Jacob KUrtzberg: Early Life
Jacob Kurtzberg was born on August 28, 1917 in Manhattan, New York, to Rose and Benjamin Kurtzberg, who were both Austrian-Jewish immigrants. He was raised in Manhattan, but always sought out ways to leave his neighborhood, and to find places where he could learn more about it. He always liked to draw, he was virtually self taught, and cited comic strip artists like Milton Caniff, Hal Foster, and Alex Raymond as inspirations/influences. His first entry into comics was at the Boy's Brotherhood Republic, as a cartoon artist
Jack KIrby: Comic ARtist
Jacob joined the Lincoln Newspaper Syndicate in 1939, where he worked on comic strips and single-panel advice cartoons for the newspaper under the name Jack Curtiss. He left in late 1939, when he went to work for the animation company Fleischer Studios as an inbetweener (someone who fills in the action between major movement frames) for a cartoon called Popeye. However, he did not stay long, "I had to get out in a hurry because i couldn't take that kind of thing" Jacob said, likening it to a factory.
At that time, the comic book industry in America was at an all time high, and he began writing and illustrating for the comic book packager Eisner & Iger, where he made his first comic work, Wild Boy Magazine. He constantly switched pseudonyms, until he decided on Jack Kirby, as it reminded him of the actor James Cagney.
In 1940, he and his family moved to Brooklyn, where he met his future wife, Rosalind Goldstien.
At that time, the comic book industry in America was at an all time high, and he began writing and illustrating for the comic book packager Eisner & Iger, where he made his first comic work, Wild Boy Magazine. He constantly switched pseudonyms, until he decided on Jack Kirby, as it reminded him of the actor James Cagney.
In 1940, he and his family moved to Brooklyn, where he met his future wife, Rosalind Goldstien.
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An Interview