Jack Kirby: Heroes and Humanity

Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA
May 1, 2025–March 1, 2026

Photography by Robert Wedemeyer

Captain America. The Fantastic Four. The Avengers. The X-Men. The Black Panther. Mister Miracle. The Incredible Hulk. The New Gods. These iconic superheroes are among the best-known of the many characters first brought to life by comic book artist Jack Kirby (1917–1994). Over the course of an extraordinary six-decade career, Kirby created some of the most enduring characters and storylines in the history of American comics.

The exhibition features original comic illustrations alongside Kirby’s other works, many on view for the first time, considering his fine art and commercial art as equally significant and worthy of recognition. Working with Berlin-based LEM Studios, the gallery design features a unique soundtrack of eerie sounds of cosmic “krackle,” as well an original film that sets the backdrop for Jack’s early life in New York and entry into World War II.