 | Captain America's co-creator Joe Simon interviewed |
Joe Simon and Jack Kirby were an amazing pair of creators, each building on the strengths of the other throughout their long and illustrious collaboration. Their blend of dynamic storytelling and eye-catching design shown through in their many works including Black Magic, Fighting American, Stuntman, Sandman and of course their most famous of creations, Captain America.
As one of the most influential comic creators in the business, Joe Simon is a wealth of knowledge and inspiration to the medium of comic book-style graphic art. I highly recommend his book the Comic Book Makers, a tome that I was lucky enough to purchase signed by the author himself. it tells various details of Simon's career including his working relationship with Jack Kirby and the trials they went through getting Captain America in print during a time when such most American publishers shied away from making such a bold political statement (the first issue featured Captain America planting a left-hook on Hitler's jaw).
The book is so great that Michael Chabon no doubt used it as a reference in hid popular The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay novel given the numerous similarities between the fictional creators of Chabon's work and the real life stories of Simon's autobiography.
Big Shiny Robot managed to meet with Joe Simon and discuss his latest book, the Jack Kirby and Joe Simon Superheroes.
Big Shiny Robot!: Obviously, you're best known for your working relationship with Jack Kirby. How did this come about in the first place? And any really funny anecdotes/stories about Jack you'd like to share?
Joe Simon: I met Jack when he was working in the bullpen at Fox Comics, erasing lines and doing art corrections, l and I was working for Victor Fox as his editor. The minute I saw his work I knew I was seeing something exceptional. We were both the sons of tailors–what we called schneiders–and my father had made me a suit before I came from Syracuse to New York City. Kirby said I was the only comic book artist he had ever seen in a suit.
BSR!: You and Jack have both been praised for your contributions to the superhero genre. But less known are your contributions and/or semi-creations of the romance comics, horror comics, Western comics and crime comics genre. How proud are you of these works, and how do you feel about where these genres have gone since then?
JS: I'm especially proud of having created the romance comics, the most successful line of comics ever produced–each issue of Young Romance and Young Love sold a million copies and up. Those titles took a smaller publisher, Prize Comics, and gave them a huge hit. We were sitting on top with the big boys inside of a year, and they were stealing our ideas in an attempt to copy our success. Jack and I were on the way to see my wife in the hospital, where she had just given birth to our first child. We stopped in a candy store to pick up a card and saw a cluster of girls crowding around the comic book rack for the very first issue of Young Romance. That was when we knew we had a hit. We loved all of the different genres in which we worked, but the romance books hold a special place for me. It's a shame that so much of the diversity we once had in comics has practically disappeared.
BSR!: Your most famous creation remains Captain America. How closely have you followed the character over the years? You criticized the "death-of" story line … what do you think the character represents, and why do you feel he is important?
JS: I haven't followed the character too closely over all of the years, but I'm very happy that they kept the patriotic aspects of the character according to what I would have done, and that Captain America emerged as an icon for the readers. For the sake of the sales and trends of the times I did participate in the horrific death of Captain America. I was told about it in advance, and one of the top quotes in the New York Daily News was the statement "Captain America, gone just when we really need him." Given the way the world is today, that's probably truer than ever before. Strangely enough, when Jack and I created those first ten issues, with the exception of Hitler on the first cover, there wasn't much politics in the stories–they were mostly horror and detective adventures.
BSR!: If given the chance, would you return to a Captain America project?
JS: I did a short piece for Captain America issue #600, and other than that, I'm just happy to draw sketches of him for friends and family.
BSR!: What are your feelings about the Captain America movie?
JS: I'm very excited about it. I don't know the details of the story in the movie, though I have a great deal of confidence in the Marvel movie makers, and have been contacted by Stephen Broussard, the co-producer, several times. It's apparent that they're putting a great deal of energy and creativity into all of their projects.
BSR!: Do you have any projects or works that you would consider pitching for films?
JS: Our files are full of them, including the character Stuntman who actually was a movie stuntman. Fighting American, for sure–he's the best one of all. It has so many natural ingredients, especially the villains. He started out as a 1950s Captain America, but immediately became his own character with a unique mixture of adventure and humor. He would look great on the big screen.
BSR!: What is your relationship, if any, with the "Big Two" comics companies today? Would you be open to doing work with either or both of them, if approached?
JS: Both Marvel and DC have been very good to me lately, and I have friends at both companies, even with all of the changes. But I don't think I'm likely to be doing any work for them in the near future.
BSR!: As someone who's worked with the major companies, and formed his own companies, what are your feelings about creators and artists rights? Are a lot of the problems finally being sorted out?
JS: I was very involved with creators' rights from the very beginning, and even had a royalty arrangement with Martin Goodman at Timely Comics back in 1940, for Captain America. Jack and I didn't even show the first romance comic to anyone until we had completed the first issue, and we had a profit sharing agreement with Prize Comics. I would like to think that we led the way for the creators of today, who have a much better opportunity to own their own creations and reap the rewards.
BSR!: What are your feelings about the future of comics? Are you involved in any way with digital distribution, and where do you think comics future lies?
JS: Back in the 1940s I was always pushing to start new companies and try new things. I spoke to an investor who had the opportunity to put real money into the business, and was told that comic books were a flash in the pan. I didn't agree, and fortunately I was right. Over the years I've been told more than once that comics are dying, which led me to say that comics have been "dying" for fifty years. As long as there are people pushing to try new things with the medium, there will be comics.
(Read the entire interview here: http://www.bigshinyrobot.com/reviews/archives/19997)
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