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In 1917, Kirby was born under the name "Jacob Kurtzberg" on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. He was a son of garment factory worker Benjamin Kurtzberg and his wife Rose Bernstein. Both his parents were Austrian-Jewish immigrants. He developed an interest in drawing at an early age.
- January 1, 1
- Thousand Oaks, California, USA
- January 1, 1
- 1.57 m
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. His parents, Rose (Bernstein) and Benjamin Kurtzberg, were Austrian-Jewish immigrants, and his father earned a living as a garment factory worker.
- Jacob Kurtzberg, August 28, 1917, New York City, U.S.
- February 6, 1994 (aged 76), Thousand Oaks, California, U.S.
1920 – Rose, Jacob, and Ben Kurtzberg. Like many success stories, it all begins with a birth date on the Lower East Side of New York City. The birth date was August 28, 1917, and the Kurtzberg family at 147 Essex Street was one more strong.
- Creator • Storyteller • Visionary • Artist
- In The Beginning…
- Kirby Comic Books Begin!
- The Simon & Kirby Team & WW2
- After The War – The 1950s
- The Marvelous 1960s
- Full Rein
- A Return to Marvel and Cartoons
- The Last Kirby Comic Books
Born and raised on the Lower East Side, Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg) created or co-created some of the most enduring characters and stories in comics (Captain America, Avengers, Hulk, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer, Darkseid, among hundreds of others). In addition to revolutionizing such comic book genres as crime, war and superheroes, K...
In August of 1917, Rose and Ben Kurtzberg, two immigrants from Galicia in what what is now Poland welcomed their first born, Jacob. In the early 20th century, New York City’s Lower East Side was the most densely populated two square miles on the planet. Ben sewed pants in sweatshops. Rose did piecework at home when not raising her sons. Lower East ...
With the success of Superman in 1938, there was a tremendous demand for new, original comic book content. Jack found his way to the Eisner-Iger Studio, preparing stories in a similar fashion to the single pages appearing in Sunday newspapers. Soon, he and his boss Will Eisner realized they were working in an entirely new, multi page art form. Eisne...
The Simon & Kirby team had such success with Captain America and their Captain Marvel one-shot that when they discovered Goodman wasn’t paying them the agreed percentage of revenue, they quickly moved to National Comics, home of Superman. They revamped existing features Sandman and Manhunter, while Kirby’s youth inspired them to create the Boy Comm...
With the war behind them, the Simon & Kirby team got back to work, producing the short-lived Stuntman and Boy Explorers for Al Harvey. But action heroes and kid gangs didn’t sell like they used to. Comic books had been popular with soldiers overseas, but now that they were home, they had more reading choices. By 1947, the team was trying their hand...
Inspired by his success with starting Challengers Of The Unknown at DC, the slight success of the Archie heroes, and his son Neal’s interests, Kirby felt the time was again ripe for superheroes. Soon enough, Goodman and Lee saw what was happening at DC with the Justice League of America, and decided that Kirby was right. Lee had Kirby take one of h...
Kirby couldn’t stop creating new concepts, though. He just kept them to himself. When Goodman sold Marvel to Perfect Film, a more corporate entity, Kirby was stung by the new owner not wanting to negotiate a contract. Kirby felt the need to break out of his situation, so he moved his family to Southern California and began talking to Carmine Infant...
In 1976, Kirby returned to Marvel and Captain America. He also created the Eternals, Machine Man, the Black Panther, Devil Dinosaur, and an adaptation of 2001: A Space Odyssey. At the end of his two year deal, he worked with Lee on a Silver Surfer graphic novel in the hopes it would be turned into a rock musical movie. In 1978 Kirby was commissione...
In 1981, Kirby returned to comic books with the first issue of Captain Victory And The Galactic Rangers. Published by Pacific Comics, Captain Victory and Silver Star were the first Kirby comics that bypassed newsstands for the comic book “Direct Market”. In 1983, while having a dinner with publisher Richard Kyle, Roz encouraged Kirby to change the ...
Feb 15, 2024 · Photo: Youtube. The Kurtzberg Family in 1910: In 1910, the Kurtzberg family, including young Jack, was residing in Manhattan Ward 17, New York, as documented by the U.S. Census. This snapshot provides a glimpse into the early years of Jack Kirby’s life and the urban environment that would later inspire the settings of his comic book tales.
Jack Kirby was born on August 28, 1917, in the Lower East Side (LES) neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, to Rose (Burnstein) and Benjamin Kurtzberg. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Austria. His father worked at a garment factory. Since childhood, Jack had a liking for drawing.
Childhood & Early Life. Jack Kirby was born on August 28, 1917, in the Lower East Side (LES) neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, to Rose (Burnstein) and Benjamin Kurtzberg. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Austria. His father worked at a garment factory. Since childhood, Jack had a liking for drawing.
