As first reported by Comics Beat, legendary comics writer Joe Simon (pictured on the left, with Jack Kirby) has died at age 98. Other sites will, in the next day or two, post lavishly written tributes to Simon, his work, his creations, and so on.
All we’re going to do here is pause for a moment of reflection — and ask that you do the same — on how different this industry and community would be had it not been for Simon and his creative partner Jack Kirby. Together, the two most famously created Captain America, but also Manhunter, The Boy Commandos, and The Newsboy Legion, in addition to revamping The Sandman. Throughout the 50s, the two worked on crime and romance comics, in accordance with the publishing trends of the time. When Kirby went off to form a new partnership with Stan Lee, Simon moved into the advertising industry. He returned to comics sporadically throughout the 60s and 70s, co-creating bizarre properties for DC like Brother Power, the Geek and Prez.
Simon engaged with the fan community throughout his golden years, often attending conventions, signing, speaking on panels, and producing reproductions of his classic covers.
The Boy Commandos, The Newsboy Legion, and Simon and Kirby’s Sandman are all available in handsome hardcovers from DC Comics. Titan Books just last month published another impressive volume, The Simon and Kirby Library: Crime, as part of an ongoing series of reprints.
