Popverse's coverage of Comic-Con International: San Diego 2026 is brought to you by Dark Horse Comics.

Few people cast a bigger shadow across the history of comics than Jack Kirby. The legendary artist helped create many of the most iconic and enduring characters in comic book history, but it is his Fourth World stories and characters that have become a large part of his legacy. His influence continues to be felt in the upcoming Mister Miracle TV show, with Tom King stressing that every design and every character needed to be “more Kirby.”

“Jack Kirby is my every single day these days,” Tom King explained during The Annual Jack Kirby Tribute Panel at San Diego Comic Con 2026. “I’m the showrunner on the Mister Miracle TV show.” After a brief bit of applause, King stressed to the audience, “Guys. Seriously. It’s fucking good. I tried to get some clips to show up. They did not approve them. We’re gonna all fucking be back here in a year, and I’m gonna show you an episode, okay. Promise?”

Going back to the subject of Jack Kirby, who created Mister Miracle as part of his ambitious Fourth World story, Tom King insisted that he was keeping Kirby in the heart of the Mister Miracle show, from the art to the dialogue.

“Jack Kirby is on my lips every day because… I’m insisting that every episode start with the baseline characters created by Jack Kirby, so that’s how each episode starts… Every time we get any design in, the first thing we do is we put the Kirby design next to the design and say, ‘Make it more Kirby.’”

In addition to the visuals, Tom King explains that every episode of Mister Miracle features dialogue written by Jack Kirby himself, complete with Kirby’s colorful use of punctuation throughout. All of it is aimed at keeping Jack Kirby in the heart of Mister Miracle, which is where he belongs.

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