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The Best of Simon and Kirby
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.
From the very beginning in the late 1930s, Simon and Kirby produced the finest stories around, creating dramatic new super heroes (Captain America, Blue Bolt, Fighting American, The Fly), western action (Boy’s Ranch), gruesome horror (Black Magic), explosive detective fiction (Justice Traps the Guilty), and the very first romance comics (Young Romance). They were the dream team.
• The only edition authorised by both Joe Simon and the estate of Jack Kirby
• Hand-picked by Joe Simon himself, with introductory material by him
• The images are fully restored to their original vibrancy by Harry Mendryk and presented in an impressive, collectible package
• Contains more than two-dozen tales, presented in their entirety, including stories from Simon and Kirby’s time at DC and Marvel
• Includes some of the most famous S&K creations, including Captain America, Fighting American, The Fly, Boy’s Ranch, Bullseye, and Stuntman
• The beginning of a planned collection of the entire Simon and Kirby Library
• With illustrated essays by Mark Evanier, author of Kirby: King of Comics
From the very beginning in the late 1930s, Simon and Kirby produced the finest stories around, creating dramatic new super heroes (Captain America, Blue Bolt, Fighting American, The Fly), western action (Boy’s Ranch), gruesome horror (Black Magic), explosive detective fiction (Justice Traps the Guilty), and the very first romance comics (Young Romance). They were the dream team.
• The only edition authorised by both Joe Simon and the estate of Jack Kirby
• Hand-picked by Joe Simon himself, with introductory material by him
• The images are fully restored to their original vibrancy by Harry Mendryk and presented in an impressive, collectible package
• Contains more than two-dozen tales, presented in their entirety, including stories from Simon and Kirby’s time at DC and Marvel
• Includes some of the most famous S&K creations, including Captain America, Fighting American, The Fly, Boy’s Ranch, Bullseye, and Stuntman
• The beginning of a planned collection of the entire Simon and Kirby Library
• With illustrated essays by Mark Evanier, author of Kirby: King of Comics
- GenresComicsGraphic Novels
240 pages, Hardcover
First published March 24, 2008
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About the author
Joe Simon
359 books25 followersJoseph Henry "Joe" Simon (born Hymie Simon) was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s-1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the first editor of Timely Comics, the company that would evolve into Marvel Comics.
With his partner, artist Jack Kirby, he co-created Captain America, one of comics' most enduring superheroes, and the team worked extensively on such features at DC Comics as the 1940s Sandman and Sandy the Golden Boy, and co-created the Newsboy Legion, the Boy Commandos, and Manhunter. Simon & Kirby creations for other comics publishers include Boys' Ranch, Fighting American and the Fly. In the late 1940s, the duo created the field of romance comics, and were among the earliest pioneers of horror comics. Simon, who went on to work in advertising and commercial art, also founded the satirical magazine Sick in 1960, remaining with it for a decade. He briefly returned to DC Comics in the 1970s.
Simon was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1999.
With his partner, artist Jack Kirby, he co-created Captain America, one of comics' most enduring superheroes, and the team worked extensively on such features at DC Comics as the 1940s Sandman and Sandy the Golden Boy, and co-created the Newsboy Legion, the Boy Commandos, and Manhunter. Simon & Kirby creations for other comics publishers include Boys' Ranch, Fighting American and the Fly. In the late 1940s, the duo created the field of romance comics, and were among the earliest pioneers of horror comics. Simon, who went on to work in advertising and commercial art, also founded the satirical magazine Sick in 1960, remaining with it for a decade. He briefly returned to DC Comics in the 1970s.
Simon was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1999.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 20, 2014
The Best of Simon and Kirby is a 2009 sampler of the comic book work Joe Simon and Jack Kirby created; the publisher, Titan, has continued publishing in-depth Simon and Kirby collections, each centered on a different genre.
This is possible because, beginning in the early '40s, Simon and Kirby published work in nearly every comic book genre and, in the case of romance comics, created the genre themselves. They weren't first on the ground with superhero comics, but the high energy and high impact work by Kirby on the duo's Captain America made Superman's art look anemic and it set the tone for superhero
comics for the next seventy years.
Joe Simon wrote a foreward for the book (he died not long after the book was published) and historian and friend of Kirby Mark Evanier wrote informative introductions to each chapter. This large (nearly 240 pages), beautifully designed and printed book is helped immeasurably by the painstaking restoration work of Harry Mendryk who, along with Michael Gagne,is doing the best Kirby restoration work for print. The coloring is faithful to the original comics and the book is published on matte paper, not the hideous, glossy, light-reflecting stuff used so often in reprints published by DC and Marvel.
Genres represented are superheroes, war, crime, romance, humor, horror and science fiction. As fans of Simon and Kirby know,the crime and romance stories are nearly always strong, reflecting the hard-hitting, raw and passionate emotions displayed in the early '30s Warner Bros. movies Kirby loved.
The only genre in which Simon and Kirby aren't successful is humor; their work geared for that market just isn't funny. That's an odd fact when you consider how funny Kirby could be within the context of more serious comics, from Boy's Ranch to The Fantastic Four to Captain Victory.
It's also clear that Joe Simon on his own just doesn't hold up in this context. A Runyonesque story he created on his own, "His Highness the Duke of Broadway", is painfully illustrated and the work printed here from his '60s Mad Magazine ripoff, Sick, is flat and embarrassing. In over forty years, I've yet to read a funny issue of Sick.
Still, there's lots of good work to plow through here (it took me weeks to read it) and if you're unfamiliar with the team's work of this period, I recommend this sampler as an entryway into their world.
This is possible because, beginning in the early '40s, Simon and Kirby published work in nearly every comic book genre and, in the case of romance comics, created the genre themselves. They weren't first on the ground with superhero comics, but the high energy and high impact work by Kirby on the duo's Captain America made Superman's art look anemic and it set the tone for superhero
comics for the next seventy years.
Joe Simon wrote a foreward for the book (he died not long after the book was published) and historian and friend of Kirby Mark Evanier wrote informative introductions to each chapter. This large (nearly 240 pages), beautifully designed and printed book is helped immeasurably by the painstaking restoration work of Harry Mendryk who, along with Michael Gagne,is doing the best Kirby restoration work for print. The coloring is faithful to the original comics and the book is published on matte paper, not the hideous, glossy, light-reflecting stuff used so often in reprints published by DC and Marvel.
Genres represented are superheroes, war, crime, romance, humor, horror and science fiction. As fans of Simon and Kirby know,the crime and romance stories are nearly always strong, reflecting the hard-hitting, raw and passionate emotions displayed in the early '30s Warner Bros. movies Kirby loved.
The only genre in which Simon and Kirby aren't successful is humor; their work geared for that market just isn't funny. That's an odd fact when you consider how funny Kirby could be within the context of more serious comics, from Boy's Ranch to The Fantastic Four to Captain Victory.
It's also clear that Joe Simon on his own just doesn't hold up in this context. A Runyonesque story he created on his own, "His Highness the Duke of Broadway", is painfully illustrated and the work printed here from his '60s Mad Magazine ripoff, Sick, is flat and embarrassing. In over forty years, I've yet to read a funny issue of Sick.
Still, there's lots of good work to plow through here (it took me weeks to read it) and if you're unfamiliar with the team's work of this period, I recommend this sampler as an entryway into their world.
December 4, 2012
(More pictures at parkablogs.com)
Joe Simon and Jack Kirby are two popular names in the comics industry for good reason. Their partnership has created enduring heroes, like Captain America and gave comic book readers a reason to be excited. They are also the first to create the double-page spread.
The Best of Simon and Kirby is a selection of stories restored from scans of the original comics. The restoration is great and brings us back to the days where background colours are rendered in halftone dots. The few genres in this book includes superheroes (of course), sci-fi, war, romance, crime, western, horror and humour. There are 26 stories.
Within these panels, the greats show us how comics are done in the past, why they became American popular culture. Readers who grew up reading these comics should find them nostalgic.
This is a large hardcover book with dust jacket. It seems, from what I've read, that this is the beginning of a planned collection of the entire Simon and Kirby Collection.
This book is for those into classic comics.
August 30, 2024
Fantastic collection of Golden Age comics by the great duo of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby, who not only created Captain America but invented the romance genre in comic books, along with working in numerous others, from science fiction to westerns. A great showcase of these Golden Age talents that while technically dated in writing and art techniques, still holds up thanks to their pioneering style. A must read for comic book fans.
August 28, 2021
Best team in comics !
December 16, 2010
Informational and interesting. This book does a nice job of presenting the results of the Simon/Kirby collaboration and its effects on the comic book industry. I really liked some of the art (I'm glad that it appears as it did back in the day; no re-coloring), the attention to detail, the innovative story-telling, but reading the stories was like watching some black-and-white movie channel. Everything just felt really old, maybe because they were so often copied and their innovations have become standard. The double-spread, anyone?
March 25, 2010
This book is a bona fide reprint in that it scans directly off the original pages. That's normally a pretty good thing, except back then the pixels were so much bigger that it distracts me some. But you do get the feel for hoe they originally looked. The downside in this volume for me is that I loved Kirby, more so than Simon, and these are certainly not MY favorites. Having said that, for prosperity, they are classics and a good interpretation of what they looked like starting out.
January 31, 2014
A decent taste of some of the various genres of comic books that Jack Kirby and Joe Simon drew and wrote. Really, it just is a launchpad book for helping fans to seek out more of their work. I did like the Kirby/Simon checklist at the end of the book to help collectors find specific issues they worked on together.
December 1, 2014
Excellent collection of comic book stories from the 1940s and 1940s, from comic book legends Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Longer review here: http://eyesandearsblog.blogspot.com/2...
April 30, 2015
interesting seeing the development of the artist's
after leaving they were really able to flourish and explore different styles.
after leaving they were really able to flourish and explore different styles.
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July 8, 2016741.5973 S5952 2009
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews