Thank You Joe Simon (10/11/1913 -12/14/11)

By Agent Burgos on Dec 16, 2011 with Comments 1

A sad day indeed. Captain America co-creator Joe Simon has passed away in New York City on December 14, 2011, after a brief illness. The comics legend created and 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. One of his most iconic creations was the sentinel of liberty Captain America, which he co -created with Jack Kirby. Simon was inducted in the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame, on 1999.

Marvel remembers Joe and posted this on their website:

Newsprint flowed through Simon’s veins early in life as the newspapers provided the young artist-writer with his first, real job experience and avenues for future creative growth. Born and raised in Rochester, New York, he first worked on his high school newspaper as its art director, then graduated to several real-world papers. There, Simon handled not only production assignments, but also provided editorial cartoons throughout the 1930s.

Eventually drifting into freelance work, the young Simon found his way into the industry that he’d make his most important mark on when he went to work for Funnies, Inc., a company that provided comic stories to other publishers. There he created his first super hero, the Fiery Mask for Marvel’s predecessor Timely Comics, and met a fellow creator, one Jack Kirby.

Simon and Kirby hit it off and soon became an inseparable creative duo. Simon’s sense of business and design coupled with Kirby’s raw drawing talent created a team that could take on the world. After a few introductory comic book gigs together, the two young men made their way to Timely and there began to build what would become one of their signature creations: Captain America, the Sentinel of Liberty.

In more recent times, Simon thrilled to seeing his creation Captain America finally take his place among other Marvel heroes on the silver screen in 2011’s “Captain America: The First Avenger” feature film. It stands as a proud moment that rounded out a lengthy and important career for the trail-blazing Joe Simon.

In the 2000s, Simon turned to painting and marketing reproductions of his early comic book covers. He appeared in various news media in 2007 in response to Marvel Comics’ announced “death” of Captain America in Captain America vol. 5, #25 (March 2007), stating, “It’s a hell of a time for him to go. We really need him now”.

Well, thanks Mr. Simon for giving us such wonderful characters and for leading the way to many, many artists and creators.

Both pioneers passed away this month

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Agent Burgos

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I am Agent Burgos S.H.I.E.L.D. Information Director. I like to bring you the latest news from the Comic World, I do not discriminate, and often venture in other galaxies and alternate universes.