ComicArtFans.com (CAF) announced today that it has entered into an Event Partnership Agreement with The Estate of Jack Kirby (Kirby Estate) as represented by The Rosalind Kirby Family Trust and The Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center (Kirby Museum). The initial product of the partnership will be The Kirbys, a new awards ceremony named in honor of Jack and Roz Kirby, to be held at CAF’s Original Art Expo in February.
The partnership will cover the creation and production of fundraising, award, promotional, and other events centered on the work and legacy of creator Jacob Kurtzberg, better known as Jack Kirby, whose awe-inspiring, universally acclaimed, and broadly influential body of work included being the primary architect of the Marvel Comics Universe, as well as making significant contributions to DC Comics, animation, the nascent independent comic book publishing industry, and comic book creator rights.
“We are extremely excited to partner with CAF to help envision and create these awards, which we feel will truly honor Jack and Roz’s legacy while celebrating the passion and future of comic art in remarkable artists today,” said Tracy Kirby, representing the Kirby Estate.
“As a nonprofit organization devoted to advancing the study, preservation, and appreciation of Jack Kirby’s life and work, the Jack Kirby Museum is thrilled to formalize its long-time relationship with the Estate of Jack Kirby and Comic Art Fans through this new partnership,” said Tom Kraft, President of The Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center. “We are proud to be part of honoring Jack and Roz’s vision by celebrating creativity, generosity, and storytelling—and to continue to inspire new and future generations.”
The partnership will be overseen by a three-person committee consisting of Tracy Kirby from the Kirby Estate, Tom Kraft from the Kirby Museum, and Kasra Ghanbari from CAF. Activities under the event partnership will be conceived and designed by the CAF team, then vetted and improved by the committee for consensus approval before being produced by CAF.
The first outcome of the partnership is The Jack & Roz Kirby Awards (the Kirbys), which was created by Kasra Ghanbari and vetted by the committee at length before approval. The Kirbys will be an annual award recognizing innovation, excellence, and humanity in narrative communication. At launch, the Kirbys will consist of six award categories that celebrate the artist’s journey: New Voices, Independent Spirit, Innovator, Visionary, Storyteller, and Teacher. The award process will be overseen by an Advisory Board and Voting Committee, who collectively will nominate candidates and vote on finalists and the award winners.
CAF will be producing an annual awards show at its Original Art Expo (OAX), which for its third year will be held February 20 to 22, 2026 in Orlando, Florida. CAF is actively seeking sponsors and partners for the Kirbys, which will be announced in November along with the Advisor Board and Voting Committee members. The award statue will be unveiled in advance of the awards show, as well.
“This partnership and award are opportunities granted to us by Jack and Roz Kirby, and what they represented, to convey the importance of dreaming, creating, expressing, and evolving,” said Kasra Ghanbari, CEO of CAF. “The Kirbys will seek to identify and support unique and compelling voices and perspectives, serving as recognition and strong encouragement to a creator to continue their path with gratitude for where they’ve already reached. Individuation and capable expression are a mandate, and importantly, Jack seemed to always ask the question: What’s next?”
JACK & ROZ KIRBY
Jack Kirby (1917-1994) and Roz Kirby (1922-1997) were married in 1942, and over the next 50 plus years this is what they did together: revolutionized genres such as crime, war, romance and superhero comics including the creation of X-Men (Professor X, Cyclops, Marvel Girl/Phoenix, Beast, Angel, Iceman), Fantastic Four (Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, Ben Grimm), The Avengers, The Forever People, The Inhumans, The Eternals, The New Gods, Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos, Captain America, Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor, Galactus, Silver Surfer, Black Panther, Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man, Machine Man, Ant-Man, Magneto, Doctor Doom, Nick Fury, Red Skull, SHIELD, AIM, HYDRA, The Sentinels, The Skrulls, Uatu (The Watcher), Black Bolt, MODOK, Mister Miracle, Darkseid, OMAC, Kamandi, and The Demon amongst many, many other characters and properties.
THE ROSALIND KIRBY FAMILY TRUST
The Rosalind Kirby Trust upholds the legacy of Jack Kirby and ensures his creations continue to inspire millions around the world. More information HERE.
THE JACK KIRBY MUSEUM & RESEARCH CENTER
The Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and encouraging the study, understanding, preservation, and appreciation of the life, work, and legacy of Jack Kirby—one of the most influential creators in comics and popular culture—more information HERE.
About ComicArtFans.com (CAF)
CAF is the premier website in the world serving comic book and narrative art collectors, artists, auction houses, art dealers, and artist representatives. CAF’s deCAF mobile app is now available globally for iOS and Android devices under “Comic Art Fans” through Apple’s App Store and Google Play. Make sure to subscribe to the CAF newsletters, OAX newsletter, and CAF+ YouTube channel, as well as our Instagram and Facebook pages. Find all of our links at Linktree.
Every month, CAF has 15,000+ active users and 400,000+ visits from nearly 200,000 visitors that generate 3,000,000+ page views. Collectors may easily set up either free or premium galleries on CAF, where they’ll find over 1,000,000 pieces of art posted by collectors and artists in their galleries and personal classifieds, which is additionally supplemented by 100,000s of art pieces from art dealers and artist representative websites. CAF is proud to be a truly global hub, with more than half of our traffic coming from outside the United States, most notably from France, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Spain.
CAF’s event division includes Comic Art LIVE (CAL), the biggest virtual comic art convention in the world, which is held twice annually in May and November, as well as its Original Art Expo (OAX) in Orlando, Florida, which has immediately established itself as the premier visual storytelling art event in the world.
OAX is an art fair and trade show hybrid being developed as an annual platform to exclusively showcase the narrative arts, most especially comic book, comic strip, illustration, and collectible card art. Year three of OAX is February 20-22, 2026 and will again feature the Illustration Art Expo (IAX) and Card Art Expo (CAX) as part of OAX and will present the Jack & Roz Kirby Awards presentation. Watch the OAX 2024 Intro Footage video HERE. CAF’s event division also includes Indie Comics Creator Con (IC3), a portfolio of both in-person and virtual shows committed to providing an affordable, dynamic, and inclusive platform that brings together independent comic book creators, artists, publishers, art collectors, and fans to celebrate and support unique and diverse creators in comics.
CAF also operates the highly active CAF+ YouTube channel, a community resource that produces a regular slate of weekly content including interviews with prominent creators and art collectors; previews of major auction house events; info and announcements for our CAL, OAX, and IC3 shows; the popular Dueling Dealers and Amateur Dealers of Comic Art programs pitting professional and/or amateur comic art dealers against one another; and art sale shows directly conducted with artists, artist reps, non- profits, and other fundraising groups.
Between the CAF website, deCAF mobile app on Apple’s App Store/Google Play, twice annual CAL virtual convention, CAF+ YouTube channel, and our OAX and IC3 show platforms, CAF has in place the central 24/7 hub, networking tools, educational materials, and events to assist and enable everyone from the first-time art collector and early career artist to the most seasoned art collector, art dealer, and professional published artist.
