 He attended Cooper Union School of Art but left in his third year, when, with the help of Larry Hama and Neal Adams, he began to get work in the comic book industry.He penciled stories for DC’s horror line and assisted on "Little Orphan Annie" for Tex Blaisdell, who took over the strip after the death of Harold Gray.In December 1973, Ralph Reese introduced Kirchner to Wally Wood, for whom he worked as assistant for several years.