Welcome to Ink & Imagination, brought to you by Those Two Geeks.

In the first half of our two-part special on creator rights, we explore how Jack Kirby, the artist who helped dream up the Fantastic Four, Thor, the X-Men, and countless others, reshaped the DNA of modern comics while fighting for the credit and ownership he was too often denied.

We’ll revisit the legendary Fantastic Four #48–49, where a simple note became one of the most profound stories ever told in comics, and follow Kirby through the heartbreak and triumph of a lifetime spent creating worlds he didn’t own.

This is the story of the man who built universes and the system that tried to keep his name out of them.

Music by Nicholas Panek from Pixabay