Jack Kirby (Jacob Kurtzberg) - the king of comics: biography, creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Jack Kirby is a popular American writer and artist. However, he is better known to the general reader as a comic book editor. The characters he created are popular with today's youth, the stories of many of them have been filmed in the form of cartoons and movies.

Youth

Jack Kirby was born in 1917 in New York. He came from a family of Austrian immigrants. He lived in difficult conditions in a very turbulent city. The boy early discovered his ability to draw and after a while began to try himself as an illustrator in one of the teenage newspapers. By his own admission, his style and manner of writing were greatly influenced by cartoonists, as well as famous comic book writers of the 1940s. He entered one of the most prestigious schools of art - the Pratt Institute, but very soon left there, as he disagreed with the teachers. In 1936, Jack Kirby began working on newspaper comics, and three years later he moved to an animation company, which largely determined the future direction of his work.

First successes

At the turn of the 1930s-1940s, a real boom in comics began in the United States, and on this wavehe created a career for himself. The artist came up with a number of illustrated stories, the most diverse in genre and subject matter: westerns, fantastic, humorous. In 1941, together with a co-author, he created one of the most popular superheroes - Captain America, who is still very popular with fans today. After the first success, Jack Kirby suspended his activities for a while due to his military service, but immediately after returning to his homeland, he began working with several publishers and magazines, until he finally settled on Marvel.

Captain America

According to the illustrated story, this superhero at first was just a simple American teenager who was in poor he alth. In order to become a soldier, he agrees to test an experimental serum on himself, which turned him into a physically developed and almost invulnerable person. Captain America, a comic book about which was originally created solely for patriotic reasons, was very popular during the Second World War. He is dressed in an American flag suit and fights on the side of government forces. After the end of the war, this hero quickly lost his popularity, but already in the 1960s he became famous again due to the fact that his image was introduced into the Avengers team.

Features

This character differs from other superheroes in that his abilities are not the result of a mutation, but the result of a scientific experiment. In addition, his qualities are hypertrophiedability of ordinary people. He is strong, hardy, moves quickly, he has lightning-fast reaction. One of Kirby's most popular comics, Captain America is immune to disease. In addition, he became an excellent tactician and acquired the ability of a true leader. He became a real expert in weapons and transport management, and thanks to his skills, he was repeatedly involved in secret missions for the American government. For a long time he worked in the spy organization SHIELD. However, in ordinary life, the hero is engaged in drawing, applied arts, entrepreneurial activities.

Working with S. Lee

The 1950s-1960s were the most fruitful years in the writer's work. Together with another famous comic book author (Lee), Kirby created a number of characters and stories that currently represent the face of modern fiction: the Hulk, the X-Men and others. In 1961, both came up with a plot about the Fantastic Four - a team of superheroes. When writing this story, the creators made a number of important innovations: they abandoned the traditional principle of keeping the protagonist's identity secret, added elements of conflict between the characters. Thus, they developed the concept of the existence of a superhero in the real world. All these features were associated with the circumstances of the Cold War, the events of which incited the authors to compose such stories.

More stories

Jack Kirby is the king of comics- is also the author of the story about the X people. This is a team of mutant people who became the heroes of movies, cartoons and computer games. The first issue with their participation was released in 1963. The composition of the group was constantly changing, so that by our time the universe of these regular superheroes has grown so much that even the most sophisticated fans are unlikely to be able to figure it out. In 1963, the author released a new series of Avengers stories. It was also a team of superheroes that fought such villains that these characters alone could not defeat. Its composition was also constantly changing, replenished with either robots, or mutants, or even former enemies of the avengers. Currently, the comic book series is so popular with fans that many of the stories have been brought to the screen. Blockbusters based on these stories are huge box office hits these days.

Hulk

Jack Kirby (writer) is also the author of a series of stories about this character, which, according to the comics, contains a monster. The hero is in constant fear because of the fear that he will break out. This led to a change in his psyche and emotional state. Despite the fact that the authors made this character rather gloomy, they nevertheless endowed him with the ability to feel deep and strong love. According to the story, the character received a huge amount of radiation from a bomb while saving a teenager, which led to the fact that at night he turned into a real giant with crushing power, and during the day he became himself again. However, in subsequent versions, the ability for this kind of metamorphosis developed in him under the influence of emotions. Some critics call the Hulk a dark part of the protagonist's psyche. Despite his reticence, this character was part of the Avengers and Defenders teams.

Working at DC

The comic book editor joined the company in 1970. This was due to the fact that he was unhappy with the terms of cooperation with Marvel. In the new field, he created the so-called "Fourth World Saga". This story turned out to be financially unsuccessful, although some of its heroes are still part of this universe. This story differs from other creations of the author in that it has very original art and an unusual concept that tries to connect all the characters in some fantastic, conditional reality. Some critics believe that this comic was ahead of its time, and therefore did not receive the same recognition as the previous illustrated stories of the artist.

Recent years

Jacob Kurtzberg (this is the writer's real name) worked for some time in television, creating artistic animation. He continued to work on new comics and created series such as OMAC, Kamandi and others. These stories, along with those listed, are also considered famous and popular. Kirby is the owner of numerous awards and titles. He is the author of the best short story, the best novel, etc. He died in 1994 in California. Comics writer and currentlyremain the basis for numerous adaptations.