Regional Premiere of KING KIRBY Comes to the Cox Playhouse

If you know Captain America, Thor, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man or the X-Men, then you know Jack Kirby...or do you? With the regional premiere of KING KIRBY by Crystal Skillman and Fred Van Lente, American Chronicle Theatre Company brings the story of this legendary comic book artist to life. Staged as a live theatre motion comic, blending multimedia art, projections, shadow puppetry and voiceover with live performance, the production honors the comic book artform while telling the story of one of its most essential creators. The limited run of KING KIRBY begins with a special Fourth of July matinee and continues with eight performances through July 12 at the Cox Playhouse in Historic Downtown Plano.

It's the ultimate origin story. That of Jack "KING of Comics" Kirby. Audiences will follow Kirby from the tough Jewish ghetto of Hell's Kitchen to the harrowing battlefields of Normandy during WWII, through the paranoia of tense Senate hearings in the 1950s and as he creates some of the most iconic heroes in pop culture. In a play that explores artistic creation, a story unfolds about the head on collision of the artistic process with the American Dream when, after pouring his life into his comics, Jack Kirby is forced to take a hero's journey of his own battling for recognition as a fateful mistake sends him into obscurity while his creations become among the most recognizable in the world.

Expanding far beyond the realm of comic book lore, Jack Kirby's story carries with it new relevance. His influence is everywhere, from blockbuster film franchises to branding. It is nearly impossible to go a day without encountering something he created or inspired. As a foundational architect of the modern superhero, he is a key force behind the current juggernaut that is comic book culture and the entertainment industry. Yet, his name remains overshadowed. A retelling of Jack Kirby's life spurs questions about artistic ownership, the monetary value of creative labor and what happens when culture eclipses its creators. In our age of easily accessible AI and mass content production these questions aren't just theoretical, they're urgent.

It is also impossible to extract from Jack Kirby's body of work the impact of the antisemitism he encountered as part of the American experience. With Jewish hate again on the rise in this country, perhaps the most poignant part of his legacy is the message that is the central component to much of his canon. It was Kirby who took the hero archetype developed through folklore and injected it with community. He was the first to veer from the lone, larger than life individual hero to the superhero team. Through many incarnations of bands of misfits, mutants, aliens, and outcasts, in plotlines pitting them against superior villains at insurmountable odds, the success of these outsiders comes not through strength alone but through unity. It is a message Jack "KING" Kirby repeatedly delivered that continues to resonate and be needed -evil can be defeated, if we fight together.

KING KIRBY stars Jon Garrard as Jack Kirby, Anthony Spurgin as Joe Simon, and David Allen Norton as Stan Lee with the voice and stage talents of Nadia DeWolf, directed by Doak Rapp. The multimedia production features original artwork by illustrator and animator, J Schuh. 

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