A hometown hero who helped create many of the world’s best-known superheroes is being honored where he grew up on the Lower East Side.
The New York City Council has approved co-naming a Lower East Side block for comic book artist Jack Kirby, adding a sort of exclamation point to the life and work of the co-creator of a huge stable of superheroes.
The legislation, which goes into effect 30 days after the vote and does not require mayoral approval, will co-name Essex Street between Delancey and Rivington Streets on the Lower East Side, where Kirby was born, as Jack Kirby Way.
“I’m ecstatic that Jack Kirby, one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, will finally get the recognition he deserves,” said Roy Schwartz, a pop culture historian, author and, board member of the American Jewish Historical Society who led the push.
Kirby, who was born Jacob Kurtzberg in 1917, grew up at 147 Essex Street, near Delancey Street, and lived until 1996.
He went on to co-create much of “the Marvel Universe and most of its tentpole characters,” Schwartz said.
You may not know his name, but you know his work. Kirby, as an artist, co-created the look of many of Marvel’s superheroes, such as the Fantastic Four, Captain America, the Hulk, Iron Man, the Avengers, the X-Men, Silver Surfer, and Black Panther, and had a hand in creating Spider-Man.
Kirby even made a comic about his childhood on the Lower East Side, titled “Street Code,” published by an independent publisher years after helping create superheroes.
He also based a character called The Thing on himself, including his own personality and an exaggeration of his looks, habits and speech patterns. The Thing’s name is Benjamin Jacob, after Kirby’s father and himself.
Schwartz said Kirby” evolved the comic book artform, helped birth the pop art movement, inspired generations of artists across media, and immortalized the Lower East Side in his work.”
The co-naming process involved numerous forms and permits, a petition drive, Lower East Side community board 3 presentation and vote, as well as various other presentations and votes. “There were other hurdles along the way,” Schwartz said. “It’s been a long journey, but it’s now approved.”
City Council Member Christopher Marte, who advocated for the change, said this commemoration honors a hometown hero whose work has been seen around the world. Community Board 3, along with Council Member Marte’s support, at its Oct. 14 meeting supported the effort to create Jack Kirby Way to honor a native son.
“This co-naming ensures that Jack Kirby’s legacy of creating some of the most iconic characters of all time—and the role the Lower East Side played in inspiring him—will be recognized for generations to come,” City Council Member Marte said.
The success follows efforts by others to honor Kirby, including a push led by Karen Green, Curator for Comics and Cartoons at Columbia University, who, a decade ago, tried to get a plaque installed at 147 Essex Street in time for the centennial of Kirby’s birth in 2017.
“I couldn’t even get my overtures answered,” she said. “But a 15-minute conversation about it with Roy this past July, at San Diego Comic-Con, set his whirlwind in motion, and here we are.”
New York City, along with Marvel comics on July 9 before “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” movie opened for one day put up temporary signs at the corner of Delancey and Essex, renaming a stretch of street Jack Kirby Way.
Green, however, said Schwartz led a push to get New York City in a lasting way “to honor an incredibly accomplished native son, who labored in a long-neglected field.”
Although Kirby was an artist, he co-created characters, drawing, designing and giving them an appearance that lives on in the minds and imaginations of millions.
“The Marvel universe, which Jack Kirby developed, has captivated and enthralled readers and movie-goers for decades,” Green said, “as well as inspired untold numbers of cartoonists, and New York should be incredibly proud of having produced such a creative force.”
Members of Kirby’s family, in a statement, said they would like to “thank the City of New York and all involved for this wonderful honor.”
“Jack was a true New Yorker, and the city’s passion, excitement, grit and unlimited possibilities can be felt in all of his famous comic book creations that made New York City home,” said Lisa Kirby, the artist’s daughter and parent of Tracy and Jeremy Kirby. “From the humble tenements of the Lower East Side came creations that continue to inspire the world. He would be so proud and humbled by this dedication.”
Jack Kirby is also being rediscovered with exhibitions, as comic books are recognized for their role not simply as reading material, but in American culture.
An exhibit titled “Jack Kirby: From the Ghetto to the Cosmos” ran for one week at One Art Space in Tribeca from November 28 through December 7.
Schwartz described him as a quintessential New Yorker whose vision helped define and develop the way we look at superheroes and, in a way, our society and ourselves.
“His characters and stories have inspired generations of New Yorkers, Americans, and people around the world,” Schwartz added. “His artistic innovations helped inspire the pop art movement.”
He said Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Hamilton, authors Michael Chabon and George R. R. Martin, and filmmakers George Lucas and Guillermo del Toro all were inspired by him.
Several other New Yorkers have been honored in New York City for their work and their own history here, close to where they lived.
Stan Lee has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as well as a “Stan Lee Way” in the Bronx, at University Avenue between Brandt Place and West 176 Street.
And Milton “Bill” Finger, who with Bob Kane created Batman for DC Comics, has been honored in New York City with a co-naming on 192nd St. near the corner of Grand Concourse, where he lived near Poe Park.
A street sign unveiling ceremony for “Jack Kirby Way” likely would take place in the near future, probably in the spring, adding Kirby to a small, select group of comic book hero creators honored here.
Although the sign has yet to go up, the timing for the approval seemed ideal to some who made the push for the honor. “This is a way for fans and New Yorkers to say, ‘Thank you,’” Schwartz said. “It’s the best holiday gift ever.”
