Tag Archives: Joe Simon

The Early Sandman

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Posted in 2007/11, 4 DC (early), Featured Work, Periods, Topic, z Archive and tagged ,

Adventure Comics #72<
Adventure #72 (March 1942) “Riddle Of The Slave Market”, art by Jack Kirby

Joe Simon has said that when, along with Jack, he arrived at DC their first jobs was ghosting for others. In the past Joe had shown he could be pretty good at mimicking comic artists, some of his Fox covers have been attributed to Lou Fine by comic book experts despite the presence of Joe’s signature. Joe and Jack both worked on a Captain Marvel special which on a whole is a pretty good job of ghosting. However careful attention reveals Jack’s touch on the Captain Marvel job despite the simplicity of the art work. So far no one has identified any of the ghosting jobs that Simon and Kirby did for DC. The first Simon and Kirby piece that we do know about was a Sandman story that appeared in Adventure Comics #72 (March 1942). No question of ghosting here, Simon and Kirby not only signed the piece they infused it with the exciting art and dynamic story telling that characterized all their creations. The only thing is Sandman was not their creation, not even the version with the new purple and yellow costume and a young sidekick named Sandy. This updated Sandman started a couple of issues before. Unfortunately I have never had the opportunity to examine those two pre-S&K issues. Simon and Kirby may not have changed the costumes, but I suspect a fuller comparison would reveal other modifications.

At this point Joe and Jack were pretty comfortable with what it took to make an interesting comic. One reason for the ease that Simon and Kirby seem to have in taking over someone else’s title was its similarity to their previous gig, Captain America. Both titles had a hero whose powers, while exceptional, would not be considered unnatural. Both included a young sidekick so that, as Joe would describe it, the hero would have someone to talk to. Finally neither hero would use weapons such as a gun. Sandman and Sandy did carry what looked like a pistol but actually was what they called a wirepoon, used to attach a wire so that the heroes could easily ascend buildings, it was never fired at their foes. It should be noted that S&K would not adhere to these traits throughout their career. Most S&K heroes do not have what one would normally describe as super-powers, but there are certainly enough exceptions. I would say most S&K heroes did not have a sidekick, but again there are enough young partners to made this a weak generalization. As we saw in Manhunter Joe and Jack could come up with sidekick stand-ins if they felt the need. Perhaps the strongest S&K trait was the hero’s lack of firearms. Only two heroes had a firearm, Night Fighter (intended for their own company Mainline) and the Fly (whose costume seems based on Night Fighter and so probably inherited the gun from that source). Since Night Fighter was never published we do not know if it was a true gun, it could have been another wirepoon to help, along with special suction boots, scale buildings. The Fly had no need for a wirepoon (he could fly) and so it was his buzz gun (used to stun his advisories). Of course I am excluding the cross-genre Bulls-Eye, although it may properly be considered part of the hero genre, a western without guns, well that would just be silly.

Captain America was not a perfect prototype for how Simon and Kirby would do Sandman. The most important difference was that since Captain America was a patriotic hero most of his opponents were spies. Without a patriotic costume, Sandman would have to have other foes. That was not a serious problem because crime was the staple of comic book and Joe and Jack would show themselves quite capable of supplying a steady stream of colorful lawbreakers. The thing that gave Simon and Kirby the greatest difficulty was non-iconic nature of Sandman. Ideally comic superheroes are meant to be iconic figures, or avatars, the embodiment of a quality or theme. The original Sandman had a pistol that released a sleeping gas and so Sandman was a very apt name. With the sleeping gas discarded and its pistol replaced with a wirepoon, the name Sandman lost its original significance. Simon and Kirby tried to make up for this lost in a number of ways. One was a bit of a poem that they would often use, usually either at the start or end of a story:

There is no land beyond the law
Where tyrants rule with unshakeable power,
It’s a dreame from which the Evil wake
Too face their fate … their terrifying hour

I wish I knew more about this unusual poem. Was it used previously by Sandman’s earlier creators, or did Simon and Kirby introduce it? More importantly what was the origin of this rhyme? The obsolete spelling of the word dreame suggests it may come from English literature. Then again it may just be the work of a very clever comic book writer. I suspect the former but I have not been able to uncover the source.

Adventure Comics #79
Adventure #79 (October 1942) “Footprints in the Sands of Time” page 2, art by Jack Kirby

Another justification for the name Sandman was the concept that the criminals were so frightened Sandman that he would haunt their dreams. A nightmares of the Sandman had by a crook was depicted in Adventure #79 (see image above). In “A Drama in Dreams” (Adventure #81, December 1942) an actor has taken the place of Sandman’s alter ego, Wesley Dodds. His deception was not perfect until he talks in his sleep:

Wesly: You can’t pin anything on me! Help! The Sandman … Don’t let him get me!

Sandy: Why — only criminals have dreams like that — but not Wes Dodds.

Dreams and sleep play other small parts in Sandman stories. In “The Lady and the Champ” (Adventure #83, February 1943) sleeping with a piece of wedding cake under the pillow apparently results in two strangers dreaming of each other. In “The Man Who Couldn’t Sleep” (Adventure #80, November 1942) a rich man’s insomnia leads him to a life of crime. Other sleep references can be found, such as Sandman commenting on their fighting crime at night while others are asleep. Sandman may not have had any special powers, but that did stop S&K from including the sleep theme into their stories in an attempt to justify their hero’s name.

Just as Sandman and Sandy did not have an real superpowers, neither did their opponents. Most would be have nothing special about them above their criminal behavior. That really was not a problem because Joe and Jack knew how to make a story exciting. Sometimes S&K would suggest their villains had powers which by the end of the story would be shown to be illusionary. In the “The Villain from Valhalla” (Adventure #75, June 1942) we are presented with the god Thor whose leads a Viking raid against New York City. Even the character’s thought balloons lead us to believe he is truly Thor, as a car approaches the treasure laden Thor he thinks:

HMMMMM. A QUEER CHARIOT THAT! .. BUT “MJOLNAR” CAN OVERCOME IT!

But in the end he turns out to be nothing more then “a clever and brutal killer” named “Fairy Tales” Fenton. His metallurgy expertise provides his gang with bullet proof clothing. The destructive hammer

AN ELECTRICAL MASTERPIECE! IT CAN SEND ENOUGH VOLTAGE INTO THE STRONGEST STEEL TO BLOW IT TO PIECES

Adventure Comics #84
Adventure #84 (March 1943) “Crime Carnival” page 1, art by Jack Kirby

Another faker was the carnival magician in “The Miracle Maker” (Adventure #78, September 1942). His magic tricks were used to hide his criminal acts. Sandman and Sandy are not fooled and catch him at his tricks. Simon and Kirby seem to have a propensity for using carnivals as a source of criminals. Previously at Timely they had done “Case #2: Sando and Omar” (Captain America #1, March 1941) and “Captain America and the Ringmaster Of Death” (Captain America #5, August 1941). “Crime Carnival” became a prime example for Sandman. Why carnivals? I suspect it has to do with the fact that the readers would be familiar with the world of circus performers and freaks. It was populated with people who could have abilities beyond those of normal people, yet be familiar enough that the readers would not wonder how they got those powers. Provided that S&K did not go too far, which they never seemed to do. When Strecho reaches through the bars to grab the money bags from a bank desk, is his arm length truly increasing, or is he just taking advantage of his thin but tall frame? From the angle that Kirby draws it is hard to be sure.

The only villain in the earlier Sandman stories that is shown receiving powers that he did not originally have was in “The Man Who Knew All the Answers” (Adventure #74, May 1942). Here we find a scientist using a device to generate vibrations that develop his unused brain cells.

KNOWLEDGE! VAST KNOWLEDGE! … I CAN FEEL IT POURING ….. INTO MY BRAIN ….. OPENENING .. UNLOCKING THE NATURAL … AND SUPERNATURAL!

Afterwards when encountering the janitor he questions him about getting a new job. The janitor is shocked, he has told nobody about it. Deductions like a super-Sherlock or ESP? No explanation is given and for the rest of the story the only power he exhibits is great intelligence.

Adventure Comics #75
Adventure #75 (June 1942) “The villain from Valhalla” page 1, art by Jack Kirby

In my opinion it was with the work that Simon and Kirby did for DC (as well as the Harvey covers) that they forged their unique art style. The key ingredient that had previously been missing was their special bold inking style. There had been occasional hints of it in the Captain America Comics, but S&K would consistently use it from this point on. I suspect that the larger crew at Timely was the reason that it did not evolve at that time. At least initially at DC all of the art was produced by Jack and Joe which facilitated the developing of their inking style. Still this is not the Studio inking style I wrote about in my serial post on Jack Kirby’s Austere Inking. There are things that look like abstract arcs (see the Inking Glossary ) but they black area never seems to form a band with both the upper and lower boundaries tracing an arc, something often seen in the typical Studio style. Crosshatching sometimes is reminiscent of picket fence brushwork as for example on the torso of Thor in the above splash page. But the pickets are thin and slanted at an angle while the rails are actually further crosshatching.

Other changes occurred in the art from what was done on Captain America. The more extreme irregular panel shapes had been abandoned. Round and irregularly shaped panels would still be common, but ones with a multiple zigzagging border would no longer be used. The most important change would be the panel layout. The predominant format on Captain America had the panels laid out in four rows and two columns. The same layout was initially continued when Simon and Kirby worked at DC. But beginning with Adventure #78 (September 1942) three rows and two columns began to be the most common layout. The transition was not sudden or complete, there are a number of stories that have both layouts. But eventually four rows would become rare and most variations would be having some rows with three panels.

Adventure Comics #75
Adventure #75 (June 1942) “The villain from Valhalla” page 8, art by Jack Kirby

I cannot finishes discussing the earlier Sandman comics without writing about one of my favorite splashes, the one from “The Villain from Valhalla”. In a previous encounter with Thor and his Viking horde, Sandman and the police had been soundly defeated with Sandy hospitalized. Now they are determined to even the score. Most Simon and Kirby splashes were limited to the first page, but this fight required the an entire story page. Besides Thor’s hammer we find the villains armed with a spear and a battle ax. Yet the good guys face this solely with their fists, none of the police draw their guns. The composition is Kirby’s comic book equivalent of Jackson Pollack. Most of the page is a tangle of arms and bodies where extra viewing time is required to reveal what is going on. Jack is not even content to leave the skyline with the Chrysler building alone, surmounting it with a rope swinging Viking. Jack’s confidence in the impact of the splash is so great that he is throws in a piece of his personal humor, a policeman’s powerful slug sends a Viking’s helmet on an upward trajectory. Frankly the caption

THEN BEGINS THE STRANGEST BATTLE NEW YORK HAS EVER WITNESSED!

seems superfluous and Sandman’s battle cry

THIS IS FOR SANDY!

was all that was needed.

Green Hornet #8, Another Harvey Cover

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Posted in 2007/11, 4 DC (early), Harvey Covers, Periods, Topic, z Archive and tagged

Green Hornet #8
Green Hornet #8 (August 1942), art by Joe Simon

When I started this blog, one of my projects was to review the covers that Al Avison, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby did for early Harvey comics. I love cover art and these early Harvey covers have some of the best work that Simon and Kirby did during that period. Unfortunately these are rare comics and generally in poor shape making restoration difficult. During the first eight months of my bloggin I was able to post on twenty Harvey covers, but a few remained to be restored and reviewed. Speed #23 presents some formidable restoration challenges. Every so often I take a look at it, however so far I just have not felt ready to take in on. I would love to write a better review of Champ #22, but I do not have a good enough of a scan to do a proper restoration. That was also the problem with Green Hornet #8, at least up to now. Now after a year, I am finally able to add another chapter to my writing on the Harvey covers.

Harvey covers can be divided into two time groups. The first were for the pocket sized comics that Al Harvey first published. The cover art was drawn by Al Avison or Joe Simon. Jack Kirby did not do any of them despite the fact that all three were involved with creating Captain America comics at that same time. Coincidentally the pocket sized Harvey comics ended at the same time as Simon and Kirby’s termination at Timely. This was followed by a gap of a few months and then Harvey started publication again, this time using the standard comic book size. Avison no longer supplied any covers, he was probably too busy doing Captain America for Timely now that Simon and Kirby were gone. Simon would draw some Harvey covers, but most were done by Jack Kirby. Oddly Joe Simon was responsible for three covers done in one short period of time; Champ #22 and Speed #22 (September) and Green Hornet #8 (August). Green Hornet was a bimonthly. Although Joe had done Champ #19 and Speed #19 (both June) in a Kirby style, the later trio of covers did not seem to reflect much influence from Jack.

It would appear that for Green Hornet #8 Joe resorted to the use of swiping that was so prevalent in the start of his comic book career. I cannot supply the source, but I am sure the witch was swiped from someplace. The captive young lady has a Will Eisner look to me. The Spirit had been published as a newspaper insert for some time so Joe was certainly aware of it. However my search through the DC archive editions has failed to reveal any possible sources for the lady on Simon’s cover. The Green Hornet’s two opponents look like Simon creations. Note their similarity of their checks and jowls with that found in the Hitler from Speed #21 (August), the smaller villain from Champ #19 (June), and the sketch of Hitler in a Zoot suit. Yes Joe used swipes for this cover, as he so often did, yet he has created a very original composition.

The cover tells a story, as just about all Joe Simon covers do. A lady is held captive, terrified of the future revealed in a crystal ball by a truly gruesome witch. But the background shows the Green Hornet arriving to the rescue. But our hero must be careful to negotiate the obstacles separating himself from the damsel in distress, a pit at his feet and a chain stretching across his path. As we follow the Green Hornet’s eyes we find it is no ordinary chain as it ends with a collar on what is the not quite human equivalent of a guard dog. A very effective guard indeed as shown by his blood stained knife. The guard is intent on preventing the Green Hornet from interfering while his diminutive companion’s concentration remains on fulfilling the crystal ball’s prediction of the woman’s fate.

Simon makes effective use of props to heighten the drama. A drip covered candle provides an eerie touch to the scene, it is a device that Simon and Kirby would introduce often for such an effect. A spot light seems come from someplace low off our field of vision. It is a very selective spot light indeed, no shadows are cast by the legs of the two subhuman figures. However shadows are cast by the hand held knife, the chain and the Green Hornet himself. All the shadows that would provide drama to the scene, as always realism is not as important as telling the story. The spot light also aids the composition, diagonally dividing the two darker fields occupied by the villains. The captive is not in the spot light but is highlighted by it, visually connecting her to the hero. It may not have anything to do with Joe, but the colorist use of a green dress also effectively links the damsel with the hero.

Joe Simon may not have been as talented a penciler as Jack Kirby, and some will say that he depended too much on the use of swipes. When it came to laying out a cover and making it tell a story, few at the time were his equal. Green Hornet #8 was truly a thrilling cover. But Joe was not content with just drama, he also included humor, albeit a dark humor. There is a similar touch of black humor in Joe’s cover for Champ #19. Here Simon scatters cob webs about the place as part of the effort to give a dungy look to the scene. How many artists would then turn around and attach webbing from the staff to the witch herself? My favorite piece of humor in this piece is how the beastly guard leads his small partner by the hand, as if he is taking part in a “take your child to work” day. This type of humor is an early manifestation that would fully blossom when Joe was editor of Sick magazine.

In order to the receive lower mailing costs for literature, comic books had to include a text story. Often not much effort seemed to be given to this story, as a young comic book reader I never read them. Harvey comics had an interesting approach to the text stories, as some of their covers declared:

READ the THRILLING Story behind the COVER — INSIDE —

What is interesting about the text story for Green Hornet #8 is not what it adds to the understanding of the cover, rather how it deviates. In the story the lady is held captive in a building across the street from the offices where the Green Hornet’s alter ego works as a newspaper reporter. Nothing in the story suggests that woman was held in the sort of dungeon that the cover portrays. Rather the story describes her place of confinement as a small room adorn to look like a fortune telling shop. In the story there is a fortune teller whose crystal ball reveals a fatal future for the beautiful captive, but without an indication that the soothsayer was an ugly witch. The short tale includes two “toughs” without giving the impression that they were almost subhuman. Neither is described in the story as small as the one shown on the cover depiction. Nor does the story mention the use of knives by the toughs. I find it hard to believe that an author presented with a copy of this exotic cover art would have written this more mundane story. More likely Joe Simon received the finished story and, realizing that the cover would have to be more exciting if it was going to sell the comic, spiced it up.

Sandman Revisited

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Posted in 2007/10, 9 DC (late), Alternate Takes, Periods, Topic, z Archive and tagged , ,

Sandman #1 cover rough
Sandman cover rough by Jerry Grandenetti

A few months ago I posted on a cover rough that Jerry Grandenetti did for the 1974 version of the Sandman. Kris Brownlow provided an image from an old eBay listing which, to put it kindly, was of a rather poor quality (the eBay lister’s fault, not Kris’s). Happily I have been able to obtain the original piece through the help of Scotty Moore.

The better image of the Grandenetti cover is welcome indeed. Now we can make out the text from the top of the cover:

HE’S BACK! THE MAN WHO BROUGHT YOU ALL THOSE WONDERFUL STORIES AND HORRIBLE DREAMS

This obviously refers to the golden age version of the Sandman that Simon and Kirby produced. Potential readers would likely have been aware of that Sandman from reprints that had appeared in the back of the various New Gods titles.

Sandman #1
Sandman #1 (Winter 1974) art by Jack Kirby

Now that it is possible to have a good understanding of the cover rough, it is clear that there is a correspondence between Grandenetti’s rendition and Jack Kirby’s published version. I previously pointed out that the machine head guy on the lower left was common to both. Also the group of snakes became represented by a single serpent. Now it can be seen that other figures correspond as well. The small man a little left of center on the cover rough becomes the scaly man on the bottom of the dream scene on the published cover. Also a little left of center is a figure whose body is nothing more then a circular head with small face surrounded by a rough or folded skin. In Kirby’s drawing the face becomes larger to encompass the entire head, but the folded skin and lack of a true body leave little doubt that it represents the same figure. Grandenetti’s muscle man on the upper right was retained by Kirby although the arms, originally in a Frankenstein pose, were changed to bring the hands together. Grandenetti had a number of circles with multiple legs (spiders?) on the left, which Jack did not made use of. Further Jack dropped the arm holding the doll and added a mysterious and threatening set of eyes. Of course the most important change is that Grandenettis’s Sandman had been delegated to the side almost lost among the dream figures. Kirby instead placed Sandman front and center using his signature exaggerated perspective. There is no doubt in my mind now that Jack saw either this Grandenetti cover or, less likely, yet another version of it.

This is convincing evidence that the bronze age Sandman was originally a Joe Simon concept. At that time Joe had been doing a number of projects for DC. Simon would be the creator and writer while another artist, generally Grandenetti, would do the art. Originally Sandman was going to be nothing more then another comic that Simon would produce for DC. However remembering the success of the golden age Sandman, Carmine Infantino probably twisted Kirby’s arm to got him to team up once again with Joe. But Jack had a long period of creating and writing material without getting the proper credit and had only recently been able to escape that fate. Now he was thrust back to teaming up with another and, worse yet, working on someone else’s concept. Despite the success of the new Sandman, Jack would not, in all likelihood refused to, continue his collaboration with Joe. Thus a Sandman was the first comic that the Simon and Kirby teamed did for DC and it would turn out the last not only for DC but anyone else as well.

The resurfacing of the Grandenetti cover is very fortuitous as I was planning to sometime in the next few weeks to post on the golden age Simon and Kirby Sandman. If that is not enough Sandman for you, I will also post sometime soon on a question I was asked by Scotty Moore about what was used as the basis for the inking of the published version of the Sandman #1 cover.

The back of the Grandenetti cover draft has some enigmatic text:

I’VE GOT IT, JUST
WHAT YOU DEMANDED
THE CASH –
THE LOOT –
THE/A COOL
MILLION

An idea for a crime comic proposal?

Joe Simon as a Newspaper Staff Artist

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Posted in 1 Early, 2007/10, Periods, Serial Posts, Topic, z Archive and tagged

Despite what has been said by what would normally be considered reliable sources such as Jack Kirby, Joe Simon did not go to college. Instead Joe used what experience he gained during his high school years to get himself a job after graduation as an artist assistant for the Rochester Journal American. Later he would go on to work for the Syracuse Herald. Much of what Simon learned during his time as a newspaper staff artist would serve him well during his career. The skill he developed with the air brush (for retouching photographs) would be used years later for creating the covers for Sick (a Mad-clone humor magazine). Joe became quite proficient in all manners of things needed in the publication of art. I am sure that this experience had a lot to do with why Joe was able to advance so quickly when he later entered the comic book industry.

Joe Simon
Sport Illustration by Joe Simon (1934)

However Simon’s experience was not limited to production, he would provide illustrations as well. Much of this was sports illustrations such as the example I provide above. This piece, as well as most of Joe’s sport illustrations, was done on stipple board. These boards had a textured surface that allowed pencils to be easily transferred to printing plates. The art was created in a size larger then the intended published version, with measurements provided in terms of the number of columns. Joe says that at the time a column was two inches wide. The above illustration therefore would be 10 inches wide in the actual newspaper. This piece originally had two paste-ups added, one of which has since been lost. The art on the remaining paste-up does not appear to be Joe’s work.

Joe Simon
Political Cartoon by Joe Simon

According to Greg Theakston (The Complete Jack Kirby) and even Joe himself (The Comic Book Maker), sport illustrations were pretty much all that Simon did. However Joe’s own collection indicates that was not the case, Joe did political cartoons as well. In the example I provide above (a four column or eight inch piece) Joe takes on a local political issue. I have no idea what the “Paper Ballot ‘Referendum'” is all about, but there is little doubt that Simon had a low opinion of the portrayed politician. The windmill brings to mind the futile quest from Don Quixote. Our politician will fare no better since he is on a rocking horse, but I love the way Joe cannot resist providing a very animated horse’s head. The council is degraded even further, being depicted as a Charlie McCarthy dummy under the politician’s control.

Joe Simon
Political Cartoon by Joe Simon

Some of the other political cartoons still in Joe’s personal collection concern Daylight Savings Time. Apparently Syracuse was one of the few local communities not to adopt the time change. Joe depicts a parade being viewed by the public. A small group of Daylight Time supporters proudly march together, each individual representing a different New York locality. Syracuse trails behind, out of step and goofy looking. There can be little doubt that Joe was calling to Syracuse to adopt the Daylight Savings Time.

Joe Simon
Fiction Illustration by Joe Simon

If we can use his collection to judge by, Joe did do a fair amount of political cartoons, just not as many as his sports illustrations. Joe Simon also at least occasionally contributed illustrations for fictional pieces. I must admit I am a little surprised at this. I was well aware that previously newspapers would often include fictional stories but I had thought that practice had been discontinued by the time Joe was doing newspaper work. Joe used a different media for this work, the three examples from his collection were all done using ink, gouache and, in the case above, some watercolor on illustration board. Because the result is more painterly, more effort must have been made to prepare them for printing. Perhaps they were used in a magazine insert were higher quality photographs would also be used. As in pulp magazines, these fictional illustrations would often include a caption. The board for the above illustration has on it in Joe’s handwriting:

“IT’S VERY SIMPLE” MARTIN SAID, “I’M GOING TO MARRY LYNN”

Joe Simon
Fiction Illustration by Joe Simon

The first example of fiction illustrated that I provided was done in a style that is unusual for Simon. The second example that I show above, as well as another work in Joe’s collection, are immediately recognizable as Simon pieces. Despite the difference in media, the characters look very much like those in Joe Simon’s early comic book work. Not only that but in these two pieces Joe also used his own features for one of the men in the scene. Perhaps it is just a coincidence, but in each case it was as the man whose quick draw gains control of the situation. In an earlier post I had suggested that Bill Everett was the source for a technique that Joe adopted of combining eyebrows and eyelids as one angular feature. This illustration work shows that I was wrong, Joe was already using pretty much the same technique before starting his comic book career. Regrettably there is no caption on the above illustration. Still I think we can be pretty certain that our quick drawing cowboy is the hero of the piece. Despite some pretty badly drawn hands, it is a exciting piece of art. Perhaps not as polished as other illustrators might do, but just the sort of thing that work well when Joe began doing comic books. The published piece would have looked a bit different. Simon marked with penciled ‘X’s the background, the counter top and parts of the center man’s jacket. This is a indication to the printer to fill theses areas with black.

Joe thought he did these fiction illustrations in the mid ’30’s, at which time he would have been in his early 20’s. That is a little surprising since Joe’s character in the paintings looks older. This might suggest that this work was actually done in the late ’30’s. Or it just might be that Joe purposely or unconsciously added a little weight to the face giving it an older look.

All indications are that Joe was doing quite well in his career as a newspaper artist. However there was a change going on with local papers were being bought up and consolidated. That included the one Joe worked for, and so he was out of a job. I suppose Simon could have moved and tried to get work in another community’s paper. However there was a shrinking supply of such possibilities and increasing number of competitors for the jobs. But I think more important was that Joe was ambitious. So he moved to New York and, as they say, the rest was history.

Art by Joe Simon, Chapter 1, In The Beginning

Art by Joe Simon, Appendix 6, Amazing Man #10

Poking Fun at Adolf

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Posted in 2007/10, 4 DC (early), Odds & Ends, Periods, Topic, z Archive and tagged ,

Captain America #2
Captain America #2 (April 1941) “Trapped in the Nazi Stronghold”, art by Jack Kirby

Simon and Kirby really hit it big with Captain America. I am sure an important reason about why it became such a large selling comic was the cover. The U.S. was not yet in the war but there were still many who could appreciate a depiction of Captain America slugging Adolp Hitler. What fictional villain could compare with the evil of the all too real Hitler? But brute force was not the only means that Simon and Kirby would use to take Hitler down a peg or two, humor was used as well. It should be obvious from the image above that S&K portrayed Hitler as somewhat of a buffoon.

Speed Comics #16
Speed #16 (January 1942), art by Al Avison

Of course once Hitler graced the pages of Simon and Kirby comics, other artists would use Adolf as well. Al Avison had a special advantage, he was one of the crew working for Joe at Timely. Al even drew some Captain America stories. Avison’s efforts never made it into Cap comics, they were recycled as the Patriot in USA #1. (Other then Kirby, the only artist to draw Captain America in the early issues was Simon.) Avison also did some work for Harvey Comics and you tell he learned a lot from Jack. For the cover of Speed #16 Al provides Hitler leading an attack on the White House. Armed with a gun, four rifles and four swords, Avison has also makes Hitler out to be a buffoon. But Avison has overplayed his hand, Adolf and his army are so ridiculous that they hardly seem a threat to Captain Freedom.

Adventure #83
Adventure #83 (February 1943) house ad at the end of a Sandman story, by Jack Kirby

Just because Joe and Jack left Timely and Captain America does not mean that they stopped making fun of Adolf Hitler. Far from it. The original Axis of Evil was jokingly portrayed in a house ad for the Boy Commandos. Only four panels but that is all S&K need. I guess the Axis leaders were the original Three Stooges.

Joe Simon
Sketch for George Roussos by Joe Simon (1942)

The above sketch is one of the reasons I have been thinking of Adolf Hitler lately. It is undated but it was from the same George Roussos sketch book that included a drawing by Jack Kirby dated as 1942. Further Joe would shortly be joining the Coast Guard during which I doubt that Roussos would have the opportunity to have Joe add something to his sketch book.

George Roussos was not only a talented artist, he was also an early fanboy. He had some of the greatest talents of the day provide drawings for his book. What a treasure it was. I say was because it recently has been disassembled and the individual pages auctioned off. It is a shame that it was not published before it was taken apart. If you are willing to register with Heritage Auction Galleries you can see the work by searching their Auction Results Archives under original art for George Roussos. Joe’s entry is not dated, but it must have been done about the same time as Jack’s, 1942.

Joe Simon has his own particular brand of visual humor of which this is a very early example. What could be more incongruous then Adolf Hitler in a Zoot suit? Where did he every come up with that? I have no idea. But this sort of irreverent humor would show up again when Joe produced the Mad-close magazine called Sick. In fact it still shows up in the art that he produces today.

I remember years ago someone criticizing Mel Brooks for his movie The Producers. They asked me how anyone could find something funny in Adolf Hitler. Make no mistake about it, Hitler was a monster, the most evil person of our century. We should never forgive or forget the horrible things he did. That however is not enough. There are people who will try to praise Hitler for some of those very awful things. So we must add ridicule on top of our scorn. That is something Joe Simon still understands very well.

Artist Loves Model, the Editing of Strips into a Comic

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Posted in 2007/09, 6 Mainline, Art Editing, In Love, Periods, Topic, z Archive and tagged ,

I recently posted on the “Artist Loves Model” story from In Love #3 (December 1954). I appended a note to my blog entry where I admitted forgetting about a post by Bob on the Jack Kirby Weblog about the syndicated strip version of the story. Recently I received a copy of Buried Treasures v1 #2 which includes strips of this syndicate strip proposal. I have compared, panel by panel, the strips to the comic book story. I wrote out all the difference as an aid to my understanding what was done. Just in case anyone wants a blow by blow description I have posted the details. Here I will summarize what was done to convert the syndication strips into the comic book story.

The strips opens with Mayor La Flower. We will never see again, he is just one of Cobb’s fans reading his “Old Man Spry” to his juvenile radio audience. This beginning leaves little doubt that there were no earlier strips. The strips end abruptly with Inky going off to confront Donna Dreame about her illicit dealings. Only the comic book version of the story provides the confrontation. But the book story includes a romance angle between Donna and Inky that was not a part of the syndication strips. Had it been drawn, the confrontation scene for the syndication strips would have been very different. Personally I doubt that Simon and Kirby produced any more strips, as a syndication proposal it would have been better for the story to be open ended.

The most significant difference between the strip and the comic book versions is the number of art panels that never made it into the comic book story. 43 out of 142 strip panels failed this transition. The first panel from the strip that made it into the comic book was the first one on the sixth strip. This means that 20 earlier panels were discarded. Before the first story page of the comic book was completed a further 4 syndicate panels would be dropped. Thus most of the ignored strip panels come from the start of the story. The remaining unused strip panels do not seem randomly distributed among the comic book pages. One group is associated with the first and second meeting between Inky and Donna Dreame (8 skipped panels for pages 8 to 10). The next story arc with a number of unused panels concerns Donna Dreame’s hatching her scheme with Half-tone (page 12 with 5 unused panels). The next dropped set of panels combines Half-tone arriving at Donna’s place with his first meeting with Inky (page 13 with 4 unused panels). More importantly the section dropped off concerns Half-tone and Donna coming back from a night on the town. Considering the love angle between Inky and Donna that was part of the comic book story this strip was particularly inappropriate. There are a few single skipped strip panels in other parts of the comic book story.

Why so many unused strip panels? At 18 pages “Artist Loves Model” is the shortest of the In Love “novel length” feature stories. “Bride of the Star” had 20 pages and “Marilyn’s Men” had 19. It is possible that the length of these stories was dictated by the number of pages that the backup stories would require and not the other way around. However it seems more likely that strip panels were not used simply because they were not necessary. Even without the extra panels, the comic book version of the story reads just as well as the syndication strips. The only negative effect of the dropping of strip panels is the lengthy caption found on the splash page of the comic book. Even Joe Simon criticized it when he recently viewed the splash page. However the wordy caption probably was considered preferable to the 20 art panels it replaces. That would have added over 2 pages without significantly helping the story.

It does seem that the initial intent was to include more of the early syndicate strips in the comic book story. In my earlier post I mentioned an used page of art in Joe Simon’s collection. This page was made from some of the panels from the third strip. I was incorrect with my original suggestion that this art page was discarded because it was taking the story into a different direction. I erred due to my misidentifying one of the characters as Jack Hill (because I was working from memory). Now it seems to me that this page was abandoned in order to condensed the story’s beginning even further.

In Love #3
In Love #3 (December 1954) “Artist Loves Model” page 14, pencils by Jack Kirby inks by Joe Simon

Art that did not seem to exist in the syndication strips was added to the comic book. The new art is found in two sections. One is the story arc where Donna Dreame finds out that Inky has used her as a model for one of the characters in the strip they are collaborating on (page 14). A more substantial addition occurs at the very end of the story starting from when Inky confronts Donna Dreame about her dishonest dealings (page 16 through 18). What is significant about these additions is that they concern the romance between Inky and Donna. This romance played no part of the original syndication strip and was added to convert the story for inclusion in a romance comic book title.

In Love #3
Syndication strip 13 panel 4, art by Jack Kirby from Buried Treasures v1 n2
In Love #3 (December 1954) “Artist Loves Model” page 5 panel 5, art by Jack Kirby

In Love #3
Syndication strip 11 panel 4, art by Jack Kirby from Buried Treasures v1 n2
In Love #3 (December 1954) “Artist Loves Model” page 4 panel 6, art by Jack Kirby

Not all the syndicate panels that did make it into the comic book did so unmodified. The overwhelming majority of strip panels were square. When inserting strip panels into the story 41 of them had their shape altered. 30 panels where horizontally truncated, 10 horizontally extended, and 3 vertically truncated. One of the horizontally expanded panels was used to make a splash panel. This splash was overlaid with another panel so that its shape was no longer rectangular. The new art that was added to expanded panels was kept pretty simple and consisted mostly of backgrounds. Much of the horizontal truncations were done simply by clipping the art. In 2 panels this resulted in the complete elimination of one of two original figures. In 7 occasions where the panel was narrowed horizontally, a character was shifted so as not to be significantly truncated. This explains the unusual cut up nature that I found on Joe’s unused art page. Cutting a strip panel into pieces allowed adjustments to the final shape of the panel for the comic book. It appears that this was done even in cases where in the end the square panel was retained.

In Love #3
Syndication strip 22 panel 2, art by Jack Kirby from Buried Treasures v1 n2
In Love #3 (December 1954) “Artist Loves Model” page 9 panel 3, art by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon

I was not completely accurate above about all the syndicate strip panels that made it into the comic book. Actually I found 14 panels where the art was redrawn either wholly or in part. None of these alterations changed who was portrayed or significantly modified the pose. Most of the time Donna Dreame was redrawn (12 panels), Inky was the only other character to be modified (4 panels). In the syndicate story Inky was portrayed as shorter then most of the other characters. With his short stature and pugnacious nature, I cannot help but feel that Jack Kirby made Inky into a sort of alter ego. The size difference between Inky and Donna may have been fine for the syndicate strips. But this created a problem when romance between the two was added for the comic book, it just would not do to have love between a tall woman and a short man. So in 4 panels Inky was redrawn to be taller. That the romance angle was the reason for this adjustment is shown by the fact that Inky is still shown as shorter then Jack Hill.

In Love #3
Syndication strip 22 panel 3, art by Jack Kirby from Buried Treasures v1 n2
In Love #3 (December 1954) “Artist Loves Model” page 9 panel 4, art by Joe Simon

Donna Dreame was altered in a couple of panels as part of the change to reduce her height relative to Inky. That does not explain most of the times that Donna was redrawn. I believe it that these other alterations were done to make Donna more conventionally attractive. Joe Simon once remarked to me that Kirby’s women were not very beautiful, but who cared since Jack drew such great stories. That is a view shared by many others, including Kirby fans. Some have even described Kirby’s woman as ugly. (I hasten to add that I do not share these views and someday I will write a post on why that is.) Joe Simon redrew many of Jack’s women when DC republished some of the old Black Magic stories. Thankfully not all of Jack’s drawings of Donna were redone. This is particular fortunate in the case of a panel which is one of the most sensuous images Kirby ever drew (see image below). Sometimes only Donna’s hair was redone, in these cases the hair was simplified. Kirby used “wild hair” as an indication of a “wild woman”, the hair changes seemed to be done to “tame” Donna a bit.

In Love #3
In Love #3 (December 1954) “Artist Loves Model” page 10 panel 3, art by Jack Kirby

All Simon and Kirby signatures were removed. Other art differences between the syndication strips and the comic book are rarer. Four panels have additions to the background. In two further cases a black band with featuring was added to the top of the panel. All occurrences of Donna’s use of a cigarette holder were removed. Most surprising is a name change, Inky Spotts of the syndication strips became Inky Wells for the comic book. Both names are the sort of appropriate naming that Simon and Kirby often used. It is hard to understand why in the end Wells was considered so much better as to warrant the re-lettering needed to alter the story.

Script changes were not at all extensive. I have noted only two word balloon whose text was modified. One caption from the syndicate strips was deleted and another one rewritten. A caption was added to one comic book panel and most significantly 6 caption panels were added to the book version. None of these affected the plot. All caption additions or alterations seem to have been done just to improve the reading.

Since I have explained the what and the why of the changes made to transform the syndication strips into the comic book story, the question remaining is who was responsible? The syndicate strips had all been drawn by Jack Kirby and much, if not all, of the inking looks like his as well. As for the original syndication scripting, although other writers may have contributed, some of it seems written by Jack. The pencils for the new splash page for the comic book was by Kirby but I believe it was inked by Joe Simon. The same very coarse picket fence inking also shows up in the second splash (page 10) where extending the original syndicate panel resulted in the addition of some art. The art added to the other expanded panels also appears to be inked by Joe. The redrawing of Donna and Inky for the comic also looks like it was done by Joe. Some of the writing for the new or altered captions read like Simon’s effort. However some of the other writing is more “flowery” then typical for Joe, so either he was purposely pushing himself in that direction, or another writer was also involved in the re-scripting. The new art was clearly penciled by Jack but looks different from the rest of the story because Joe did the inking. All in all it would appear that Simon was responsible for editing the syndication strips into the final comic book form with Jack providing newly required art.

Simon and Kirby did a surprisingly number of syndication proposals. Almost all of them consisted of a relatively small number of strips with un-inked pencils. Yet the syndicate “Artists and Models” consists of 36 strips all of which were inked. More significantly, samples were made by George Matthew Adams Syndicate. It is hard to escape the conclusion that “Artists and Models” was considered as the S&K syndication proposal most likely to succeed. The strips do tell a great story and it is one of Simon and Kirby’s best efforts. But I have to agree with Bob of the Jack Kirby Weblog, that it is hard to believe that a comic strip artist could be the basis of enough good stories to keep a syndication strip going for years.

In Love #3

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Posted in 2007/09, 6 Mainline, In Love, Periods, z Archive and tagged ,

In Love #3
In Love #3 (December 1954) “Artist Loves Model”, art by Jack Kirby

The artist and model theme was one that obviously resonated well with Simon and Kirby. They launched the whole romance comic book genre using the theme on a cover The theme became the basis of a syndication strip proposal most likely from the late ’40s or early ’50s. Later Simon and Kirby then tried to use it as a basis for a new comic book title. Kirby and Bill Draut both made cover proposals for the “Artist And Models” book. Kirby’s version of the cover and the original syndication proposals were used as a basis for the “Artist Loves Model” story for In Love #3. Theakston’s Jack Kirby Treasury vol 2 has one of the syndication strips. 2 panels made it into the comic version of the story, while 2 panels did not. The panels that made it were used in their entirety. Joe Simon’s collection has the original art for what was going to be the first page of the story. Two of the original three rows of panels remain on this page. Everything was cut and pasted, nothing was drawn on the board itself. Unlike the art from the Treasury strip example, this page did not use whole panels, instead these are pieces of panels cut to fit together. I am not sure why this page was abandoned, but it does seem to tell a story that deviates from the published version.

In Love #3
In Love #3 (December 1954) “Artist Loves Model” page 1, pencils by Jack Kirby inks by Joe Simon

We can be certain that the published first page was newly created for the comic book version of the story, a syndication strip would not require a full page splash. I am not certain, but I believe Simon did the inking. It is even blunter then what Kirby was doing at the time without the type of control Jack usually provided. When I showed Joe this page he commented that he felt there was too many words in the caption. It is an unusually wordy introduction for a Simon and Kirby comic. This was probably due to the need to cover the part of the story which had been on the abandoned first page that I talked about above. Although I have attributed the pencils to Jack, he may not have done the rows of buildings at the top and bottom of the page. In any case the tenements on the bottom are a particularly nice touch.

Of all the stories published for the In Love title, or any other Simon and Kirby romance productions, the inclusion of “Artists Loves Model” in the romance genre is the greatest stretch. Although love plays and important part of the story it really is not the central theme. The real theme for this story concerns artistic creativity. The story follows the lead character Inky from the end of his gig as an assistant to a famous and successful syndication strip artist. We see Inky’s failed attempt at creating his own strip. Eventually our hero does accomplish his goal, but only as an unwitting accomplice to intellectual property theft. When Inky realizes what has happen he abandons his new found success and sets things right. But he has not only proved his moral integrity, but his artistic value as well. Inky ends up with a new assignment and there is little doubt that he will be very successful with it.

In Love #3
In Love #3 (December 1954) “Artist Loves Model” page 5, pencils by Jack Kirby

“Artist Loves Model” has significance beyond the fact that it is a great story. Both Jack and Joe gave a number of interviews later in their lives. Jack’s interviews in particular give insight into his opinions about the creative process. The prestige of comic book artists is very different from the Silver Age on. I doubt very much if anyone bothered to interviewed Kirby or Simon during their time of collaboration. Therefore “Artist Loves Model” provides a rare opportunity into what Simon and Kirby thought about creativity in comic art at that time. When syndication manager Jack Hill rejects Inky’s initial strip proposal Hill’s explanation is:

BECAUSE YOUR CHARACTERS ARE ARTIFICIAL, INKY … THEY LACK LIFE!

Later Hill makes it clear that he is not just talking about how good the drawing is:

NO EDITOR IN HIS RIGHT MIND WILL ACCEPT THAT LIFELESS CREATION, INKY! IT’S JUST A GOOD-LOOKING CORPSE!

To help Inky understand what he is saying, Hill shows two popular syndication artists at work. One, a small and skinny man, draws a Superman clone (Vita-Man), using his inner most desires as an inspiration. Another artist is a typical family man and therefore can make his comic strip family real for his readers. One particularly interesting comment is made by Mr. Hill:

A MAN DOESN’T SEARCH FOR AN INSPIRATION … IT EXPLODES IN HIS MIND!

The way this particular comment is phrased sounds so like Kirby to me. It is just the sort of thing that Jack might have said thirty years later.

Inky’s love interest is his new found manager, Donna Dreame. Donna is a very beautiful woman with a larcenous heart. Unfortunately Inky is the only one in the story who does not recognize her true nature. Donna is surprised to find that Inky has used her as a model for one of the characters in the strip they are collaborating on. However as Donna remarks:

BUT THIS GIRL … SHE’S A SWEET YOUNG THING … INNOCENT … WHOLESOME … EVERYONE’S KID SISTER …

This is the way the love blind Inky sees Miss Dreame. Donna is so taken by Inky’s idolized version of herself that she resolves to be more like the woman that the artist has portrayed. Real life has inspired art which in turn becomes a source of inspiration. I believe this is a rare presentation of a core, if unspoken, Simon and Kirby philosophy. I can think of no more capable comic book creators at that time then Simon and Kirby. Yet Joe and Jack never went to the extremes found in comics produced by companies like EC. Even before the Comic Code there was a self imposed barrier of good taste that Simon and Kirby would never extend beyond. As businessmen money was very important to them, but never to the point that Joe and Jack would compromise their product. Simon and Kirby wanted their stories to be sources of inspiration for their readers and not just a vehicle for cheap thrills.

“Artist Loves Model” is unique among the numerous Simon and Kirby productions. Unfortunately In Love #3 is probably the rarest of all the Mainline/Charlton Simon and Kirby issues. Further this story has never been reprinted. The story has no superheroes or blazing guns yet I think it is a most important story that every Simon and Kirby fan should read. Perhaps someday that will once again be possible.

The format of the In Love would change after issue #3. Never again would the title include a “book length love novel”. Nor would the stories have the unique flavor that previously even many of the backup stories had. The stories from In Love became indistinguishable from those concurrently being produced by Simon and Kirby for Young Romance, Young Love and Young Brides. I will continue scanning and restoring the remaining issues of In Love but I doubt I will be posting about them at this time. First I need to write about Simon and Kirby’s long and fruitful career in the romance genre.

Addendum:
When I wrote the above I had completely forgotten that Bob on the Jack Kirby Comics Weblog had once posted on the syndicate version of this story. I am in the process of getting a copy of Buried Treasure v1 #2 which Bob reports has 36 strips. When I do I will post on what portion of the original strip made it into the comic book story.

Simon and Kirby’s Manhunter

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Posted in 2007/09, 4 DC (early), Featured Work, Periods, Topic, z Archive and tagged ,

Adventure #72
Adventure #72 (March 1942) “The Fish-Men”, art by Ed Moore

There is a gap of a couple of months between when Simon and Kirby left Timely and their first published work for their new gig, DC. In his book, The Comic Book Makers, Joe has said that they did some ghosting at first. I am surprised about that because later attempts by Joe or Jack to copy another artist’s style were not very successful. I would think that by now someone would have identified any ghosting that they did for DC. The first known work for DC was a Sandman story in Adventure #72 (March 1942). Simon and Kirby imparted to Sandman their unique storytelling talents. However Sandman was not their own creation, Simon and Kirby did not even create a new costume for the hero.

Adventure #73
Adventure #73 (April 1942) “Buzzard’s Revenge”, art by Jack Kirby

For the next Adventure issue S&K added another feature, Manhunter. This replaced the series Paul Kirk Manhunter. Joe and Jack kept the concept of a big game hunter using his skills to combat crime. Instead of fighting crime as a detective, Simon and Kirby would give their hero a costume and a secret identity. It seems that Joe and Jack wanted to distance themselves further from the previous strip by calling the hero by a new name, Rick Nelson. Probably at the instigation of DC management, Manhunter’s alter ego changed back to Paul Kirk in the next issue’s story and so would remain.

Adventure #73
Adventure #73 (April 1942) “Buzzard’s Revenge” page 8, art by Jack Kirby

The name of Manhunter’s secret identity was not the only thing that changed after the first story, there was a costume change as well. Initially Manhunter had a mask which left bare his lower face, very much in the style that Simon and Kirby had used previously for Captain America. This would be replaced afterwards with a blue mask that covers the entire face. It is only the face that is blue, the rest of the head is red like most of the costume. This blue mask is unlike anything that Simon or Kirby did before, and they would never repeat it. There is a separation between the blue mask from the rest of the head gear. The demarcation between the two follows a path about where the hair line would be and then traces down the cheeks. A careful examination reveals that the new costume did not actually start with the second issue, but was used in the first story as well. It is only the coloring used that makes the first story look like it matches the cover art. Chances are when DC noticed the discrepancy between the cover art and the story they asked Simon and Kirby to correct it. On the splash page Manhunter was modified by the addition of a upper face mask. Such a modification probably took too long, and the results were neither matched the cover nor were very satisfactory in its own right. So the rest of the story was altered by the judicious use of color alone.

Aside from the issues of the costume and secret identity, everything for Manhunter was in place right from the start. In Captain America the origin story seemed like something that S&K had to get over with as quickly as possible so that the real tales could be presented. With Manhunter Simon and Kirby handled the origin better, integrating it into the first story quite well. Kirby continued drawing with devices he had adopted in Captain America, variable shaped panels, figures that extended beyond panel boarders, exaggerated perspectives, outrageous running strides, and what would become a Kirby trademark, his socko punches. Jack’s pencils seem better, as if he was now fully in control of what he was doing. But of course Kirby’s art always seem to change and improve as he was never satisfied to rest on his former achievements. For me it was with the early DC work and the Harvey covers that the Simon and Kirby unique artistic vision first congealed. An important part of this was their forging a unique inking style. You can see suggestions of it in Captain America, but perhaps because of all the different hands used to produce that comic it all appeared a bit piece meal. With the DC and Harvey work the brushwork would be bold yet sensitive.

It is not just the art that makes Simon and Kirby productions so great, it is the writing as well. Simon and Kirby managed to leave their unique touch on the Manhunter stories. There was nothing else at the time as exciting as Manhunter in Adventure Comics, or for that matter any of the DC comics, well except of course for the Sandman stories. Manhunter was matched against crime lords, evil scientists, jewel thieves, Nazi spies and escaped convicts. No matter what foe Manhunter pitted himself against he would manage to track them down, although sometimes he would end up being hunted in return. They were all fast pace adventures and in my opinion great reads.

Adventrue #75
Adventure #75 (June 1942) “Beware of Mr. Meek”, art by Jack Kirby

There was one aspect about Manhunter that Joe and Jack seemed a little uncomfortable with. Simon and Kirby preferred to give their heroes a sidekick, so that they would have someone to talk to as Joe would explain. Simon and Kirby’s solution to this problem in Manhunter was to provide a different sidekick as the need aroused. In “Scavenger Hunt” (Adventure #73) Manhunter teams up with a young man trying to prove his worth to his would be love. For “Beware of Mr. Meek” (Adventure #75) the sidekick is of all things a beautiful jewel thief. A boy scout helps the temporarily blinded Manhunter follow the crooks’ trail in “The Legend of the Silent Bear” (Adventure #76). In “The Stone of Vengeance” (Adventure #77) a shoe shine boy becomes involved in Manhunter’s case against some murderous jewel thieves. The lady in “The Lady and the Tiger” is effectively Manhunters sidekick in Adventure #78. Finally in “Man Trap Island” (Adventure #80) he teams up with a young Indian lad to combat escape convicts. Only in the origin story and “Cobras of the Deep” (Adventure #79) does Manhunter truly work alone.

Simon and Kirby only did eight Manhunter stories. The feature did continue but under much less talented hands. Unfortunately Manhunter was not the sort of character that could continue to be successful without the Simon and Kirby touch. Frankly I am surprised it made it as far as Adventure #92 (June 1944). Reprints of most of the S&K Manhunter stories appeared as backup features for some of Kirby’s DC comics in the early ’70s. Jack would also do a retro version of the Manhunter in 1975 (1st Issue Special #5). These ’70s work must have had an impact because over the years DC would publish a variety of Manhunter avatars, the latest being a female version. With Manhunter’s continued significance in DC continuity I would have thought that a tradeback edition of the original Simon and Kirby stories would be a no brainer. Yet despite all the archive editions published, DC seems reluctant to reprint Manhunter or any of the other Simon and Kirby creations. I wonder why?

Night Fighter, an Abandoned Superhero

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Posted in 2007/08, 6 Mainline, Assorted, Odds & Ends, Periods, Topic, z Archive and tagged ,

In Love #1
Mainline Advertisement from In Love #1 (September 1954)

Simon and Kirby launched their own comic publishing company, Mainline, with Bullseye (August 1954). The first issue of Bullseye ran an advertisement for the next issue, but no mention of other titles. For the next month, September, two additional titles were released, Police Trap and In Love. Like Bullseye, Police Trap ran an ad for the second issue. However inside In Love was an advertisement for all the Mainline titles. It was a diverse lineup including western, crime, romance and war comics. At this point only the Foxhole had not been released. But it is clear from the description that S&K had already decided on the theme for their war title:

BATTLE STORIES WRITTEN AS THEY ARE LIVED BY THE MEN WHO MARCHED AND CUSSED…AND DIED! HERE IS YOUR FATHER – YOUR BROTHER – AND YOUR SON, TOUCHED BY THE HAND OF WAR!

Right above the blurb the comics title is given and it is Night Fighter instead of Foxhole. Night Fighter just does not make sense as a title for a war comic. There is nothing in the blurb to suggest the comic would only be about nighttime battles.

Night Fighter
Night Fighter, unpublished cover

Night Fighter was also the title used for a superhero proposal that Simon and Kirby came up with. The original art is known for two covers. The one whose image I show above was created by altering an unused Fighting American cover. This and the other Night Fighter cover can also be seen in Greg Theakston’s Jack Kirby Treasury volume 2. Both covers show a hero with special equipment, boots that allow him to walk on walls and goggles that permit him to see in the dark.

But the use of name Night Fighter in the Mainline advertisement and for the unused superhero is not a coincidence. Compare the logo from the unused Night Fighter covers with the one in the In Love advertisement. There is no question, both are the same design. The most reasonable explanation is that the superhero Night Fighter was originally planned as part of the Mainline lineup and was included in the first state of the In Love ad. Before In Love #1 was sent to the printers Simon and Kirby decided to replace the superhero entry of the Mainline comics with one from the war genre. They replaced the blurb in the advertisement with one appropriate for the new war title. Somehow S&K never got around to changing the title from Night Fighter in the ad. Perhaps they had not yet decided what to call the war comic and simply forgot to correct it in the advertisement by the time they decided to name it Foxhole.

Why did Simon and Kirby decide to drop the superhero Night Fighter from their lineup? With the part that Jack played in the creation of the Marvel universe as well as all the superheroes Simon and Kirby worked on during the war, it is easy to conclude that superheroes were important for the S&K team. However during the years after the war until the breakup of the studio superheroes only played a small part of the comics that Simon and Kirby produced. Stuntman and the Red Demon quickly failed during the comic book blot that followed the war. Captain 3D had an even shorter life when 3D comics turned out to just be a fad. Simon & Kirby had created Fighting American for Prize Comics just before starting Mainline. Fighting American #1 has a cover date of April which would indicate a calendar date for its release as February. In Love #1 with a cover date of September would have gone to the printers at a calendar date of May. Since their deal with Prize was to share the profits, it is possible S&K may have known the sales return for FA #1 in May and perhaps these were not as good as hoped. The only problem with this scenario is that when In Love #1 was sent to the printers it would be expected that some work may have already begun for the next month’s titles. Yet all the art that seems to remain for Night Fighter are the two unused covers. So it is hard to be sure whether or not sales figures for Fighting American affected the decision not to launch Night Fighter. Whether influence by sales figures for Fighting American or not, Simon and Kirby apparently decided the time was not right for launching a new superhero. Perhaps if Mainline had been a success they might have later expanded their line to include Night Fighter.

Joe Simon Lettering Checklist

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Posted in Letterer Checklist, Lettering, Simon, Joe, Simon, Joe and tagged 
Last update 6/4/2020

Codes:
   ?:  = questionable attribution

Adventure Is My Career
                              1945 32p
Amazing Man (Centaur)
     10             March     1940  6p "Ranch Dude"

Blue Bolt (Novelty)
     1              June      1940  8p "The Human Lighting Streak"
     6              November  1940  4p "Blue Bolt" pages 7-10

Daring Mystery (Timely)
     1              January   1940 10p "The Fantastic Thriller of the Walking Corpses"
     2              February  1940 10p "The Phantom Bullet"
     2              February  1940 10p "Trojak the Tiger Man"
     3              April     1940 13p "Trojak the Tiger Man"
     6              September 1940  1p cover
     6              September 1940  7p "Introducing Marvel Boy" pages 4-10

Marvel Mystery (Timely)
      12            October   1940  1p cover

Silver Streak (Newsbrook)
      2             January   1940  5p "Solar Patrol"

Target (Novelty)
      1             February  1940  7p "The Case Of The Black Widow Spider"
      2             March     1940  6p "Sabotage"

USA (Timely)
      1             August    1941  1p cover