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The Simon and Kirby Library
Simon and Kirby: Superheroes
Beginning with Blue Bolt in June 1940, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby set the standard for costumed heroes. Their creation Captain America remains one of the most famous heroes in comic book history, and their work for Timely and DC Comics raised the bar.
This large format hardcover collects the duo’s most exciting characters: Fighting American, their cold-war take on the patriotic hero, The Fly, with origins in an unknown Spider-Man prototype, Lancelot Strong, the man with the double life, and the Hollywood swashbuckler known as Stuntman.
This is the only edition authorized by both Joe Simon and the estate of Jack Kirby, gathered from the official Simon and Kirby archives.
This large format hardcover collects the duo’s most exciting characters: Fighting American, their cold-war take on the patriotic hero, The Fly, with origins in an unknown Spider-Man prototype, Lancelot Strong, the man with the double life, and the Hollywood swashbuckler known as Stuntman.
This is the only edition authorized by both Joe Simon and the estate of Jack Kirby, gathered from the official Simon and Kirby archives.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published September 28, 2010
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About the author
Joe Simon
360 books26 followersJoseph Henry "Joe" Simon (born Hymie Simon) was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s-1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the first editor of Timely Comics, the company that would evolve into Marvel Comics.
With his partner, artist Jack Kirby, he co-created Captain America, one of comics' most enduring superheroes, and the team worked extensively on such features at DC Comics as the 1940s Sandman and Sandy the Golden Boy, and co-created the Newsboy Legion, the Boy Commandos, and Manhunter. Simon & Kirby creations for other comics publishers include Boys' Ranch, Fighting American and the Fly. In the late 1940s, the duo created the field of romance comics, and were among the earliest pioneers of horror comics. Simon, who went on to work in advertising and commercial art, also founded the satirical magazine Sick in 1960, remaining with it for a decade. He briefly returned to DC Comics in the 1970s.
Simon was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1999.
With his partner, artist Jack Kirby, he co-created Captain America, one of comics' most enduring superheroes, and the team worked extensively on such features at DC Comics as the 1940s Sandman and Sandy the Golden Boy, and co-created the Newsboy Legion, the Boy Commandos, and Manhunter. Simon & Kirby creations for other comics publishers include Boys' Ranch, Fighting American and the Fly. In the late 1940s, the duo created the field of romance comics, and were among the earliest pioneers of horror comics. Simon, who went on to work in advertising and commercial art, also founded the satirical magazine Sick in 1960, remaining with it for a decade. He briefly returned to DC Comics in the 1970s.
Simon was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1999.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 10, 2018
Excellent book for Joe Simon and Jack Kirby fans, comic book fans and those who new to comic. Well know creators of the beloved real, original actual first Captain America/Steve Rogers (who was never a Nazi!) you'll fine in this big book a sample collection of their other Superhero that, with maybe exception of Fighting American, are less well know today.
To start with Introduction by Neil Gaiman who give you brief history of Jack Kirby, which Neil rightful pointed out should be grateful and thankful for, alone with Joe Simon for comics we have.
Then have intro The 1940's War & Peace by Jim Simon. Next the first SuperHero Comic is The BlackOwl starting Doug Danville as Black Owl and Terry Dane a female sleuth so get involve and solving mystery and crimes.
Next Stuntman Starting former circuses acerbated turn Stuntman Fred Drake along with his friends actor/not really good detective Don Daring and actress Sandra Sylvan in fun comic of getting solve mystryies and fighting crime.
Next one of the silliest superhero customers (that saying something) I've seen in this book is The Vagabond Prince starying John Oaks and orphaned Rogers James fight in crime as Vagabond Prince and Chief of Justice.
Next we move into 1950's with information of Fighting American and Captain 3D
Captain 3D was created during 3D movie craze in 50's where we see (more likely another orphan boy) Danny Davis given book which contain the last of a person from different planted imprison in book for safe and allow to be free when Danny looks at him with special 3D glasses. (Comic Book LOGIC).
Speaking of Comic BOOK LOGIC we have CA/Steve Rogers "cousin" Fighting American a parody of CA. After the death of Jonny Flagg (really?!) Nelson Flagg agree to (with COMIC BOOK LOGIC) try experiment treatment which have his soul(?) transfer into his brother body were he takes up both his brother ID and Fighting American. Later he gains partner Speedboy fighting Commies.
The Double Live Of Private Strong stars character Lancelot Strong is basically their version of Superman.
and last The Fly starting orphan Tommy who finds a ring and given powers from specie from different dimension.
Great big book with good stories to keep you entertain for awhile.
To start with Introduction by Neil Gaiman who give you brief history of Jack Kirby, which Neil rightful pointed out should be grateful and thankful for, alone with Joe Simon for comics we have.
Then have intro The 1940's War & Peace by Jim Simon. Next the first SuperHero Comic is The BlackOwl starting Doug Danville as Black Owl and Terry Dane a female sleuth so get involve and solving mystery and crimes.
Next Stuntman Starting former circuses acerbated turn Stuntman Fred Drake along with his friends actor/not really good detective Don Daring and actress Sandra Sylvan in fun comic of getting solve mystryies and fighting crime.
Next one of the silliest superhero customers (that saying something) I've seen in this book is The Vagabond Prince starying John Oaks and orphaned Rogers James fight in crime as Vagabond Prince and Chief of Justice.
Next we move into 1950's with information of Fighting American and Captain 3D
Captain 3D was created during 3D movie craze in 50's where we see (more likely another orphan boy) Danny Davis given book which contain the last of a person from different planted imprison in book for safe and allow to be free when Danny looks at him with special 3D glasses. (Comic Book LOGIC).
Speaking of Comic BOOK LOGIC we have CA/Steve Rogers "cousin" Fighting American a parody of CA. After the death of Jonny Flagg (really?!) Nelson Flagg agree to (with COMIC BOOK LOGIC) try experiment treatment which have his soul(?) transfer into his brother body were he takes up both his brother ID and Fighting American. Later he gains partner Speedboy fighting Commies.
The Double Live Of Private Strong stars character Lancelot Strong is basically their version of Superman.
and last The Fly starting orphan Tommy who finds a ring and given powers from specie from different dimension.
Great big book with good stories to keep you entertain for awhile.
June 25, 2024
This book offers tremendous value, clocking in at 480 pages for $49.99 MSRP, nearly double the page count for comparably priced books in this category. You really can't go wrong with it, even though the stories are formulaic and often tedious.
It's interesting watching Kirby evolve from his more cartoonish Golden Age style to his more powerful Silver Age style. He really hits his stride on Fighting American, which is odd considering that the writing here reaches a low point. It is downright corny at times. I read the hardcover of the series that Marvel released in 1989 and loved it. That was 5 or 6 years ago, and since then I have read hundreds of Golden Age comics. I think that the novelty of something being old and obscure made me like it more. Now that I am a seasoned Golden Age reader, I can better discern quality over novelty. Fighting American is pure cheese. The artwork makes it tasty cheese, but it is still cheese nonetheless.
The Black Owl and Stuntman were neat ideas but were a chore to plow through. I wanted out of Stuntman in the worst way, but held on and persevered. Simon and Kirby caught lightning in a bottle with their creation of Captain America, and they tried to repeat the formula first with Fighting American, and later the Shield. The Shield does feature a more polished artwork style for Kirby, definitely one of his first steps toward his Marvel style.
The Fly is my favorite character in the book. I read it late at night when I was dead tired, but the gist of it has something to do with fly people from another dimension who give a ring to a little boy and when he rubs it becomes The Fly, who is a full grown man. No, it doesn't make any sense, but it seems cool. Also, he has a stinger gun which fires darts that put people to sleep. Just like a real fly...oh wait. I love the faulty logic and science in old comic books.
One of my gripes about modern comics is decompression. It takes so long for anything to happen. Kirby's style of storytelling is the opposite. He tries so hard to cram so much story into 6 or 8 or 10 pages that he is tripping over himself trying to fit it all in. Dropped plotlines, strip premise, and supporting cast are cast aside and later reintroduced with no mention of how or why. The worst case of this is in Fighting American, where his sidekick, Speedboy, is referred to by his real name twice in the entire 200+ pages, and one of those was in the unreleased story!
The restoration in this book is interesting. While it employs solids like the Marvel Masterworks or DC Archives, it also fabricates dots on some of the sections of each panel for contrast. While I personally enjoy dots from a nostalgia perspective, these dots are way too perfect, and are at times even distracting. It was nice to finally get a properly colored version of Fighting American, after the abysmally muddy job that Marvel did on their 1989 Masterwork-format hardcover.
The paper is a thick, uncoated stock, and the book boasts sewn binding...8 stitches instead of the 7 used on most hardcovers. I found this to be extremely exciting for some insane reason.
It's interesting watching Kirby evolve from his more cartoonish Golden Age style to his more powerful Silver Age style. He really hits his stride on Fighting American, which is odd considering that the writing here reaches a low point. It is downright corny at times. I read the hardcover of the series that Marvel released in 1989 and loved it. That was 5 or 6 years ago, and since then I have read hundreds of Golden Age comics. I think that the novelty of something being old and obscure made me like it more. Now that I am a seasoned Golden Age reader, I can better discern quality over novelty. Fighting American is pure cheese. The artwork makes it tasty cheese, but it is still cheese nonetheless.
The Black Owl and Stuntman were neat ideas but were a chore to plow through. I wanted out of Stuntman in the worst way, but held on and persevered. Simon and Kirby caught lightning in a bottle with their creation of Captain America, and they tried to repeat the formula first with Fighting American, and later the Shield. The Shield does feature a more polished artwork style for Kirby, definitely one of his first steps toward his Marvel style.
The Fly is my favorite character in the book. I read it late at night when I was dead tired, but the gist of it has something to do with fly people from another dimension who give a ring to a little boy and when he rubs it becomes The Fly, who is a full grown man. No, it doesn't make any sense, but it seems cool. Also, he has a stinger gun which fires darts that put people to sleep. Just like a real fly...oh wait. I love the faulty logic and science in old comic books.
One of my gripes about modern comics is decompression. It takes so long for anything to happen. Kirby's style of storytelling is the opposite. He tries so hard to cram so much story into 6 or 8 or 10 pages that he is tripping over himself trying to fit it all in. Dropped plotlines, strip premise, and supporting cast are cast aside and later reintroduced with no mention of how or why. The worst case of this is in Fighting American, where his sidekick, Speedboy, is referred to by his real name twice in the entire 200+ pages, and one of those was in the unreleased story!
The restoration in this book is interesting. While it employs solids like the Marvel Masterworks or DC Archives, it also fabricates dots on some of the sections of each panel for contrast. While I personally enjoy dots from a nostalgia perspective, these dots are way too perfect, and are at times even distracting. It was nice to finally get a properly colored version of Fighting American, after the abysmally muddy job that Marvel did on their 1989 Masterwork-format hardcover.
The paper is a thick, uncoated stock, and the book boasts sewn binding...8 stitches instead of the 7 used on most hardcovers. I found this to be extremely exciting for some insane reason.
November 4, 2024
Excelente libro lleno de cómics sorprendentemente buenos, gracias, obviamente, al talento del Rey de los Cómics, pero también a los guiones de Joe Simon, en general muy currados y divertidos. Es fácil entender por qué en su momento se contaron entre los creativos mejor pagados de la industria, aguantando como freelancers hasta la creación del infame Comics Code.
Aunque, como digo, el nivel medio es bastante alto, la verdadera sorpresa son los cómics pertenecientes a la serie de Fighting American (recopilados en su totalidad en esta colección). Siempre había pensado que se trataba de un héroe patriótico a lo Capitán América, solo que luchaba contra comunistas en lugar de contra nazis... y, bueno, sí que lo es, pero... resulta que, tras un número de presentación completamente convencional (un tanto aburrido, la verdad), a Simon y a Kirby se les va la pinza y comienzan a inventar absolutas marcianadas, una suerte de parodias descabelladas y desternillantes de las clásicas amenazas rojas de las que estaba plagado el imaginario colectivo de la época. Desde Hotsky Trotsky y Poison Ivan hasta Super Khakalovitch, pasando por los intrigantes Rimsky y Korsakoff, ante los ojos del lector se desplegarán algunos de los villanos más ridículos y patéticos de la historia de los cómics. Y, para más inri, en este mundo completamente absurdo, Fighting American y su joven compañero, Speedboy, se comportarán como los proverbiales payasos serios, enfrentándose con cara de póker y solemnidad extrema a esta cohorte de tronados, como si fueran temibles amenazas que ponen en peligro la paz mundial.
En fin, una lectura fabulosa, mucho más que recomendable. Simon y Kirby merecen leerse y releerse, aunque, en ocasiones, yerren el blanco, y en otras la calidad de la edición (supongo que a causa de fotolitos deteriorados) se resienta, con algunos manchurrones que deslucen el siempre fantástico arte del Rey. Bueno, nada es perfecto.
Aunque, como digo, el nivel medio es bastante alto, la verdadera sorpresa son los cómics pertenecientes a la serie de Fighting American (recopilados en su totalidad en esta colección). Siempre había pensado que se trataba de un héroe patriótico a lo Capitán América, solo que luchaba contra comunistas en lugar de contra nazis... y, bueno, sí que lo es, pero... resulta que, tras un número de presentación completamente convencional (un tanto aburrido, la verdad), a Simon y a Kirby se les va la pinza y comienzan a inventar absolutas marcianadas, una suerte de parodias descabelladas y desternillantes de las clásicas amenazas rojas de las que estaba plagado el imaginario colectivo de la época. Desde Hotsky Trotsky y Poison Ivan hasta Super Khakalovitch, pasando por los intrigantes Rimsky y Korsakoff, ante los ojos del lector se desplegarán algunos de los villanos más ridículos y patéticos de la historia de los cómics. Y, para más inri, en este mundo completamente absurdo, Fighting American y su joven compañero, Speedboy, se comportarán como los proverbiales payasos serios, enfrentándose con cara de póker y solemnidad extrema a esta cohorte de tronados, como si fueran temibles amenazas que ponen en peligro la paz mundial.
En fin, una lectura fabulosa, mucho más que recomendable. Simon y Kirby merecen leerse y releerse, aunque, en ocasiones, yerren el blanco, y en otras la calidad de la edición (supongo que a causa de fotolitos deteriorados) se resienta, con algunos manchurrones que deslucen el siempre fantástico arte del Rey. Bueno, nada es perfecto.
November 25, 2012
Read it for the history of superheroes. Art of 1950s. Cliched dialogs. Way too patriotism for America. Scared of communism.
Sometimes it's easy to forget how comics evolved or the impact current climate has on them. This one serves as a reminder, in a good way.
As a collection, it includes bunch of early superheroes - stuntman, Captain 3D, The Fly, Lancelot Strong, and Fighting American. You can see the influence of this earlier work in now popular characters.
Quite an interesting collection.
Sometimes it's easy to forget how comics evolved or the impact current climate has on them. This one serves as a reminder, in a good way.
As a collection, it includes bunch of early superheroes - stuntman, Captain 3D, The Fly, Lancelot Strong, and Fighting American. You can see the influence of this earlier work in now popular characters.
Quite an interesting collection.
August 30, 2012
Worth reading for Simon and Kirby fans.
February 3, 2014
Pretty cool book. Some of the superheroes were cooler to read than others.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews