he meets a gigantic floating Jack Kirby head, smoking a cigar. "''This gigantic entity explains to him that he used to be a flesh and blood artist but now he is entirely in the realm of ideas, which is much better because flesh and blood has its limitations because he can only do four or five pages a day tops, where now he exists purely in the world of ideas''".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/30moore.html|title=DThe Supreme Writer: Alan Moore Interviewed by George Khoury, From Jack Kirby Collector #30|access-date=January 10, 2021|archive-date=January 12, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100112013036/http://twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/30moore.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* The [[Disney California Adventure]] attraction [[Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout!|''Guardians of the Galaxy'' – Mission: Breakout!]] is surrounded by markings on the ground that serve as a tribute to the [[Kirby Krackle]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Mack|first=Mike|url=https://www.laughingplace.com/w/articles/2021/05/05/countdown-to-avengers-campus-the-kirby-krackle/|title=Countdown to Avengers Campus: The Kirby Krackle|website=laughingplace.com|date=May 5, 2021|accessdate=April 1, 2022}}</ref>
* The 1995 video game [[Marvel Super Heroes (video game)|''Marvel Super Heroes'']] was dedicated to Kirby.

==Filmography==
* Kirby guest starred in the episode "Bounty Hunter" of ''[[Starsky & Hutch]]'' as a police officer.
* Kirby made an un-credited cameo appearance in the episode "No Escape" of ''[[The Incredible Hulk&nbsp;(1978 TV series)|The Incredible Hulk]]''. He can be spotted in the hospital scene as a police sketch artist who is recreating, from the witness's description, a picture of the man he claimed to have saved his life. Instead of resembling the live-action Hulk, this illustration is instantly recognizable as the Hulk as he appeared in the original comics.
* Kirby appeared as himself in the episode "You Can't Win" of ''[[Bob (TV series)|Bob]]''.

==Awards and honors==
Jack Kirby received a great deal of recognition over the course of his career, including the 1967 [[Alley Award]] for Best Pencil Artist.<ref name=alley67>{{cite web|url= http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/alley67.php|title= 1967 Alley Awards|publisher= Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140725002130/http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/alley67.php|archive-date= July 25, 2014|url-status=live|access-date= August 10, 2010}}</ref> The following year he was runner-up behind [[Jim Steranko]]. His other Alley Awards were:
* 1963: Favorite Short Story – "The Human Torch Meets Captain America", by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, ''[[Strange Tales]]'' #114<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/alley63.php|title= 1963 Alley Awards|publisher= Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140725052457/http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/alley63.php|archive-date= July 25, 2014|url-status=live|access-date= August 10, 2010}}</ref>
* 1964:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/alley64.php|title= 1964 Alley Awards|publisher= Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140725065718/http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/alley64.php|archive-date= July 25, 2014|url-status=live|access-date= August 10, 2010}}</ref>
** Best Novel – "Captain America Joins the Avengers", by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, from ''[[The Avengers (comic book)|The Avengers]]'' #4
** Best New Strip or Book – "Captain America", by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, in ''[[Tales of Suspense]]''
* 1965: Best Short Story – "The Origin of the Red Skull", by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, ''Tales of Suspense'' #66<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/alley65.php|title= 1965 Alley Awards|publisher= Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140710044601/http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/alley65.php|archive-date= July 10, 2014|url-status=live|access-date= August 10, 2010}}</ref>
* 1966: Best Professional Work, Regular Short Feature – "Tales of Asgard" by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, in ''[[Thor (Marvel Comics)|Thor]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/alley66.php |title=1966 Alley Awards |publisher= Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140725012122/http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/alley66.php|archive-date= July 25, 2014|url-status=live|access-date= August 10, 2010}}</ref>
* 1967: Best Professional Work, Regular Short Feature – (tie) "Tales of Asgard" and "Tales of the [[Inhumans]]", both by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, in ''Thor''<ref name=alley67 />
* 1968:<ref name="Alley1968">{{cite web|url=http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/alley68.php |title=1968 Alley Awards |publisher=Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140725003747/http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/alley68.php |archive-date=July 25, 2014 |url-status=dead |access-date=August 10, 2010 |quote=[[Mark Hanerfeld]] originally listed ''Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' as the winner, but then discovered he had counted separately votes for 'Fantastic Four by Jack Kirby' (42 votes), 'Fantastic Four by Stan Lee', and 'Fantastic Four by Jack Kirby & Stan Lee', which would have given ''Fantastic Four'' a total of more than 45 votes and thus the victory. }}</ref>
** Best Professional Work, Best Regular Short Feature – "Tales of the Inhumans", by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, in ''Thor''
** Best Professional Work, Hall of Fame – ''Fantastic Four'', by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby; ''[[Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (comic book)|Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.]]'', by Jim Steranko<ref name="Alley1968" />

Kirby won a [[Shazam Award]] for Special Achievement by an Individual in 1971 for his "Fourth World" series in ''Forever People'', ''New Gods'', ''Mister Miracle'', and ''Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/shazam71.php |title=1971 Academy of Comic Book Arts Awards |publisher= Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac|access-date= August 10, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080627191906/http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/shazam71.php|archive-date=June 27, 2008}}</ref> He received an [[Inkpot Award]] in 1974<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/inkpot.php|title= Inkpot Award Winners |publisher= Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120709055558/http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/inkpot.php|archive-date= July 9, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> and was inducted into the Shazam Awards Hall of Fame in 1975.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/shazam74.php |title=1974 Academy of Comic Book Arts Awards |publisher= Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac|access-date= August 10, 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080627191916/http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/shazam74.php| archive-date=June 27, 2008}}</ref> <!--The Awards were for work in 1974, but the ceremony, including the induction, was in 1975--> In 1987 he was an inaugural inductee into the [[The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame|Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/eisnersum.php|title= Will Eisner Comic Industry Award: Summary of Winners|publisher= Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140812093946/http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/eisnersum.php|archive-date= August 12, 2014|url-status=live|access-date= August 10, 2010}}</ref> He received the 1993 Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award at that year's [[Eisner Award]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.comic-con.org/awards/bob-clampett-humanitarian-award|title= The Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award|year= 2014|publisher= [[San Diego Comic-Con International]]|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140701112050/http://www.comic-con.org/awards/bob-clampett-humanitarian-award|archive-date= July 1, 2014|url-status=live|access-date= August 16, 2014}}</ref>

His work was honored posthumously in 1998: The collection of his New Gods material, ''Jack Kirby's New Gods'', edited by Bob Kahan, won both the [[Harvey Award]] for Best Domestic Reprint Project,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/harvey98.php|title= 1998 Harvey Award Nominees and Winners|publisher= Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140812044646/http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/harvey98.php|archive-date= August 12, 2014|url-status=live|access-date= August 10, 2010}}</ref> and the Eisner Award for Best Archival Collection/Project.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/eisner98.php|title=1998 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees|publisher= Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054838/http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/eisner98.php|archive-date= September 21, 2013|url-status=live|access-date=August 10, 2010}}</ref> On July 14, 2017, Jack Kirby was named a [[Disney Legends|Disney Legend]] for his part in the creation of numerous characters that would comprise Disney's [[Marvel Cinematic Universe]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=McMillan|first1=Graeme|title=Jack Kirby to Be Named 'Disney Legend' at D23 Expo in July|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/jack-kirby-be-named-disney-legend-at-d23-expo-july-1014421|access-date=July 16, 2017|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=July 16, 2017|archive-date= November 16, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116114602/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/jack-kirby-be-named-disney-legend-at-d23-expo-july-1014421 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Jack Kirby Awards]] and [[Jack Kirby Hall of Fame]] were named in his honor.<ref name=olbrich>{{cite web | url = https://funnybookfanatic.wordpress.com/2008/12/17/the-end-of-the-jack-kirby-comics-industry-awards-a-lesson-in-honesty/ | first=Dave|last= Olbrich | date= December 17, 2008 | title= The End of the Jack Kirby Comics Industry Awards: A Lesson in Honesty | publisher= Funny Book Fanatic (Dave Olbrich official blog) | access-date= August 22, 2015 | archive-date=June 24, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130624035429/http://funnybookfanatic.wordpress.com/2008/12/17/the-end-of-the-jack-kirby-comics-industry-awards-a-lesson-in-honesty/ | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://www.comic-con.org/awards/history "Eisner Awards History,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819130112/https://www.comic-con.org/awards/history |date=August 19, 2018 }} San Diego Comic-Con International official website. Accessed May 3, 2013.</ref><ref>"Newswatch: Kirby Awards End In Controversy", ''The Comics Journal'' #122 (June 1988), pp. 19–20</ref> He was the posthumous recipient of the [[Bill Finger Award]] in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://comicbook.com/comics/2017/06/15/comic-con-announces-2017-bill-finger-award-recipients |title= Bill Finger Award Recipients |date= September 5, 2017 |publisher= Comics Continuum |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190718220207/https://comicbook.com/comics/2017/06/15/comic-con-announces-2017-bill-finger-award-recipients/ |archive-date= July 18, 2019 |url-status= live |access-date= February 21, 2020 }}</ref>

[[File:Will Eisner Jack Kirby Mrs Kirby 1982.jpg|thumb|Will Eisner (left), Jack Kirby (middle), and Roz Kirby in 1982]]
With [[Will Eisner]], [[Robert Crumb]], [[Harvey Kurtzman]], [[Gary Panter]] and [[Chris Ware]], Kirby was among the artists honored in the exhibition "Masters of American Comics" at the [[Jewish Museum (New York)|Jewish Museum]] in New York City from September 16, 2006, to January 28, 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/exhibitions/Comics |title=Exhibitions: Masters of American Comics |publisher=The Jewish Museum |access-date=August 10, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511174819/http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/exhibitions/Comics |archive-date=May 11, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Kimmelman |first=Michael |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/13/arts/design/13comi.html |title=See You in the Funny Papers |publisher=(art review), The New York Times |date=October 13, 2006 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120906193438/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/13/arts/design/13comi.html?_r=1 |archive-date=September 6, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Asteroid [[51985 Kirby]], discovered September 22, 2001, was named in his honor.<ref name="MPC-asteroid">{{cite web|title = 51985 Kirby (2001 SA116)|publisher = [[International Astronomical Union]] [[Minor Planet Center]]|url = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=51985|date = n.d.|access-date = February 6, 2018|archive-date = February 6, 2018|archive-url = https://archive.today/20180206231637/https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=51985 |url-status=live |df = mdy-all}} Additional on February 6, 2018.</ref> A [[Kirby (crater)|crater]] on [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]], located near the north pole, was named in his honor in 2019.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15858 |title = Kirby |publisher = [[NASA]] |work = Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature |access-date = May 24, 2020 |archive-date = October 11, 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191011205832/https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15858 |url-status = live }}</ref>

==Bibliography==
{{Main|Jack Kirby bibliography}}

This is an abridged listing of Kirby's comics work (interior pencil art) for major comics publishers DC Comics and Marvel Comics. For his work at DC it lists any title Kirby worked on for eight or more issues between 1970 and 1976. Of his Marvel Comics work, it lists any title Kirby worked on for eight or more issues between 1959 and 1978.

===DC Comics===
* ''[[Etrigan the Demon|Demon]]'' #1–16 (1972–1974)
* ''[[Forever People]]'' #1–11 (1971–1972)
* ''[[Kamandi|Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth]]'' #1–40 (1972–1976)
* ''[[Mister Miracle]]'' #1–18 (1971–1974)
* ''[[New Gods]]'' #1–11 (1971–1972)
* ''[[OMAC (Buddy Blank)|O.M.A.C.]]'' #1–8 (1974–1975)
* ''[[Our Fighting Forces]]'' ([[The Losers (comics)|The Losers]]) #151–162 (1974–1975)
* ''[[Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen]]'' #133–139, 141–148 (1970–1972)

===Marvel Comics===
* ''[[Amazing Adventures]]'' #1–4 (Inhumans) (1970)
* ''[[The Avengers (comic book)|Avengers]]'' #1–8 (full pencils), #14–17 (layouts only, pencils by [[Don Heck]]) (1963–1965)
* ''[[Black Panther (comics)|Black Panther]]'' #1–12 (1977–1978)
* ''[[Captain America (comic book)|Captain America]]'' #100–109, 112 (1968–1969); #193–214, ''Annual'' #3–4 (1976–1977)
* ''[[Devil Dinosaur]]'' #1–9 (1978)
* ''[[Eternals (comics)|Eternals]]'' #1–19, ''Annual'' #1 (1976–1978)
* ''[[Fantastic Four (comic book)|Fantastic Four]]'' #1–102, 108, ''Annual'' #1–6 (1961–1971)
* ''[[The Incredible Hulk (comic book)|Incredible Hulk]]'' #1–5 (1962–1963)
* ''[[Journey into Mystery]]'' #51–52, 54–82 (1959–1962); ([[Thor (Marvel Comics)|Thor]]): #83–89, 93, 97–125, ''Annual'' #1 (1962–1966)
* ''[[Machine Man]]'' #1–9 (1978)
* ''[[Silver Surfer (comic book)|Silver Surfer]]'' #18 (1970)
* ''[[Strange Tales]]'' #67–70, 72–100 (1959–1962); ([[Human Torch]]): #101–105, 108–109, 114, 120, ''Annual'' #2 (1962–1964); ([[Nick Fury]]): #135, 141–142 (full pencils), 136–140, 143–153 (layouts only, pencils by [[John Severin]], [[Jim Steranko]] and others) (1965–1967)
* ''[[Tales of Suspense]]'' #2–4, 7–35 (1959–1962); ([[Iron Man]]): #41, 43 (1963); (Captain America): #59–68, 78–86, 92–99 (full pencils), #69–75, 77 (layouts only) (1964–1968)
* ''[[Tales to Astonish]]'' #1, 5–34; ([[Hank Pym|Ant-Man]]): #35–40, 44, 49–51 (1962–1964); ([[Hulk|The Incredible Hulk]]): #68–72 (full pencils), #73–84 (layouts only, pencils by [[Bill Everett]] and others) (1965–1966); ([[Sub-Mariner]]): #82 (1966)
* ''[[Thor (Marvel Comics)|Thor]]'' #126–177, 179, ''Annual'' #2 (1966–1970)
* ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (comics)|2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' #1–10 (1976–1977)
* ''[[Uncanny X-Men|X-Men]]'' #1–11 (full pencils) (1963–1965), #12–17 (layouts only, pencils by [[Alex Toth]] and [[Werner Roth (comics)|Werner Roth]]) (1965–1966)

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book |editor-first=John |editor-last=Carlin |title=Masters of American comics : [this catalogue was published in conjunction with "Masters of American comics", an exhibition jointly organized by the Hammer Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles] With contributions by Stanley Crouch |date=2005 |publisher=Yale Univ. Press |location=New Haven [u.a.] |isbn=978-0-30011-317-4 |edition=illustrated |url=https://archive.org/details/mastersofamerica0000unse}}
* {{cite book |last1=Eisner |first1=Will |title=Will Eisner's shop talk. |date=2001 |publisher=Dark Horse Comics |location=Milwaukie, Or. |isbn=978-1-56971-536-9 |edition= 1st}}
* {{cite book |last=Evanier |first= Mark |title=Kirby: King of Comics |publisher=[[Abrams Books|Abrams]] |year= 2008 |location= New York, New York |isbn= 978-0-8109-9447-8}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=George |editor-first=Milo |title = The Comics Journal Library, Volume One: Jack Kirby | publisher = Fantagraphics Books| year = 2002|location= Seattle, Washington| isbn = 978-1-56097-466-6}}<!--editor's name is Milo George-->
* {{cite book |last1=Hatfield |first1=Charles |title=Hand of Fire: The Comics Art of Jack Kirby |date=2012 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-61703-178-6}}
* {{cite book |editor-first1=Charles |editor-last1=Hatfield |editor-first2=Brian |editor-last2=Saunders |title=Comic Book Apocalypse: The Graphic World of Jack Kirby : [this catalogue was published in conjunction with "Comic Book Apocalypse: The Graphic World of Jack Kirby", an exhibition organized by California State University, Northridge, With contributions by various essayists]|date=September 2015 |publisher=IDW Publishing & California State University, Northridge |location=Northridge, California |isbn=978-1-63140-542-6}}
* {{cite book | author-link = Gerard Jones | last = Jones | first = Gerard | title = Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book | publisher = [[Basic Books]] | year = 2004 | isbn = 978-0-465-03657-8 | url = https://archive.org/details/menoftomorrowgee0000jone}}
* {{cite book |last=Ro |first=Ronin |title=Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and the American Comic Book Revolution |location=New York, New York |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury USA]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-58234-345-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CFhbqswztWkC}}
* {{cite book |last1=Van Lente |first1=Fred |author-link=Fred Van Lente |last2=Dunlavey |first2=Ryan |title=The Comic Book History of Comics |year=2012 |location=San Diego, California |publisher=IDW |isbn=978-1-61377-197-6}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book |last=Scioli |first=Tom |year=2020 |title=Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics |location=California; New York |publisher=Ten Speed Press |isbn=9781984856906 |oclc=1122804040}} 
* {{Cite book |last=Wyman |first=Ray |year=1993 |title=The Art of Jack Kirby |location=Orange, Calif. |publisher=Blue Rose Press |isbn=0-9634467-1-1 |oclc=28128313}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://kirbymuseum.org The Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center]
* {{comicbookdb|type=creator|id=100}}
* {{IMDb name|0456158}}
* {{ISFDB name|12817}}
* [http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/mikes/features/creator.php?creatorid=6 Jack Kirby] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212093928/http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/mikes/features/creator.php?creatorid=6 |date=February 12, 2022 }} at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
* {{cite web |url= http://www.newsfromme.com/writings/the-jack-faq/|title= The Jack F.A.Q.|first= Mark|last= Evanier|publisher= News From ME|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140702025744/http://www.newsfromme.com/writings/the-jack-faq/|archive-date= July 2, 2014|url-status=live}}
* {{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/27/arts/design/27KIRB.html|title= Jack Kirby Heroes Thrive in Comic Books and Film|first= Elvis|last= Mitchell|date= August 27, 2003|newspaper= The New York Times|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130616170237/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/27/arts/design/27KIRB.html|archive-date= June 16, 2013|url-status=live}}
* {{cite web |url= http://www.marvunapp.com/list/appkirby.htm|title= Creations of Jack Kirby|first= Jeff|last= Christiansen |publisher= Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131111105031/http://www.marvunapp.com/list/appkirby.htm|archive-date= November 11, 2013|url-status=live}}

{{Jack Kirby|state=expanded}}
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