One of my summer readings, Joe Simon's new autobiography comes out just in time for the FIRST AVENGER movie, Cap's 70th B-Day, and the celebration of all things Cap. Great timing!
And Simon's timing is perfect as we discover reading about his first hand experiences in the comic industry. From the creation of Captain America right before American's entry into WWII, to Romance Comics, to parodying McCarthyism with FIGHTING AMERICAN. Simon was also ahead of the curve with contracts and copyrights which served him well despite some battles over creations like Captain America.
This book is a great companion piece to his other biographical book THE COMIC BOOK MAKERS. However, this book fills in the cracks with more personal stories about Simon's family and his dealings with other industry folk. He's goes deeper here than the previous book but in a straight forward easy-to-read style with humor. This isn't a great literary novel but the man is pushing 100 and I hope we can all be that driven, witty, and sharp at that age.
Want to find out the secret origin of Bucky? It is in here! Want to know the secret of his longevity? Here too (hint: keep busy working). Want to read about the early days of comic book making with different companies and how he and Jack Kirby hustled to get work done? Here too. In all, if you are a fan of comic book history and a big enough Cap fan to want to dig deeper, feel lucky that we still have Joe Simon around to shed some light into this historic time. We've lost so many golden age greats in the last 20 years that we should be thankful that Simon is still around and telling stories.
And thanks to Titan Books for putting this and other Simon & Kirby collections together too. Editor Steve Saffel at Titan is a big Golden Age Cap fan and my only Simon autographed item for this long time fan is the signed Neil Gaiman/Joe Simon S&K collection that came out in 2010. Great stuff! Highly recommended for Cap Fans!
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