{"id":228622,"date":"2026-05-12T15:22:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T15:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/228622\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T15:22:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T15:22:13","slug":"the-king-of-comics-finally-gets-his-due-as-new-york-names-a-lower-east-side-street-after-jack-kirby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/228622\/","title":{"rendered":"The ‘King of Comics’ finally gets his due as New York names a Lower East Side street after Jack Kirby"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a lobbying effort by comics expert Roy Schwartz<\/a>, the New York City Council in December 2025 approved the naming of a block of Essex Street between Delancey and Rivington streets in honor of Jack Kirby<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Black-and-whiteComic book artist Jack Kirby<\/a> attends San Diego Comic Con in 1973. Clay Geerdes\/Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n

Kirby, born Jacob Kurtzberg in 1917 to Jewish immigrants<\/a>, spent roughly the first 40 years of his life in New York, aside from a stint serving in the military during World War II. Before enlisting, he\u2019d already embarked on a career as a comics artist. He went on to become a key figure during the medium\u2019s golden age, a period that most scholars and fans agree began with the creation of Superman in 1938 and ended with the implementation of the Comics Code Authority<\/a> in 1956, which heavily restricted content until enforcement weakened in the 1970s.<\/p>\n

Though you may not have heard of Kirby, you\u2019d have to deliberately avoid pop culture to miss his most influential creations: Captain America, the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Thor, Hulk, Iron Man and Black Panther.<\/p>\n

For my part, however, as a scholar of American Jewish immigration history<\/a> \u2013 and as a lifelong comic book fan \u2013 I hold a place of reverence for the man known as the \u201cKing of Comics<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jewish American history, immigration history, the history of New York City and the origins of the comics industry are inextricably linked<\/a>. New York played a starring role in the golden age of comics. And like Kirby, many of the genre\u2019s most famous artists were Jewish.<\/p>\n

Jewish immigrants put pen and ink to paper<\/p>\n

Comics found a wide audience in New York City during their early years in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, from early newspaper strips like \u201cThe Yellow Kid<\/a>\u201d and \u201cAbie the Agent<\/a>\u201d to later ones like \u201cLittle Orphan Annie<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

As World War II drew to a close in the summer of 1945, there was a citywide newspaper delivery strike, leaving many New Yorkers desperate for news and entertainment \u2013 so much so that Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia took it upon himself to read the Sunday comic strips over the radio, performing them with characteristic vigor and enthusiasm<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Among the first publications that would today be recognizable as \u201ccomic books\u201d were compilations of these early newspaper strips, assembled by newsprint salesman and Jewish New Yorker Max Gaines<\/a>. Gaines, born Maxwell Ginzburg, compiled various comic strips into neatly packaged, inexpensive entertainment for the masses, helping pioneer the saddle-stitched comic book<\/a> \u2013 thin, stapled magazines that would become the primary format for superhero stories.<\/p>\n

As the superhero genre took off in the late 1930s, other publishers emerged from Jewish New York. Harry Donenfeld and Jack Leibowitz, in partnership with Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson<\/a>, created Detective Comics and Action Comics, which helped establish the company later known as DC Comics.<\/p>\n

In addition to early publishers, many pioneering comics artists were raised in New York City as the children of Jewish immigrants, including Marvel Universe architect Stan Lee<\/a> and his brother, Larry Lieber; Will Eisner<\/a>, creator of \u201cThe Spirit\u201d and co-creator of \u201cSheena: Queen of the Jungle\u201d; and Al Jaffee<\/a>, a longtime contributor to Mad Magazine.<\/p>\n

An ode to the Lower East Side<\/p>\n

In Jack Kirby\u2019s comics, the city shines through.<\/p>\n

The Fantastic Four \u2013 the superhero squad that Kirby created with Stan Lee \u2013 operates out of midtown Manhattan\u2019s fictional Baxter Building, which Kirby modeled after the city\u2019s mid-century skyscrapers.<\/p>\n

Kirby also based the character of Ben Grimm \u2013 The Thing \u2013 on himself<\/a>, mining his own life to write Grimm\u2019s backstory. Grimm\u2019s home is on the fictional Yancy Street, a tribute to Kirby\u2019s own working-class upbringing on the Lower East Side\u2019s Delancey Street<\/a>. The thoroughfare is rich with Jewish history and in close proximity to iconic businesses like Katz\u2019s Deli<\/a> and Russ and Daughters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another of Kirby\u2019s most iconic characters was Steve Rogers<\/a> \u2013 Captain America \u2013 which he co-created with Joe Simon.<\/p>\n

A poor orphan from Brooklyn, Rogers attempts to enlist in the U.S. Army to fight the Axis powers during World War II, but is rejected as unfit for duty. He is later recruited into Project Rebirth, where he is transformed into a super-soldier after being injected with a serum designed to maximize human physical and mental abilities.<\/p>\n

Captain America attracted legions of fans among American youth, many of whom saw themselves in the superhero. Though Rogers is Christian, his story of transformation from weakling to hero certainly spoke to young Jewish boys and men, who were often inaccurately portrayed in the media and press as intellectually superior but physically inferior<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Captain America, though fictional, is already recognized as a part of New York City history, and has a statue in Brooklyn<\/a>, which was unveiled in 2016 with the inscription \u201cI\u2019m just a kid from Brooklyn.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city as a muse<\/p>\n

Even comics created by artists outside New York City \u2013 like Ohio natives and Superman co-creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster<\/a> \u2013 are, by virtue of their content, still in many ways New York comics.<\/p>\n

The glittering Metropolis in \u201cSuperman\u201d is widely understood as a stand-in for New York; for example, in the April 1950 issue of Action Comics<\/a>, the Statue of Liberty is said to appear in \u201cMetropolis Harbor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>A Captain America statue is unveiled during a ceremony at Prospect Park in New York\u2019s Brooklyn borough on Aug. 10, 2016, in honor of the character\u2019s 75th anniversary. Angela Weiss\/AFP via Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n

If Metropolis is the bright, shining, optimistic view of the city, then Gotham, the home of Batman, reprises the city through a grittier lens.<\/p>\n

Writer Washington Irving had first described New York as Gotham<\/a> in the early 1800s. But by the time Batman came on the scene, the term had become less common in everyday speech, and DC Comics repurposed the name for the fictional Gotham City. Beyond<\/a> the name, Gotham City\u2019s architecture, bridges, boroughs and neighborhoods are an homage to New York.<\/p>\n

By officially recognizing Jack Kirby, the city adds the artist to a distinguished roster<\/a> of politicians, community activists and celebrities honored with street names.<\/p>\n

Jack Kirby Way celebrates a legendary comics artist while also acknowledging the immigrant creators who helped shape the genre. It\u2019s a fitting tribute: As much as the comics industry is indebted to the city, the city is indebted to the comics industry.<\/p>\n

Miriam Eve Mora<\/a>, Managing Director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute, University of Michigan<\/a><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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