Last night Fantastic Four First Steps had its gala premiere. The stars were out, and Jack Kirby’s granddaughter, Jillian Kirby, was on hand to represent the Kirby family. 


It’s good to know Jack Kirby was given his flowers as the visionary who gave the Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer and Galactus their magic. Without his powerful world building, Marvel Comics and the MCU simply wouldn’t exist. 

But The King still needs more recognition. 

A few weeks ago we reported on a street naming for Kirby near where he was born, on Essex Street. Alas, it was only for the morning, a publicity event for the FF movie. But efforts have been made for more than a decade to get an actual street name for Kirby, or a plaque on his birthplace. 

Unfortunately, these efforts have been thwarted by New York City officials. I asked Rand Hoppe, co-founder and  Acting Executive Director of the Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center, about this on FB, and he related the tale and the response from the Community Board in 2017:

We’ve tried. The Community Board told us he was not enough of a presence in the community, and his work was commercial.

This was probably the same initial response the Beastie Boys people received. So how did the Beastie Boys end up with a corner at Rivington and Ludlow? I thought it may have been a new City Councilperson who liked the Beasties, (much like the Councilperson who had some namings in The Bronx for Bob Kane & Stan Lee) Patrick A. Reed had some insight… 

“Unfortunately, this request does not meet our criteria:

  • Accomplishment during lifetime. An individual who had demonstrated an extraordinary and consistent long-term commitment to benefit the community. The individual’s accomplishments would not be considered if done in connection with the operation of a commercial enterprise. The individual must have been deceased for at least 2 years

The benefit to the community needs to have been specific to the CB 3 District. Although Jack was born on Essex St, referred to the Lower East Side in his work, and valiantly served his country, none of this was specific to CB 3.

Additionally, we cannot consider someone who had accomplishments related to a commercial enterprise – aka Marvel Comics, in this instance.

I am very sorry and hope you can find another way to honor the life and legacy of Mr. Jack Kirby.”

Wotta revoltin’ development, as they say. 

You may have noticed one little detail in the above: Stan Lee and Bob Kane have streets named after them! Indeed, there is a Stan Lee Way at University Avenue between Brandt Place and West 176th Street in the Bronx. The naming took place in 2021, three years after Lee died, spearheaded by Council Member Fernando Cabrera. 

“Stan Lee was a Bronx native who grew up in my district,” Cabrera said when his proposal to rename the street got approved. “Stan Lee was a creative genius who co-created iconic super heroes including Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Hulk, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, Black Panther and more. Mr. Lee’s amazing talent brought joy and entertainment to countless children and adults and he deserves to be permanently memorialized in his home borough, the Bronx.”

You can argue whether Kirby had more to do with the Lower East Side in his life than Stan did with the Bronx, and I think Kirby would win. I never heard Stan talking about the Bronx, and he talked about a lot of stuff – even if he never lost his New York accent.  

Clearly, this comes down to a city official who cared to push this effort through, and not a groundlevel effort by the people who care about Jack Kirby and his legacy. 

So is there hope? Well, never say never. It will take some politicking, however. 

It would be wonderful, just and fitting for Jack Kirby to get a street or a plaque to mark his enormous impact on our culture. But until that happens, we’ll carry his memory in our hearts. And his creations will be seen on movie screens, on comic pages, on lunchboxes and billboards….there’s a little bit of Jack Kirby almost everywhere you look.  

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