Jack Kirby’s Early Life 

 

Born in August 1917, young jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzenburg) lived in the lower east side of New York with his two parents Rose and Ben Kurtzenburg. In Kirby’s free time he and a few friends loved fighting other gangs from different blocks under the name of ‘the Kirby Gang’, which was a group of Jewish kids from Kirby’s block including Jack Kirby. Kirby’s extended family would tell stories about demi-gods, were-wolves, vampires and other beasts before seen on the big screen which fueled his imagination with the help of a sci-fi pulp culture magazine, he found on the ground in a gutter at the age of 14. This magazine inspired him to draw, and he then started practicing with how-to books to draw. At this time, Kirby became a cartoonist for BBR newspapers. BBR helped boys in bad Neiborhood's what responsibility and other things were. This is where Kirby met a man named Harry Slonaker and where he would sign his name with “Jack” for the first time. Jack then joined an art school but was kicked out after a week because his father lost his job so Kirby had to find work himself and because the art class didn’t like how Kirby worked as he was fast. He then finally found a place as an inbetweener (someone who illustrated motion between pictures) for Popeye and Betty Boop at Fleischer Studios. This was also short lived which he then worked at small newspaper syndicates. One series called “the romance of money” didn’t get syndicated and was used as a pamphlet for savings banks as a giveaway. This was technically Kirby’s first ever comic book. 

 

As you know Kirby was a monumental part of Comic book History and as you can see, his early life impacted his later life a lot. The growing interest in drawing and his first work as a cartoonist all aligned with what would become of him in the near future. The stories about fictional beasts and gods would become things he would later work on in his comics and drawings. Especially his work as an inbetweener for Popeye and Betty Boop as Jack Kirby was known for his dynamics and motion in his still drawings and after he left art school, he had to find somewhere else to learn how to draw so he improvised and would copy and learn from newspapers and other things his hands could get a hold of. 

 

Jack Kirby’s ascent into comics 

 

With the success of Superman, demand for new, exciting comics were all the rage and Jack found work in Studios like Eisner- iger studios and would work for Victor Fox where he would meet one of his best friends, Joe Simon. They worked together on things like the blue bolt and red raven comics for Timely (Marvel Comics) where Kirby would sign his name as “Jack Kirby” for the first time. About this time, Kirby left Fox to work with Joe exclusively. There, they first worked on “Captain America” which was a different to what we see today as the cover was Captain America punching Hitler in the face. 

 

From the title you should already know that this is the beginning of Jack Kirby’s career in comics and what might have caught your eye was “Captain America”. An influential, inspirational and iconic superhero we still highly praise today. Captain America has been everywhere from comics to TV shows to action figures and especially Movies in the MCU. This is one part of why he is so notable. Who doesn’t know who Captain America is? That’s how iconic he is and without Kirby’s first drawings of him, we wouldn’t even know what the iconic American coloured costume and shield looks like. 

 

Jack Kirby in WW2 

 

Kirby was called into the war during his time on Captain America where he would fight the Nazis first hand and not in his comics. He was sent to Europe on the front lines. When he arrived, the lieutenant found out that Kirby drew Captain America and immediately made him a scout where he'd map out towns and see if anyone is around. During his experience as a scout, Kirby found the hard truth of how people are suffering. But probably what affected him most was the Concentration camps. He would see starving men, women and children with dirty scrap clothes. This would open his eyes to the greater world and how people are treated. Especially Jewish. 

 

Jack Kirby wasn’t very notable in WW2. It was more of the point that it showed him the hard truth of living conditions for Jews in camps. His work took effect after the war and Holocaust themes would pop up here and there in his drawings. This is especially found in Jack Kirby’s work on an X-men character called Magneto. Magneto as a young boy survived the dreadful horrors of concentration camps which would affect his life choices later in his life. Magneto has made his mark as what you would think of as an X-men character and has become highly popular to many X-men fans. 

 

Jack Kirby’s “Golden Period” 

 

After the war, many people searched for new kinds of entertainment and action wasn’t as popular as it used to be. People wanted funny or crime comics which is what many studios mainly focused on and Kirby’s team was too. But they wanted something different. Something popular that hasn’t been done before in comics. And that’s when they looked at romance. They saw romance pulp magazines have been selling to a wide audience and Kirby might have hit his jackpot. With the help of his friends and other people he knows, the first romance comic under the name “Young Romance” was published with great success. After Joe Simon left the comics industry, Kirby had to find out what to do next. He brought the Challenges of the Unknown comic strips to DC and eventually worked with DC for a while on many Comic strips such as Challenges of the Unknown. Though sadly, with a misunderstanding with financial arrangements with Jack Schiff, an editor at DC, Schiff sued Kirby and Kirby lost DC as a client. Soon, Kirby found Stan Lee and joined Atlas (Marvel) to make many iconic superheroes with Stan when Superheroes came back into trend. Stan had Kirby work on monster stories written by Stan that featured great adventures. All Kirby needed to do was give them powers and thus, with the Company name change to “Marvel Comics”, the “Fantastic Four” was born! With great success from the fantastic four, Kirby and Stan collaborated much more on comics. Stan thought to have a monster as the lead character which went on to become “the incredible Hulk”. A scientist from one of Stan’s previous stories became Ant-man and since Kirby liked mythology, “Thor” was born. Next, Stan wanted to tell a story about an urban superhero that can climb walls. Kirby brought in an old logo from when he worked with Simon but instead, Steve Ditko got the assignment. 

 

What I've learnt 

 

I’ve leant from Jack Kirby that you have to work hard for what you want. You can’t just wait for something to happen or wait for it to show up at your doorstep, you have to take action and do it yourself. Jack Kirby didn’t become an iconic figure just by sitting on his couch waiting for someone to do it instead. More of the point anyone who is notable too. Lastly, I've learnt to pursue what you love and maybe you might become something great just like Jack Kirby did. Jack Kirby started from nothing but a few stories of mythical beasts and beings and a sci-fi pulp magazine he found on the ground. He worked himself off getting better and better throughout his life. From magazines, stories and newspaper strips to becoming one of the most notable comic book artists the world has ever seen. If that doesn't show you that you can turn nothing into something, then I don't what can. I like comics and drawing just like Jack Kirby which is why I chose him and have learnt a lot from him. 

 

Conclusion 

 

You can see how influential he was in the most iconic superheroes of the modern day. Fantastic Four, Hulk, Ant-Man and Thor! All superheroes we’ve grow up admiring. Almost every person knows who these characters are and in an interview with him it was shown that he tried to capture a wide audience which explains why his drawings resonated with people so well and how he keeps up with world events and trends to keep people hooked on his drawings and comics. Jack Kirby wasn’t seen as a slacker but was more of a workaholic and would spend long hours at his work even though he worked quickly. This man single-handedly (good pun) drew a universe of iconic fictional characters people know all around the world in some way. Books, shows and movies, Jack has influenced them all, and that’s why I feel he is notable. He's hard work and effort lead him to something greater and brought us all together. One comic book at a time.