Okay, that title is more of a Lee-style bit of bombast than Kirby, but it sets the tone …
I'll admit to being torn here. I have sympathy with Kirby having gotten a raw deal from Marvel, but it's not clear to me that his kids really have a legal leg to stand on here.
I do sort of hope that SCOTUS takes the case, though, just to read the transcript of the justices asking questions about the Marvel characters. Though I suppose they will be accompanied by an annoying round of "BIFF! WHAM!" style headlines.
This Genius Helped Create The Avengers, X-Men, Captain America, Hulk, And Thor — And His Family Wants To Get Paid
You may think of Stan Lee when you hear…
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Why does the article credit Kirby with cocreating Spider-Man and Iron Man?
For Iron Man it mentions a preliminary sketch that is claimed to be an inspiration for the character.
On Spider-Man, Wikipedia says (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man):
'Regardless, Lee received Goodman's approval for the name Spider-Man and the "ordinary teen" concept, and approached artist Jack Kirby. As comics historian Greg Theakston recounts, Kirby told Lee about an unpublished character on which he had collaborated with Joe Simon in the 1950s, in which an orphaned boy living with an old couple finds a magic ring that granted him superhuman powers. Lee and Kirby "immediately sat down for a story conference", Theakston writes, and Lee afterward directed Kirby to flesh out the character and draw some pages.[11] Steve Ditko would be the inker.[note 3] When Kirby showed Lee the first six pages, Lee recalled, "I hated the way he was doing it! Not that he did it badly—it just wasn't the character I wanted; it was too heroic".[11]:12 Lee turned to Ditko, who developed a visual style Lee found satisfactory.'
Unlike most Marvel trivia I hear these days, this was new to me. Thanks!
So Kirby was to be the penciler on Spider-Man? I can see why Lee would have switched to Ditko.
+Scott Randel Agreed — Spidey was much more effective as kind of a runt, and it sounds like Kirby was much more into the heavily muscled type.
Does that give his estate a leg to stand on? No idea.