Joe Simon R.I.P.

December 15, 2011 3:18 PM

Joe Simon, who along with Jack Kirby created Captain America, died today at the age of 98.

In addition to Captain American, the duo created The Fighting American, Stuntman, and Boy's Ranch. And if that wasn't enough, the first romance comic. Simon also served as the first editor for Timely (later Marvel) Comics.

And from a previous post, here's a picture of Captain American punching Hitler.

posted by marxchivist (29 comments total)

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posted by scaryblackdeath at 3:20 PM on December 15, 2011

May he punch Hitler forever in heaven.
posted by Artw at 3:23 PM on December 15, 2011 [10 favorites]

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posted by ZeusHumms at 3:24 PM on December 15, 2011

This makes me very sad. Comics were a bigger factor in teaching me to read than anything school ever did for me. Cap has always been my favorite; fictional though he may be, he has always meant more to me than any religious figure or celebrity or world leader.

Thank you, Joe. Thank you so much.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 3:29 PM on December 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

I can't link directly to it, but if you click on "Exclusive Story" here, you can read a complete Fighting American yarn.

Not many of these Golden Age guys left, it hasn't been a good week.

Here's a recent interview with Simon.
posted by marxchivist at 3:32 PM on December 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

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posted by Gelatin at 3:38 PM on December 15, 2011

Not many of these Golden Age guys left, it hasn't been a good week.

This is why we are having our silver age greats like Jim Steranko lovingly preserved while they are still around.
posted by Artw at 3:39 PM on December 15, 2011

Simon recently did the first convention of his life. This makes me wonder what went into that decision.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 3:40 PM on December 15, 2011

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Thanks, Joe.

I remember heated middle-school arguments about why it was important that Cap carry a shield, rather than a gun. I'm pretty sure that my defense of Cap's shield was a formative moment in the development of my rudimentary understanding of geopolitics.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 3:48 PM on December 15, 2011 [6 favorites]

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posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 4:11 PM on December 15, 2011

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posted by Faint of Butt at 4:33 PM on December 15, 2011 [6 favorites]

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posted by immlass at 4:39 PM on December 15, 2011

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posted by Scoo at 4:44 PM on December 15, 2011

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posted by Renoroc at 5:00 PM on December 15, 2011

If we could hear stars collapse we'd know we've just lost one.

and on a second note FUCK YOU Hitler and your bitchass hairstyle
posted by Meatafoecure at 5:07 PM on December 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

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posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 6:07 PM on December 15, 2011

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posted by Oh OK HA HA at 6:26 PM on December 15, 2011

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I've only come to enjoy Captain America more and more over the years, despite all the recent reworking and whatnot. The man has principles.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 6:31 PM on December 15, 2011

Me: Joe Simon died today, apparently.
Sister: Who?
Me: One of the creators of Captain America.
Sister: That's probably best- he hasn't been able to celebrate Christmas for almost 6 years now.
The Room: What?
Sister: "To kids, from 1 to 92."



That's really all I have to offer on this subject, I'm not really that in to comic books.
posted by FirstMateKate at 7:06 PM on December 15, 2011

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posted by KingEdRa at 7:21 PM on December 15, 2011

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posted by ahimsakid at 7:50 PM on December 15, 2011

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posted by rahnefan at 8:38 PM on December 15, 2011

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posted by SmileyChewtrain at 9:33 PM on December 15, 2011

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posted by 26.2 at 10:13 PM on December 15, 2011

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posted by May Kasahara at 10:17 PM on December 15, 2011

Darn.

Just.

Darn.
posted by MartinWisse at 12:36 AM on December 16, 2011

Simon is best known for Cap and his other Golden Age work, of course, but some attention should be paid to his singularly bizarre late sixties-early seventies DC work, creating titles such as Prez (teenage president), Brother Power the Geek (hippie Pinocchio), and the Green Team (a group of preteen millionaire boys who went around solving problems by literally throwing money at them--they even had special jumpsuits with pockets stuffed with cash). If I hadn't seen the actual comics myself, I'd assume that they were fake-retro books, but they were real.

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posted by Halloween Jack at 5:16 AM on December 16, 2011

"Schnell! He is attacking der fuhrer, AIM FOR HIS SHIELD!!"
posted by stinkycheese at 5:31 AM on December 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

More on Prez and The Geek.

Thanks so much for this post. I was a Marvel kid so I'd never heard of these characters.
posted by stinkycheese at 5:41 AM on December 16, 2011