Legendary comic-book writer and artist Joe Simon, born Hymie Simon on 11 October 1913, died 11 December 2011, aged 98, following a brief illness
An undisputed pioneer, Joe Simon most famously created Captain America with Jack Kirby, but also worked on a number of cult comic-book characters including Brother Power The Geek, Prez, the 1940s Sandman (incorporated memorably into Neil Gaiman’s Sandman mythology), the satirical Fighting American and The Fly, who went on to inspire Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s Spider-Man.
Gaiman wrote, “Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were important because they were the creators of Superman. Simon and Kirby were important because they were Simon and Kirby. They were the guys who were ahead of everyone else in making comic books different from comic strips. They were the guys everyone in the industry looked to for the next trend, the next innovation, the next hit. It wasn’t just that they gave the world Captain America. They also showed everyone how to make comics more exciting.”
We’re glad he got to see his most famous creation on the big screen, thanks for everything Joe.
