Dan Nadel: Thinking About Jack Kirby
Art historian Dan Nadel lectures on the visionary comics artist Jack Kirby and his lasting impact on visual culture and storytelling.
Why we picked this
Kirby invented the visual language of the Marvel universe before anyone knew what that meant. Nadel makes the case that he belongs in the conversation with the great 20th-century artists.
Art historian and curator Dan Nadel presents a lecture on Jack Kirby at the New York Studio School, examining the comics legend’s contribution to American visual culture. Kirby co-created Captain America, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and dozens of other characters, but Nadel’s interest goes deeper than the Marvel mythology.
This lecture situates Kirby within the broader history of 20th-century art, arguing that his kinetic compositions, cosmic imagery, and relentless formal invention deserve serious attention alongside his fine art contemporaries. Kirby’s influence extends far beyond comics — his visual vocabulary shapes film, design, and digital media to this day.
At the New York Studio School, a venue dedicated to drawing and painting, this is a lecture that asks what happens when we take popular visual art as seriously as the galleries do.