1961 Fantastic Four #1 Cover - Kirby Being Kirby 1 1

[Vibranium]

Those building numbers were always on my mind whenever I saw the cover. I knew the issue revolved around Center City in California but I never believed Jack Kirby would randomly select 135 & 137 without having a reason. Hundreds of numbers to choose from.... why those two? I remember looking up where he was born, 147 Essex Street, and that took care of that... at least for a while. Until I saw the the Milestone Edition, without building numbers, a few weeks ago at the LCS and it started up again. This time with success. Just had to look for the best image of FF #1 so the building numbers showed up clearly for the thread.

I did a refresh on Yancy Street. According to The Marvel Comics Guide to New York City, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby named Yancy Street in reference to Delancey Street. I mapped it and saw Suffolk Street ran parallel to Essex Street and intersected Delancey Street.

I Couldn't find an old picture of Suffolk Street but found one of Essex. Circa 1905. Twelve years before Jack was born.

Along with a great article from Kirby's Mean Streets The Lower East Side of Jacob Kurtzberg.

I'd bet my bottom dollar that cover is a hat tip to Suffolk Street, and to a fellow gang member who resided in 135/137... and even Stan the Man didn't know.

 

[Readcomix]

Fascinating and believable! Thank you!

[Miket123]

I think they do a walking tour of that area now. 

[bronze_rules]

Yes, very interesting. Note...According to the 1910 census, Benny Kurtzberg once lived at 136 Suffolk Street.

 http://alphabettenthletter.blogspot.com/2017/08/creator-jack-kirby-in-census-and-army.html

Delancey and Suffolk 1906...

 

Edited September 18, 2022 by bronze_rules

[Nick Furious]

On 9/18/2022 at 12:15 AM, bronze_rules said:

Yes, very interesting. Note...According to the 1910 census, Benny Kurtzberg once lived at 136 Suffolk Street.

 http://alphabettenthletter.blogspot.com/2017/08/creator-jack-kirby-in-census-and-army.html

Delancey and Suffolk 1906...

 

We tend to take old pictures like this for granted.  But they were rare and expensive at the time they were taken and developed.  

[Readcomix]

Mentioning because it may be of tangential interest to those reading here — somewhere in Bronze, there is a thread about the NYC detail Ross Andru would put into ASM, and the lengths he would go to to do it. This reminded me of that.