Jack Kirby needed to make a statement; a loud one clear in its message and intention.
22,000 people had rallied at Madison Square Garden on February 20, 1939 at what became the largest gathering of Nazis in the USA. One block away at Fleischer Studios, Kirby, born Jacob Kurtzberg to Austrian-born Jewish immigrants, partnered with fellow Jewish-American Joe Simon to respond to the growing anti-Semitic and fascist menace at home. Their response arrived on December 1940 with the publication of Captain America Comics, featuring the titular star-spangled superhero making his debut by cracking Adolf Hitler’s jaw with a flying haymaker.
A copy of the original and iconic comic book sits behind a protective case inside the Skirball Cultural Center as part of the Jack Kirby: Heroes and Humanity exhibit, currently on display through 2026.
The exhibit treats visitors through a walking tour of Kirby’s life and work, from his upbringing in Manhattan’s Lower East Side to his artistic career in New York and California as a comics artist/writer, ending with a reflection on his continuing influence on millions worldwide more than three decades after his death.
Anyone unfamiliar with Kirby’s name is intimately familiar with his work thanks to the Marvel cinematic universe. Besides Captain America, Kirby had a hand in the creation of, and work on, numerous characters, including The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, Eternals, The Incredible Hulk and Black Panther.
He also worked at DC Comics where he entertained readers with stories about the New Gods (Darkseid, Metron, Highfather, etc.), the Newsboy Legion and Etrigan The Demon, among others.
It’s no surprise then that most of the exhibit focuses on the characters and art from Kirby’s time at Marvel and DC.
One of my favorite areas of the exhibit is a section called “Re-Inventing The Superhero.” The section focuses on the collaboration between Kirby and the legendary Stan Lee during their time working together at Marvel Comics from 1961 – 1967. One wall in particular features the complete series of Kirby’s original hand-drawn pages of X-Men #7 mounted next to the final published pages for comparison.
From the exhibit:
This complete series of original pages from X-Men #7 provide a rare opportunity to see what Stan Lee regularly saw – all of Kirby’s hand-drawn pages for an entire Marvel comic.
The exhibit also includes a long-lost treasure that’s the stuff of a cinephiles dream: original pencil cover art and a page from Kirby’s comic book adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s/Arthur C. Clarke’s sci-fi epic 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The comic adaptation of 2001 was, if nothing else, a conceptual affront to Kubrick’s film. In a way, it had to be—comics panels can’t wordlessly convey the feelings movie scenes can. Creatively, though, Marvel’s 2001 isn’t easily dismissed, even if it has been largely forgotten. It’s a sprawling space adventure that, incredibly, launched a 10-issue spin-off and a new character into the Marvel canon. And that’s thanks entirely to Kirby.
The adaptation and its spin-off have yet to be reprinted since their original publication.
The exhibit also includes much of the non-superhero work Kirby created during his lifetime. From roughly 1945 to 1955, he and Simon, by then a trusted friend and reliable partner, produced and created a number of comics titles in different genres, such as romance, drama, action, crime, war, western and horror.
Speaking of war comics, Captain America wasn’t the only time he took a stand against the Nazis. In 1943, he took his fight off the printed page and onto the battlefield when he enlisted in the US Army.
From the exhibit:
One June 21, 1943, Jack Kirby reported for duty in the US Army (after initially receiving a deferment as the sole breadwinner for his family). He trained at Camp Stewart in Georgia, and was then sent overseas and assigned to Company F of the 11th Infantry, landing on the beach at Normandy and fighting on the front lines across France under the command of General George S. Patton. In mid-1945, he was discharged as a private first class, and received a Combat Infantry Badge and a European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with a bronze campaign star in recognition of his service.
The exhibit ends with a gallery of some of Kirby’s personal work, some of it unseen to the public until now. There are numerous impressive pieces of work that embody the facets of his life: from science fiction/fantasy sketches to pieces influenced by his Jewish faith to colorful, experimental collages.
One of my favorite pieces from this section of the exhibit is the custom art that Kirby drew for Paul and Linda McCartney. Long story short, he gifted them the piece at a Wings concert in Los Angeles in 1976, the year after they released “Magneto & Titanium Man.” The piece is on display in all its pop culture glory!
Jack Kirby: Heroes and Humanity is currently on display until March 1, 2026.
You can click through my slideshow of photos from the exhibit below or visit the full album on my Flickr at the following link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/afroxander/albums/72177720325864825/
Afroxander (aka Iván Fernández) 