What a good day May 11th, 2026 was. In a world full of anxiety and doomscrolling, what a joy it was to celebrate the life and work of Jack Kirby, with the unveiling of a street sign co-naming a stretch of Essex Street as Jack Kirby Way. A crowd of local cartoonists and fans filled the street to give out heartfelt cheers to celebrate.
How lucky and happy I felt to be there. How lucky and happy I was to have met Kirby and seen his passion and scrappy nature first hand. How happy and proud he and Roz would have been to see his name become part of the New York City that shaped him.
My day started early with an invitation to meet up with some folks at the nearby Essex Market prior to the street sign unveiling. As I walked down Essex Street I was struck by what a typical block on the Lower East Side it was – the empty original Essex Market on one side, but covered with colorful graffiti and paintings that spoke not of dereliction but the human need for mark making, on the other side a large parking structure redone with a vaguely-Kirbyesque metal framework, side by side with tenements turned into desirable apartments and shops. At the corner of Delancey, the veiled street sign was waiting to be revealed, and I teared up a little, knowing that Jack Kiby’s name would be part of this busy streetscape.
Even though Kirby’s work was filled with gods and cosmic battles, he’d grown up just a block away, in the hubbub and clamor of what was a hundred years ago a “rough neighborhood,” the Yancy Street of his work.
The meet-up turned out to be a breakfast reception for Kirby’s family in attendance and the speakers for the day, along with comics folks including Jim Steranko, Jim Starlin, Mike Mignola, Ann Nocenti, Mark Evanier, Karen Berger, Paul Levitz and many more, including Marvel’s Tom Brevoort, David Bogart and CB Cebulski. Without Marvel’s temporary street naming last summer, this permanent one wouldn’t have happened. Roy Schwartz, who managed to get the street naming approved after a six month process, was there to get his plaudits and introduce Council Member Christopher Marte, who represents the Lower East Side and whose office had led the approval process. It was a happy, joyful meet-up, commemorated with Jack Kirby Way cloisonne pins that Marvel had provided. And the day wouldn’t have been complete without cosplayers who dressed up as the FF, Jean Grey and most importantly, Galactus!
At noon we went back to the street corner where a stand and viewing area had quickly been constructed. Impressive! A good sized crowd had gathered, large enough that I didn’t realize a lot of friends were there until after, including the Beat’s Taimur Dar and Ricky Serrano Denis. There was also a fellow in a t-shirt that read “Jack Kirby hated Nazis,” a sentiment we can all share.
About a half an hour of speeches followed. Roy Schwartz introduced the day, and alluded to how hard it is to get a street naming in New York City. But with the help of the law firm where he works – and Max Deutsch, an aide in Council Member Marte’s office who is a big comics fan – he was able to move mountains to get it done. (You can hear Schwartz talk more about this all in a podcast I did with him last week for PW’s More to Come.)
Marte spoke next, and mentioned that Kirby was the son of immigrants, like him, an important theme for the day, and grew up poor going to PS 20, just like Marte. He did a good job putting Kirby in the context of the neighborhood, “It was not easy growing up here. A lot of people could have buried their background once they left this neighborhood, but he never forgot where he came from. He went on to represent the Lower East Side through his work and told stories of underdogs from poor neighborhoods who became superheroes.”
Tom Brevoort spoke next, talking about Kirby’s importance to the Marvel that is known around the world. “He knew the value that he had to give to people…and people all across the world now recognize the characters and the stories that came from his mind.”
Paul Levitz then gave some remarks that I thought really captured the day, talking about how hard Kirby worked for his family, and how much detail he put into his work that was from the real world, as well as how he changed his name from Jacob Kurtzberg to Jack Kirby so he wouldn’t be held back in that work.
He introduced Steranko, a born storyteller who was the Inspiration for Mister Miracle. Steranko talked about being invited to Kirby’s home, and Jack making him a toasted cheese sandwich for lunch, and later watching him draw Captain America. “He started drawing him from the belt buckle, so if you’re going to draw him that’s where to start.” he also told an anecdote about former DC Publisher Carmine Infantino, because no day of comics history is complete without Carmine Infantino.
Finally Kirby’s three grandchildren in attendance spoke, Jillian Kirby, Jeremy Kirby and Tracy Kirby. Jeremy read a letter from Neal, Kirby’s son, who was unable to make the trip due to health issues. “Growing up on the Lower East Side, a buddy neighborhood of most likely poor and most likely immigrants, the streets were filled with push carts, horse drawn carriages and people, lots of people. Being in a local street gang and fighting was a part of growing up. I guess that’s why my father was often described as a ‘scrappy little guy.’” Jillian talked about reading Kirby’s only autobiographical story, “Street Code,” and seeing how the details of the Lower East Side came out in his work. Tracy thanked Karen Green for her efforts to get the street named and everyone else for coming out. “And like Jeremy said, it was all about the stories that he would tell, the times that we’d spend in his studio watching him draw, talking about his life experiences from growing up here in New York. To me has always been an amazing part of our family history, just seeing Grandpa do amazing things and telling an amazing story. He was so humble and nice to anyone that he met, from a kid wanting an autograph to a celebrity. He didn’t care. He would talk to you about everything.”
When it came time for the unveiling of the sign, the busy traffic from the Williamsburg Bridge – which a few times had drowned out the speakers – luckily quieted down for a moment, and everyone counted down and then cheered. And there it was…Jack Kirby Way, for all to see.
There was a lot more to the day – so many friends showed up – an impromptu luncheon back at Essex Market took place with more stories and more joyful sharing.
Marvel also threw a lovely reception at the Society of Illustrators later that day, and we all got to continue with the happy feeling, as more comics folks showed up to celebrate including Frank Miller, Larry Hama, Chris Claremont, and Larry Leiber, Stan Lee’s now 94-year-old brother, one of the very last living almost Golden Agers (Leiber started working in comics in the 50s.) A lot of current Marvel staffers were there, including President Dan Buckley. It turned out tomorrow is Tracy Kirby’s birthday so we got to sing Happy Birthday for her, and have a piece of birthday cake.
Like I said, it was just a happy day, and I was so happy to share it with so many friends. Jack Kirby was a good family man who lived his life in the best way he could. Along the way he created hundreds of characters who changed the world and continue to inspire us. He had a peerless imagination that soared among the galaxies and envisioned things no one else could…but he was also a humble, humane man who never forgot where he came from. It just felt good to celebrate his life and work. And I know Jack and Roz would have been so proud to see their grandchildren speaking so eloquently and movingly.
I do want to shout out the heroes Karen Green, Curator for Comics and Cartoons and also the Librarian for Ancient & Medieval History at Columbia, who worked for more than a decade to get this to happen; Rand Hoppe, of the Jack Kirby Museum, who supported all the efforts; and Roy Schwartz, a guy who got things done while loving comics along the way. I also want to shout out Dan Buckley and David Bogart at Marvel for making the day even more special, and doing right by Kirby.
AND IT IS NOT OVER. There is currently a Kirby exhibit at the AmericanJewish Historical Society at 15 West 16th Street that is FREE and will be open until the fall.
AND KING KIRBY, a play by Crystal Skillman and Fred Van Lente, will be coming back this August – details to come on that.
AND…other things, including a rumored East Coast showing of the Jack Kirby: Heroes and Humanity exhibit, and even more, fingers crossed.
Jack Kirby will never be forgotten. A street sign is a symbol and doubtless a future selfie stop for visiting comics lovers, but Jack is all around us. After the luncheon, I got on the bus to come home and get some work done, and pulled out my phone to play Marvel Strike Force. And what did I see on the screen?
May 11th, 2026 just felt so good. For one day we put aside the bad things and celebrated the joy. It was a day for comics and a day for the power of the imagination, the real Jack Kirby Way. As Roy Schwartz put it to me as we said goodbye, “Our team won today.”
It felt good. Thank you, Jack.
My pictures were bad, so I’m going to steal a couple from Fred Van Lente, because his were good.
And this from Karen Green:
And from Taimur who always gets the shots!
And Dean Haspiel:
And Calvin Reid:
how nice! thanks for sharing.
This is great, thanks Heidi.