Jack "The King" Kirby was comics. During his tenure, his pen helped create several hundred characters. His influence brought forth Captain America, the Avengers, Hulk, Iron Man, X-Men, Black Panther, the Eternals, Darkseid, and the New Gods.
And that's just the heroes we all know. He also helped develop the villains, supporting cast, and locations. Kirby's contributions are so large that some of his characters have been lost to the ages. As a sample, here are 10 forgotten characters Jack Kirby created.
10 Atlas
Many people forget Kirby left Marvel in the late 1960s and jumped over to DC. It's there that he created a whole slew of new characters. Many of them with a science fiction flavor. One of these was Atlas.
The initial appearance of Atlas was in the first issue of First Issue Special in 1975. It told the tale of a boy left as an orphan when his parents are slain by a lizard king. With help from an alien crystal he wears around his neck, Atlas dedicates himself to helping the innocent. He quickly disappeared and wasn't seen again until 2008 when he showed up in a Superman story.
9 Betsy Ross
Before Peggy Carter, Steve Rogers' love interest was Betsy Ross. Created by the legendary team of Kirby and writer Joe Simon, Betsy made her initial appearance in the very first Captain American series. There, she was part of the U.S. Army's Women Auxiliary and helped Steve when she could.
Years later, when Cap needed a new sidekick, Betsy donned a costume and became Golden Girl. However, that didn't last too long, especially since the real Cap was a block of ice by then. In the 21st century, Betsy was linked as the aunt of General Thunderbolt Ross and his daughter Betty Ross.
8 Captain 3-D
As 3-D movies became popular in the early 1950s, other media outlets tried to jump on the bandwagon. One of these was Harvey Comics. Bringing on the team of Simon and Kirby, the hero known as Captain 3-D was born.
His origin is somewhat complicated. It involves an ancient war between humans and cat people, a scientist named Professor Five, and the Book of D, which is the home to the captain. The one-shot comic came with two pair of 3-D glasses. After that, the idea of three-dimensional comic books was shelved.
7 Captain Glory
Don't confuse this character with General Glory, the DC Comics character created in late 1980s for the second volume of Justice League. Captain Glory was created for a 12-issue series distributed by Topps Comics in 1993. Back then, practically every company produced a comic book it seems.
Actually, according to Mark Evanier's book Kirby: King of Comics, the original idea of Captain Glory came about in 1968. It was intended to be a new version of Captain America. However, this never came to pass. Nearly a quarter-century later, Topps made him the lynch pin for their short-lived Kirbyverse line of comics.
6 Dingbats Of Danger Street
Not every creation by well-known artists is a home run. Case in point, Kirby's Dingbats of Danger Street. Originally created to be part of a new series, the group was relegated to a single issue of 1st Issue Special in 1975.
A modern take on the Newsboy Legion, created by Simon and Kirby in the 1940s, the Dingbats help defeat a pair of second-class villains with the help of police lieutenant Terry Mullins. Apparently, Mullins was the 1970s version of the Newsboy's adult protector, the Guardian.
5 Fighting American
Of those characters listed here, two of them are only partially forgotten. One is listed below. The other is Simon and Kirby's Fighting American. Created in 1954 by Prize Comics, the character is known for two things.
He was the first creator-owned character in modern comic book history, long before the Liefelds and Lees did it. He was also the first superhero to take on the commies full-time. In the end, Kirby took a variation of Captain America's origin and used it to create the Fighting American.
4 It! The Living Colossus
Kirby wasn't only known for creating most of the superhero lineup during Marvel's Silver Age. He also worked in the science-fiction side of things. It was a love of his that stretched into his other series for both Marvel and DC. In this case, he created It! The Living Colossus.
It! in this case was a 100-foot statue come to life by a Russian artist who wanted to protest the Soviet life. Animated by an alien, it rampaged through Moscow. When the alien got tired, it left, then re-animated the statue again when it was shipped to Los Angeles. Years later, It! would battle the Hulk and Doctor Doom.
3 Machine Man
The inclusion of Machine Man in this list is not because he was forgotten. Instead, it's how he came to be a part of the Marvel superhero universe that's interesting.
Originally known as Mister Machine, Kirby introduced him in the 2001: A Space Odyssey series he wrote and drew for Marvel. In a loosely connected story, a humanoid robot named X-51 escapes from the U.S. Army. Eventually, he merges into the regular Earth-616 universe in his own series, also produced Kirby. Machine Man would go on to integrate himself further, eventually becoming an Avenger.
2 Sky Masters
Kirby didn't always focus on comic books. In the 1950s, he worked together with writer Dave Wood to create a successful syndicated comic strip called Sky Masters of the Space Force. Please hold your irony for later.
The strip focused on the adventures of astronaut Sky Masters and his team in the not too distant future. While they clearly conquered space before the Russians, they hadn't gone much further than Earth's orbit. Nevertheless, space weddings and other quirky events made the series quite popular during its run.
1 Thundarr The Barbarian
Fast forward to the 1980s. Kirby has written and drawn hundreds of comic book panels. He's ready for a new challenge. In this case, Saturday morning cartoons. In particular, the Ruby-Spears production Thundarr the Barbarian.
Joining comic book artist and Space Ghost creator Alex Toth, Kirby helped with the show's production design. When Toth left early in its development, Kirby took over to create most of the secondary characters and villains. Overall, Thundarr and its Kirby-esque look lasted two seasons on ABC.