Jack Kirby

Jack Kirby is a comic book artist who died in 1994. I doubt most of the general public has even heard of him but I'll bet almost everyone has heard of Stan Lee. Jack Kirby was the co-creator of the 'Marvel Universe'. He along with Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (co-creator or Spider-Man) turned a failing comic company into an empire. Kirby is the driving force behind the creation of the world of the Fantastic Four, Avengers, Captain America (with Joe Simon), X-Men, Hulk, Thor and a whole slew of supporting characters, not to mention the DC title "Mister Miracle".

 

Despite his accomplishments and contributions to the entertainment world, Jack Kirby is still relatively unknown to the vast majority of the public who buys tickets to the movies that would not exist if not for him. Stan Lee however, is known as the father of Marvel comics and is the poster boy for comics in general. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Stan Lee and everything about him. He's led a fascinating life, he's still married to the first woman he fell in love with in the 40s. He's had a great career in the industry and is just one cool old guy. There's nothing wrong with him getting the credit he deserves but he worked with other great story tellers who we never hear about. The worst part for Jack Kirby though is, he became depressed and reclusive because everyone loved his work but nobody knew it was 'HIS' work. Finally years after his death, he's starting to get the recognition he deserved during his life time. I won't even get started on Steve Ditko but he's the man who designed the world of Spider-Man. Stan Lee gave him a name and said here, turn this into something. Thousands of comics, multiple movies/TV shows and billions of dollars later....how many of you have heard of Steve Ditko? Guess what, he's still alive and can receive recognition so, where is it? That's what I mean by celebrating life while the person is still here to be a part of it.