Art. Comics. Love. Geekery.

In the 1990s cartoon Superman: The Animated Series, Dan Turpin was modelled on Jack Kirby and voiced by Joseph Bologna. He appears often in the early part of the series. At first highly critical of Superman, he becomes more appreciative of him after he and Superman save each other’s lives from Intergang. Turpin eventually stands up to and is killed by the alien tyrant Darkseid using his Omega Beams, in the latter half of the two-part episode «Apokolips … Now!», just before Darkseid leaves Earth. The character’s funeral was presided over by a rabbi who recited a kaddish. Out of respect for the legacy of Kirby, the character’s creator, producer Bruce Timm found a genuine religious leader for the voiceover, the cantor of a large Conservative temple in LA. He also modeled the cemetery after the real-life one where Jack Kirby is buried. Among the attendees of the fictional funeral in the original TV airing were some of Kirby’s Marvel comics creations, such as the Fantastic Four and Nick Fury, as well as the likeness of Kirby’s frequent collaborator Stan Lee (these were edited from the DVD release to avoid infringement issues with Marvel). Superman watches the funeral at a distance and delivers the words «In the end, the world didn’t need a Superman…just a brave one». The episode ends with a dedication to Kirby with the afterword «Long Live the King».