Monthly Archives: January 2009

Titan Announces Expanded Simon and Kirby Library

Posted on January 11, 2009 by Harry

The following is a press release from Titan:

THE OFFICIAL SIMON AND KIRBY

Titan to Collect the Works of Two Comic Book Legends


Titan Books Signs Exclusive Agreement to Publish Works by Comics’ Greatest Creative Team, with Full Involvement of Living Legend Joe Simon and the Jack Kirby Estate

Titan Books has expanded its publishing agreement with comic book pioneer Joe Simon, co-creator of Captain America, to launch The Official Simon and Kirby Library beginning in 2009. In addition to the previously announced volumes The Best of Simon and Kirby and The Simon and Kirby Superheroes, the library will include volumes collecting the greatest horror, detective, and romance stories ever produced by the legendary Dream Team of comics.

Joe Simon and Jack Kirby first joined forces on the superhero character Blue Bolt in 1940, and later that year created the seminal hero Captain America (soon to be featured in a major motion picture by Marvel Studios). “When Jack and I created Captain America, it sent a shock across the nation even before America had entered World War II,” Simon noted. “But that was only the beginning, and we followed it up with titles like Boy Commandos and Young Romance. They weren’t superhero books, but each one sold millions of copies.”

Beginning in summer 2009 with The Best of Simon and Kirby, Titan Books will release full-color hardcover editions featuring some of the greatest stories ever told in the graphic medium, painstakingly restored by Simon and Kirby historian Harry Mendryk. Simon himself will oversee the process, and will offer original insights and secrets from behind the scenes.

The volume will feature the team’s most famous characters, including Fighting American, Stuntman, and The Fly, as well as genre adventures from such legendary titles as Black Magic, Justice Traps the Guilty, and the industry’s first romance title, Young Romance. Through the generous support of Marvel Comics and DC Comics, The Best of Simon and Kirby will include stories featuring Captain America, The Vision, Sandman, and The Boy Commandos.

“It’s simply astonishing, the materials Joe has kept over the years,” Titan owner and publisher Nick Landau said. “It shows uncanny foresight that he retained so many rights, and preserved those wonderful stories so that today’s readers will be able to enjoy some of the finest comics ever produced.” Details on the contents and format of the books are still being determined, as Landau added, “We want to come up with editions that are as perfect as they can be.”

Simon will attend the February 2009 New York ComicCon to celebrate the launch of The Official Simon and Kirby Library, and will sign exclusive limited edition lithographs. Titan plans to release two books a year, and these will be the only editions authorized by both Joe Simon and the estate of Jack Kirby. In addition to The Official Simon and Kirby Library, Titan will publish the autobiography of Joe Simon in 2010.

Titan Books is a leading publisher of licensed entertainment. The UK’s top publisher of graphic novels and World renowned for television and film companions, including Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd, Frank Miller and Will Eisner’s The Spirit, Watching the Watchmen by Dave Gibbons, plus the official Watchmen and Terminator: Salvation movie tie-ins. Titan Books also publishes a series of high-end art books, and biographies such as the New York Times bestselling My Boring-Ass Life: The Uncomfortably Candid Diary of Kevin Smith.

I would like to emphasize of few points found in the release. The first is that I did not write this release and was surprised to find that I was mentioned in it. I am sure I will comment further on my contribution; most likely when the first book, “The Best of Simon and Kirby”, gets released this summer.

When Titan told me they wanted to include some stories from Marvel and DC in “The Best of Simon and Kirby” I must admit I was a bit skeptical. I have never been so pleased to have been proven wrong. The release describes DC Comics and Marvel Comics support as “generous” with which I heartedly agree.

I said this before, but it is worth repeating. Both Joe Simon and the Jack Kirby estate will financially benefit from these books.

Most immediately important is that the release mentions Joe Simon will be appearing at upcoming New York ComicCon. Joe does not make many appearances so this will be a special chance for fans to meet him. I will have further announcements in the near future when his schedule becomes firmed up.

Posted in 2009/01, Odds & Ends, Topic, z Archive | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Jest Laffs

Posted on January 11, 2009 by Harry


Jumbo Comics #2 (October 1938) “Jest Laffs”

A few posts ago I present the image of the gag cartoon of a burglar from Jumbo Comics #1. Kirby scholar Stan Taylor had suggested that it may have been done by Jack Kirby. The cartoon was from page called Jest Laffs. Jest Laffs also appears in Jumbo Comics #2 and two of the cartoons there look like they were done by the same artist as the burglar from JC #1. There are a number of features that are shared, some more important then others. The use of darker regions with a raggy edge or the way the mouth is often placed off to the side of the face. I find the manner of depicting the nose and ears to be particularly interesting. It is in minor details like that individual artists often provide distinct mannerisms.


Jumbo Comics #2 (Octoer 1938) “Jest Laffs”

While the Jest Laffs page in JC #1 provides no credits, the title in JC #2 gives a Bob Kane attribution. There are other gags in the Jest Laffs page in both issues that are done in other styles. This could mean they were actually done by other artists. Or it could mean that Bob Kane adapted his style to one appropriate for the particular gag. After all Kane’s Peter Pupp, also in Jumbo Comics, was very done in a different style than his Batman.

I do not know enough about Bob Kane’s work to say whether any of it shows the same distinctive ears and noses found in the gag cartoons. It does not show up in Peter Pupp but that could just be due to the different nature between Peter Pupp and Jest Laffs. I have also examined much of Jack Kirby’s early cartoon work and could not find those distinctive ears and noses in any of it; including the one Jack did of a burglar.

For me this does not provide a definitive answer to the question of who did these particular gag cartoons but it does mean the Bob Kane should be considered along with Jack Kirby. Jack Kirby only appeared in the first three issues of Jumbo Comics. Although I have seen later issues, I was not examining them in relation to this question. If there are issues later then JC #3 with Jest Laffs gags that share the same traits then I doubt that Jack Kirby would have been the artist, if they stop with JC #3 then that would be another piece of evidence that they were done by Jack.

Posted in 1 Early, 2009/01, Kirby Or Not, Periods, Topic, z Archive | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Joe Simon’s Newspaper Art

Posted on January 11, 2009 by Harry

I recently wrote about Joe Simon’s newspaper career (Joe Simon, Editor) and earlier as well (Joe Simon as a Newspaper Staff Artist). I discussed how Joe did more then just sport illustrations. I never expected that someone would actually check to see if I was right. But that is exactly what Ger Apeldoorn did and he posted his initial results on his blog (previously called Those Fabulous Fifties, but now apparently unnamed). He is using microfiche copies of the Syracuse Herald, a search I also mean to do if I can ever find the time.

I am all for preserving old newspapers with techniques such as microfiche otherwise much would be lost about the history of our culture. Even so the quality leaves much to be desired. Ger attributed one illustration dated December 13, 1936 to Joe but could not find his signature. Was that because it was removed before publication, or has it been obscured by scratches on the microfiche film? In this case we are fortunate because Joe still has the original art in his collection. Ger may not have needed a signature to recognize Simon’s hand, but it is always nice to have confirmation.

Posted in 1 Early, 2009/01, Artists, Odds & Ends, Periods, Simon, Joe, Topic, z Archive | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Joe Simon’s Political Comics

Posted on January 11, 2009 by Harry

Joe Simon’s book, “The Comic Book Makers” (written with Jim Simon), includes a chapter “Marty, The Unknown Writer” that discusses Joe’s work on political comic books and how it came about. As usual it is interesting reading, however no examples of the comic books were provided. I thought they might provide the subject of a further post of Joe’s work outside the standard comic book field.


“The Rockefeller Team”, art by Joe Simon, script by Martin A. Bursten

The above image is from the cover but like all examples that I provide here the covers were done on the same newsprint paper as the rest of the comic book. The individuals shown are, from left to right, Judge John P. Lomenzo, U. S. Senator Jacob K. Javits, New York Governor Nelson Alodrich Rockefeller, N. Y. Attorney General Louis J. Lefkowitz, and N. Y. Lieutenant Governor Malcolm Wilson. Actually those are the titles they had at the time, but some went on to hold other positions. For instance Nelson Rockefeller was selected to be U. S. Vice President with Gerald Ford after Richard Nixon resigned from the presidency. The comic book is undated but had to been done between 1959 when Nelson first became Governor and 1974 when he left that position to become Vice President.


“The Rockefeller Team”, art by Joe Simon, script by Martin A. Bursten

The art for all these comics was done in a realistic style which is not unexpected given the political purpose they were created for. They are all short in length having only 8 pages (including the cover). Generally the layout have the standard comic book panels, but occasionally, as shown above, a more interesting panel arrangement is presented.


“Our Friend Ken”, art by Joe Simon, script by Martin A. Bursten

The Ken of this comic is Kenneth B. Keating, U. S. Senator from 1959 until 1965 when he lost the seat to Robert F. Kennedy. This provides a narrower period for when the comic was published and Keating’s absence from “The Rockefeller Team” suggests that comic was produced after 1965.

Joe Simon is credited with the art to both of these comics while the script is by Martin A. Bursten. This is the same Bursten whose name appeared in “Mercury in the 20th Century” (Red Raven #1, August 1940) that Jack Kirby drew which previously led to the mistaken idea that the name was an alias of Jack’s. In “The Comic Book Makers” Joe explains that he did this political comic book work on a free lance basis for Bursten’s advertising and public relation firm. The name of that firm was Burstein and Newman and was located in Marty’s home in Great Neck. Both “The Rockefeller Team” and “Our Friend Ken” were produced by Country Art Studios in Woodbury, which is where Joe lived at the time.


“Solo en America, La Historia de Louis J. Lefkowitz” art by Joe Simon, script by Martin A. Bursten, translation by Dr. Carmen Marrero

Lefkowitz appears a little older then in “The Rockefeller Team” so I believe this was done even later. There are no art credits in this comic but the style is so similar to the others that I have no doubt that Joe Simon was responsible for it as well. Unfortunately I cannot read Spanish so I am unsure if this was just a translated version or if the comic was made specifically for a Hispanic reader.

These three are the only political comics by Simon that I have seen. But given their use in political campaigns their survival is even more unlikely then standard comics. These copies were all given to me by Joe himself and I have never seen examples anywhere else. But although Joe liked to keep copies of his work for his own collection that does not mean that these were the only ones he did. Perhaps others will eventually be found.

Posted in 2009/01, 7 Freelance, Artists, Odds & Ends, Periods, Simon, Joe, Topic, z Archive | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Joe Simon’s Career in Advertising

Posted on January 4, 2009 by Harry

In the comments to my post on Joe Simon, Art Director Steven Brower asked whether Joe Simon worked in advertising as an art director. I did not answer Steven then because I decided it was time I wrote a little about Joe’s career outside of comics.


Interior of a folded brochure for Cyder House

There were a number of comic book artists who made the transition into advertising. Generally those that did ended up working for some advertisement agency. Joe followed a different route, he established his own company, Northart Concepts Inc., and sold his services. Much of this work was designing brochures and advertisements. This amounted to laying out art, photographs and text where the art was not his own. Perhaps not very exciting but it was bread and butter worked that supplied income.


Advertisement for Miller Cardboard

The above is an example of an ad Simon designed for Miller Cardboard. Joe created a number of advertisements for Miller. This is an interesting connection because most of the Simon and Kirby art was done on illustration boards manufactured by Miller or King. There is an ad Joe did, I believe for King, which unfortunately I cannot locate right now. In it Simon endorses the illustration board and says he used them to create comic book characters. The ad is provided with a drawing of a patriotic superhero that looks very much like, but is not identical, to Captain America.


Certificate for American Airlines

Most of Joe’s customers were small clients, too small to have their own art department. But Simon also did some work for large businesses such as American Airlines. The above is certificate Joe did. Today air travel is so common it is hard to imagine a day not that long ago where a company might give a certificate to a customer for taking a flight.


Dust Jacket for Pageant Books (missing back portion)

Joe Simon even did some book cover designs. Pageant Books is still in business today.


Auto Loan Advertisement for Mechanics National Bank

Sometimes Joe would provide the art as well. In the early ’70s Joe did a number of illustrations for Mechanics National Bank. The Internet provides information about Mechanics National Bank but this all seems about a particular bank building in Philadelphia. I believe Joe’s art was for banks in New Jersey. These are among his best work but are unknown to comic book fans. Joe still has the original art but unfortunately I have not scanned any of it yet. Instead I will use some copies Joe made of some of the ad layouts. The original art is all nicely colored but these particular layouts were done in black and white.


Advertisement for Mechanics National Bank

The Mechanics National art all uses the same character. Occasionally Joe refers to him as Forester Bill, but most commonly as Hector Protector. The name comes from a nursery rhyme:

Hector Protector was dressed all in green;
Hector Protector was sent to the Queen.
The Queen did not like him,
Nor more did the King;
So Hector Protector was sent back again.

The humor found in these Hector Protector pieces is obviously related to that found in Sick. There is, however, a greater emphasis on the odd juxtaposition of imagery; here a ship caption with his anchor, fishing rod and parrot atop of a camel in the desert.

Posted in 2009/01, Artists, Odds & Ends, Simon, Joe, Topic, z Archive | Tagged , | 3 Comments