Photo By Gail

While visiting Los Angeles in December, I had the chance to see Jack Kirby: Heroes and Humanity at the Skirball Cultural Center — an exhibition that managed to be both deeply informative and genuinely fun. Rather than focusing solely on Kirby’s outsized influence on Marvel and DC, the show presented a fuller portrait of the artist: his Jewish upbringing on New York’s Lower East Side, his service in World War II, and the personal experiences that shaped his lifelong interest in heroism, justice, and moral responsibility.

One of the exhibition’s standout moments was the display of the original cover art for Captain America Comics No. 1 — published on December 20, 1940.with a featured a cover date of March 1941 —and created by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon. Few images in comic book history are as immediately recognizable — or as politically charged — as Captain America landing a punch squarely on Adolf Hitler’s jaw, months before the United States officially entered World War II.

As the Skirball notes, the cover is more than provocative spectacle. It combines wish fulfillment with a clear anti-isolationist argument, reinforced through carefully placed visual details. Papers labeled “Sabotage Plans for the USA” spill from a villain’s grasp, while a screen beneath the masthead depicts the destruction of a U.S. munitions factory. Together, these elements frame American involvement in the war not as intervention, but as an act of necessary self-defense.

Seen within the broader context of the exhibition — alongside Kirby’s military history and his personal stake in the fight against fascism — the cover reads as both cultural artifact and moral statement. It’s a reminder that from the very beginning, Captain America was conceived not just as a superhero, but as a symbol of resistance, conviction, and humanity in the face of global crisis.