Joe Simon , who along with Jack Kirby created Captain America, died today at the age of 98. [more inside]
posted by marxchivist on Dec 15, 2011 - 29 comments

For your 4th of July enjoyment: 10 Exceedingly Patriotic American Comic Heroes. Given the overlap between the Golden Age of superheroes and the beginning of WWII it should be no suprise that there are so many patriotically themed superheroes. Probably the first was The Shield ("G-Man Extraordinary"), who eventually faded away to be an occasional character in Archie comics, followed by the revolutiionary war themed Minute Man. But the most enduring of all would be Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's creation Captain America, whose first comic sold just under a million copies and featured Cap doing the most patriotic thing of all: Punching Adolf Hitler in the jaw.
posted by Artw on Jul 4, 2010 - 37 comments

It's 1968. Hippies are everywhere, and they're reading underground comics. Your name is Joe Simon. You want to create a mainstream comic book with a hippie as a hero. What do you come up with? Brother Power the Geek.

It only lasted two issues. Of course, it did a little better than the Black Bomber, a white bigot who sometimes turned into an African-American superhero. That comic was never printed.
posted by Astro Zombie on Mar 15, 2006 - 12 comments