Jack Kirby Was a Kid From the Lower East Side Who Became the ‘King of Comics’ and Made Superhero Mythology. Now, New York City Has Named a Street After Him

Samantha Baskind | Museums Correspondent

Add as preferred source Comic book artist Jack Kirby smokes a pipe at San Diego Comic Con, August 1973 Clay Geerdes / Getty Images At the corner of Delancey and Essex Streets on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a new sign will read: “Jack Kirby Way.” This is where the comic book legend was born Jacob Kurtzberg in 1917. As a child, he lived in a tenement building, growing up in a neighborhood that was once among the most densely populated on Earth.

He went on to become Jack Kirby, artist and co-creator alongside the likes of Joe Simon, Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Don Heck, who helped give the world Marvel heroes such as Captain America, Black Panther, X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Thor and Iron Man. He also designed many characters and concepts beyond superheroes.