How Jack Kirby Created Marvel

The creator or co-creator of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the New Gods, Jack Kirby is one of the most influential people who ever lived that many have never heard of. Featuring an exclusive interview with “Sandman” author Neil Gaiman, this is our salute to the father of the Marvel Universe. Born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1917 to two Austrian Jewish immigrants, Jack Kirby was a self-taught artist with a unique, experimental style, a boundless sense of creativity, and a gruff manner that masked a deep, complex intellect. With writer Joe Simon, in 1941 Jack created Captain America and Bucky Barnes. Twenty years later he began a partnership with Stan Lee that produced the Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom, Silver Surfer, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Loki, Iron Man, Nick Fury, Ant-Man, the Wasp, the original X-Men and Magneto, the Inhumans, Black Panther, and Marvel’s super-team, the Avengers. On his own, at DC Comics, Jack created the characters known as the “New Gods”, most prominently the supervillain Darkseid, one of several Kirby creations that almost certainly influenced Star Wars. Like a Lennon / McCartney song, many of Kirby’s Marvel characters were true collaborations with Stan Lee, while others were entirely created by one man or the other. But on every page of his work, Kirby enhanced character and story with emotional depth, a uniquely kinetic and often experimental style of art, and a drive to break boundaries. Jack died in 1994, but the characters he created or helped develop have captivated the imagination of hundreds of millions of people and generates billions of dollars in revenue every year. Featuring: Jack Kirby Neil Gaiman Stan Lee Taika Waitit Bob Iger Video by John W. Smith. Neil Gaiman videography by Russ Hull. SOURCES Prisoners of Gravity, January 1993 |    • Prisoners of Gravity: Jack Kirby (Part 1/3)   Entertainment Tonight, October 1992 |    • Jack Kirby on Entertainment Tonight - 28 O...   The Masters of Comic Book Art, 1987 |    • Jack Kirby Interview   Hour 25, April 1990 |    • Hour 25 - Jack Kirby interview, 13 April 1990   Jack Kirby: Storyteller, 2005 |    • Jack Kirby: Story Teller (Jack Kirby art) ...   Vanity Fair: Notes on a Scene, November 2017 |    • Taika Waititi Breaks Down a Fight Scene fr...   Disney Legends Awards, 2017 |    • Disney Legends Award - Stan Lee & Jack Kir...   #AvengersEndgame #JackKirby #MarvelFilms #NeilGaiman #ComicBooks #MCU #MarvelCinematicUniverse