Category Archives: Best of Simon & Kirby

“The Best of Simon and Kirby” Nominated for Harvey Awards

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Posted in 2010/07, Best of Simon & Kirby, Topic, z Archive and tagged , ,

Not long ago I posted that “The Best of Simon and Kirby” had been nominated for a Eisner award //kirbymuseum.org/blogs/simonandkirby/archives/2689. Now I am thrilled to be able to write that the book has now been nominated for two Harvey awards:

BEST DOMESTIC REPRINT PROJECT

  • “THE BEST OF SIMON AND KIRBY”, by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; edited by Steve Saffel, Titan Books
  • “HUMBUG”, conceived and edited by Harvey Kurtzman and created by Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Davis, Will Elder, Al Jaffee and Arnold Roth; edited by Gary Groth, Fantagraphics Books
  • “RIP KIRBY”, by Alex Raymond; edited by Dean Mullaney, IDW
  • “THE ROCKETEER: THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES”, by Dave Stevens; edited by Scott Dunbier, IDW
  • “THE TOON TREASURY OF CLASSIC CHILDREN’S COMICS”, edited by Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly, Abrams ComicsArt

BEST BIOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL OR JOURNALISTIC PRESENTATION

  • “ALTER-EGO”, edited by Roy Thomas, TwoMorrows
  • “ART OF HARVEY KURTZMAN: THE MAD GENIUS OF COMICS”, by Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle, Abrams ComicArts
  • “THE BEST OF SIMON AND KIRBY”, by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; edited by Steve Saffel, Titan Books
  • “THE COMICS JOURNAL”, edited by Gary Groth, Michael Dean and Kristy Valenti, Fantagraphics Books
  • “UNDERGROUND CLASSICS”, by James Danky and Denis Kitchen, Abrams ComicArts

You can see the complete list in Newsarama. As was the case with the Eisner nomination, the BoSK faces strong competition. “The Rocketeer” is just an amazing book. I am currently reading the second volume of IDW’s “Rip Kirby”. Although Alex Raymond is usually remembered for his Flash Gordon, I believe his Rip Kirby was much better and more important. Some of the other books I have not had the chance to examine closely but who could question the importance of Harvey Kurtzman? “Alter Ego” is the magazine to go for anyone interested in the silver and golden age comic book artists. So once again I am not holding to much hope of “The Best of Simon and Kirby” actually winning one of these awards. However I am quite pleased to have been part of a project that is has received the recognition that these nominations bring.

The Best of Simon and Kirby

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Posted in Best of Simon & Kirby, Topic.

Amazon is still saying the release date is May 12, but “The Best of Simon and Kirby” has been appearing in comic book stores across the country. I have decided to keep a running post for reviews and such. Readers are encourage to leave comments as well. If this sounds like a shameless plug that is only because it is a shameless plug. I want “The Best of Simon and Kirby” to be a great success. Remember this book has been authorized by Joe Simon and the Jack Kirby Estate.

“Dazzling from beginning to end, The Best of Simon and Kirby is a monumental piece of comics’ history”
Mike Rogers for the Library Journal

Newsarama has a preview of the entire Blue Bolt #4 story, if you have never seen Simon and Kirby’s Blue Bolt, or worse yet are only familiar with it from the 1998 paperback, you are in for a pleasant surprise.

“The finest work by Simon and Kirby, creators of Captain America, covering two decades during which the Dream Team conquered every genre”
from icV2

5/5/09 UPDATE:

Steve Saffel (the book’s editor) makes a statement about the project in Comic Book Resource

Newsarama has an extended interview with the art restorer for this book. If you did not know who that is, that would be me.

5/9/09 UPDATE:

“A collection of complete comic book stories from the legendary team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, covering every genre in which they made their mark”
in Monsters and Critics

“Bringing an unmatchable boyish energy to the medium, Simon and Kirby produced comics that popped right off the page”
by Bill Sherman in Blogcritics

5/23/09 UPDATE:

There seems to have been a lot of comments and reviews of “The Best of Simon and Kirby” on the Internet. The latest quotations and links that I provide below are very likely to be incomplete as I do not have the time to do a thorough search. Included are a couple of interviews of Steve Saffel (the book’s editor).

“Joe Simon and Jack Kirby have been the gold standard for partnerships in the comic book field. Their work ethic, their creations, and their longevity speak volumes about the duo and speaking of volumes, they are likely the only ones to get DC and Marvel to allow stories from their archives to share two covers”
by Rober Greenberger in ComicMix

“an exquisite showcase of two gentlemen who rank as veritable grand masters in the comics medium”
The First Post

“The book had the cooperation of Marvel and DC Comics and the help and approval of the Kirby family, so this is probably the best cross section of the Simon Kirby team ever produced”
by Charles R. Rutledge in Singular Points

“I collect a variety of first- and limited-edition books, and it takes a lot for me to be impressed, but The Best of Simon and Kirby just has that special something in the execution that makes my brain tingle”
Jeff VanderMeer in Omnivoracious which includes an interview with Steve Saffel

Another Steve Saffel interview can be found in Ain’t It Cool News

“The Best of Simon and Kirby, a gloriously oversize tome” in
Entertainment Weekly who gave the book an A

“Jack Kirby’s creation (or co-creation) of most of the Marvel Universe may be his claim to immortality, but his earlier collaboration with partner Joe Simon was arguably richer, deeper and more varied”
Richard Pachter in The Miami Herald

5/29/09 UPDATE:

“The book had the cooperation of Marvel and DC Comics and the help and approval of the Kirby family, so this is probably the best cross section of the Simon Kirby team ever produced”
by Charles R. Rutledge in Singular Points. Rutledge provides a nice overview of the work of Simon and Kirby.

“History oozes from these pages and you will find yourself immersed in a bygone age that still resonates in these modern times thanks to the immense talents of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby whose energy reverberates across space and time.”
by Bart Croonenborghs in Broken Frontier (includes some sample pages)

6/5/09 UPDATE:

“Simon and Kirby are the foundation stones for comics as we know them, crossing all genres depending on public tastes and exploring new storytelling techniques. Their legacy is a legend that has shaped our reading pleasures and inspired generations of comic-book creators.”
by Paul W. Smith in Den of Geek

“This volume is, of course, an important addition to any comic book fans library due purely to its historical merits. However, the stories are also greatly entertaining–otherwise it wouldn’t be much of a “Best of,” would it?”
by Thom Young in Comics Bulletin

“After hearing for years and years about how great the comic-book creative team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby was, I finally ‘get it.’ All it took was reading the pair’s THE BEST OF SIMON AND KIRBY, a fabulous hardcover collection from Titan Books.”
by Red Lott for Bookgasm

“THE BEST OF SIMON AND KIRBY should be available just about everywhere books are sold now, and it’s quite gorgeous. In fact, I’ll say right now, if I had to pick a single Kirby book to recommend out of the hundreds that have come out since I started tracking them for this weblog in 2004, weighing the quality of the material, the quality of the production and the value for the price, this would be the winner.”
by BobH from The Jack Kirby Comics Weblog
This short comment means more to me personally then any of the reviews of The Best of Simon and Kirby. Bob’s blog is the place to go to get the latest news about all upcoming publications about Jack Kirby. He even has scooped me on news about this very book.

6/12/09 UPDATE:

I missed getting a copy of Comic Shop News #1146 last week which prominently featured The Best of Simon and Kirby in an article by Cliff Biggers. It includes an interview with editor Steve Saffel where Steve says some highly complimentary things about me. Steve also has done interviews in Forces of Geek and by Avi Weinryb in Comic Book Bin. That last interview provides the surprising information that Amazon lists the superhero volume with a release date of December 31, 2035! I am hard at work on the art restoration for that volume and I can assure you that it will be out much, much sooner then that!

“The names Joe Simon and Jack Kirby are widely regarded as legendary in the context of comic book history”
by Michael Simpson in Blogger News Network

“Best known today for their superhero work, which they excelled at and which helped to define that genre, they were in truth far more versatile than that, working in just about every storytelling convention from horror to western, and in fact helping to establish one, the romance comic, that is now barely mentioned in connection with their names.”
by Adam-Troy Castro in Sci Fi Wire

6/19/09 UPDATE:

“The Best of Simon and Kirby” is a beautiful oversized hardcover that acts as a huge showcase of their works, and in a great number of genres.”
Greg McElhatton in Comic Book Resoures

“I’ve got to say that they did a stellar job with it. It’s oversized (essentially a coffee table book), printed on non-glossy paper, and a real work of art. The extra size really lets you get into the art, which is part of the point of this book.”
David Brothers in 4th Letter

“Big, Bright, and Beyond fantastic, this collection truly represents both Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, and the golded age of comics that they helped usher in!”
Sebastion Piccione in Project Fanboy

6/26/09 UPDATE:

Bill Gladman interviews Steve Saffel in Comic Related