Definitive Documentary of Comic Book Artist Jack Kirby in Development

Acclaimed documentary film director, Ricki Stern (“Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work,” “UFOs: Investigating the Unknown”), has set her sights on “Kirbyvision” – a feature length documentary telling the complete and fascinating story of legendary artist, storyteller, and creator, Jack Kirby. Dan Braun and Josh Braun (“The Andy Warhol Diaries”, the Emmy-winning “Wild WILD Country”) will produce under their Submarine Deluxe production banner, a wholly owned subsidiary of Submarine, alongside Mike Cecchini, Ron Fogelman, and Chris Longo.

Kirby is widely regarded as one of the comic book medium's most innovative, prolific, and influential creators. At the height of his nearly six decade career, Kirby created or co-created many of Marvel’s major characters including Captain America (with Joe Simon), the Avengers, Black Panther, the Fantastic Four, Hulk, Iron Man, Silver Surfer, Thor, the X-Men, and countless others (with comics impresario Stan Lee).

He worked similar magic for DC Comics, where he created the sprawling, psychedelic “Fourth World,” a series of political and psychedelic sci-fi epics often considered his most ambitious work. His creations as writer, artist, and editor include Darkseid, Mister Miracle, OMAC, The Demon, and many others who are mainstays of DC’s publishing and screen projects to this day.

In the decades since his passing, Kirby’s name has become synonymous with epic sequential art storytelling and unrestrained creativity. But the influence of his work extends far beyond the page, and his name is often celebrated by not only the entire comic book industry, but blockbuster filmmakers, contemporary artists, best-selling novelists, musicians, and more.

To bring Jack’s remarkable story to life, “Kirbyvision” will work with the Estate of Jack Kirby as represented by the Rosalind Kirby Family Trust, his daughters Lisa and Barbara Kirby, and grandchildren Tracy and Jeremy Kirby, as well as the Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center to access a treasure trove of personal documents, home movies, and creative materials, many widely unseen by the public until now.

Kirby drew his way out of an impoverished, Depression-era upbringing when he co-created Captain America, who brazenly punched out Adolf Hitler on the cover of his very first comic, months before the US had entered World War II. He was soon sent into real combat on the frontlines of the war in Europe, a harrowing experience which had a significant impact on his later work. Kirby’s astounding career touched virtually every genre, including war, romance, westerns, science fiction, horror, and, of course, superheroes. His impact is felt beyond comics to this day everywhere from animation to music to blockbuster films.

Whether noble underdogs battling extraordinary villains, lowly soldiers in the trenches ripped from his own battlefield experiences, remarkably prescient looks at our potential technological future, or man’s relation to the divine nature of the gods, Kirby’s tales are as universal and human as they are mythic and cosmic in their scope. Kirby’s creations and his subsequent struggles have made him a symbol of the enduring power of storytelling. “Kirbyvision” will bring to life the fascinating story of the man who transformed the comic book into an art form and whose work continues to influence and inspire to this day.

Photo Courtesy of the Rosalind Kirby Family Trust/Susan Skaar