
Jack Kirby
Writer · 1917 – 1994 · New York City, New York, USA
Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American 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 learnt 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 Theatre 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, 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, the Black Panther, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Iron Man, the Silver Surfer, 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 saga, which spanned several comic titles. While these series proved commercially unsuccessful and were cancelled, 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 and then ventured into television animation and independent comics. In his later years, Kirby, who has been called "the William Blake of comics," 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 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 honour, and he is known as "The King" among comics fans for his many influential contributions to the medium. Description above from the Wikipedia article Jack Kirby, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Movies8
Movie7.2DocumentaryCelebrate the legacy of Stan Lee as the co-creator of such legendary characters as Fantastic Four, Iron Man, the X-Men, The Avengers, and hundreds more.
Stan Lee
2023 · 98 votes
Movie6.9DocumentaryTV MovieThe historical saga of American superheroes. Born in the period between the Great Depression and the World War II to combat the hobgoblins of the modern world, these mutant human beings with superhuman powers colonized the funny papers, radio dramas, television and films, to become a truly national industry in the United States: they gave expression to the fears and obsessions of the twentieth century and bolstered American ideals.
De Superman à Spider-Man: L'aventure des super-héros
Once Upon a Time: The Super Heroes
2001 · 52 votes
Movie6.8DocumentaryA survey of the artistic history of the comic book medium and some of the major talents associated with it.
Comic Book Confidential
1989 · 32 votes
Movie6.5DocumentaryA documentary on the life of Jack Kirby, co-creator of Captain America, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor, The Avengers, The Hulk, The X-Men and the New Gods, among other classic comic book superheroes.
Jack Kirby: Story Teller
2007 · 6 votes
Movie10.0DocumentaryA candid and in-depth look at the creators, the culture, and the collectibility of comics.
The Overstreet World of Comic Books
1993 · 1 votes
Movie8.0DocumentaryWarBlack Panther, the Avengers, Hulk, Fantastic Four, The X-Men, Thor, Iron Man - to name only some of the best known super-heroes created in the 1960s by comic book artist Jack Kirby, the super heroes which today, dominate the world wide blockbuster box office cinema. This documentary mixed with CGI form his work examines Jack Kirby’s comics through his experience as a young American soldier in WWII France. How did this terrifying experience inspire him to create Captain America, and so many others characters as the war came to a close?
Movie8.0DocumentaryMeet the heroes behind the superheroes as award-winning author Harlan Ellison introduces ten of the world's greatest comic book artists. Exclusive interviews and samples of their sensational art reveal the philosophy and creative process behind their finest characters, stories, and series.
The Masters of Comic Book Art
1987 · 1 votes
- MovieDocumentary
Comic legend Jack Kirby co-created Captain America, Avengers, Black Panther and more for Marvel and DC. From Depression-era roots through WWII service to his 60-year comics career, he shaped the medium as a major 20th century artist.
Series6
TV7.3Action & AdventureDramaStreetwise Detective David Starsky partners up with a more intellectual partner, Kenneth 'Hutch' Hutchinson, to protect citizens and patrol the streets of Bay City.
Starsky & Hutch
1975 · 208 votes
TV5.9DocumentaryPrisoners of Gravity was a Canadian public broadcasting television news magazine program that explored speculative fiction — science fiction, fantasy, horror, comic books — and its relation to various thematic and social issues. Produced by TVOntario, the show was the brainchild of former comic retail manager Mark Askwith and writer Daniel Richler, and was hosted by Rick Green. The series aired 139 episodes over 5 seasons from 1989 to 1994.
Prisoners of Gravity
1989 · 7 votes
TV7.4DocumentaryThis docuseries takes an unprecedented look at the enduring and influential legacy of DC, allowing fans to rediscover the universe of characters, as well as the iconic comic book company’s origins, its evolution and its nearly nine-decade cultural impact across every artistic medium.
Superpowered: The DC Story
2023 · 25 votes
TV7.6ComedyBob McKay is the creator of the 1950s comic book superhero "Mad-Dog". When a Senate sub-committee decided such reading material could corrupt young readers, Mad-Dog faded into oblivion, and Bob became a greeting card artist. Years later the American-Canadian Trans-Continental Communications Company buys the rights to the series, and Bob is offered a chance to revive Mad-Dog.
Bob
1992 · 9 votes
TV7.1Action & AdventureDramaS.W.A.T. is an American action/crime drama series about the adventures of a Special Weapons And Tactics team operating in an unidentified California city. A spin-off of The Rookies, the series aired on ABC from February 1975 to April 1976. Like The Rookies, S.W.A.T. was produced by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg.
S.W.A.T.
1975 · 70 votes
TV7.4DocumentaryA six-part documentary series that takes a deeper look into the stories, people and events that have transformed the world of comic books.
Robert Kirkman's Secret History of Comics
2017 · 18 votes