Born Jacob Kurtzberg in 1917 to Jewish-Austrian parents on New York’s Lower East Side, Jack Kirby came of age at the birth of the American comic book industry. Beginning his career during the rising tide of fascism in Europe, Kirby and fellow artist Joe Simon created the patriotic hero, Captain America. In the 1950s, Kirby turned his artistic talents to other genres, such as monsters, westerns, crime, and romance. In 1961, Kirby returned to super heroes to illustrate what would become the defining issue in Marvel Comics history: Fantastic Four #1. For the next decade, Kirby and Stan Lee would introduce a mind-boggling array of new characters—including the Avengers, the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, and the X-Men. Taken together, Kirby’s groundbreaking work with Lee helped form the foundation of the Marvel Universe. Kirby died in 1994, but his influence on the comic book industry is as strong as ever.