Review: Joe Simon: My Life in Comics

Joe Simon: My Life in Comics

by Joe Simon

Titan Books

$24.95 – 256 pages – HC

Imagine that your grandfather, maybe your great-great uncle told wonderful stories. Then imagine that he was an essential part of the formation of modern comics. Then imagine he co-created Captain America, and worked in a close partnership with Jack Kirby for several decades. You’d love to go over and spend time listening to his tales of the past, wouldn’t you? I know I’d be over there every night, with whatever his favorite cookies are, and open ears.

That’s a little what it feels like to read Joe Simon’s autobiography, Joe Simon: My Life in Comics from Titan Books. Joe Simon, while not quite the household name that Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, or Will Eisner, is every bit as important to the comics industry as any of them. In addition to creating Captain America with Kirby in 1941, he was instrumental in helping define the language and business of comic books since the 1930s. He was an early trendsetter in the fight for creator’s rights to their creations, and worked for just about every publisher there was. As Kirby’s partner, they spanned genres like war and romance, as well as superhero comics, and without Simon, I don’t know if Jack Kirby would have had the success he did. A young Stan Lee would follow Simon around, until eventually Simon assigned him the first story he ever had published in a comic book. There are dozens of stories like this in the book, and it really gives you an incredible idea of what the comic book industry was like in its earliest days. It’s certainly a different animal than it is today.

The book is written in a fairly straight forward colloquial style, which is quite fitting. While Simon is honest about characters from the golden age of comics, he’s also very fair to most of the folks. The most fascinating aspect of the whole thing is probably his portrayal and description of the King himself, Jack Kirby. I’ve read other books about Kirby, and while he was no doubt a genius, he was also a very odd man. Did you know, for example that Kirby got road rage so badly that no one would let him drive, including his wife? He had to be carted around, because he couldn’t control his temper. There is something about these men and the way they did business, and their drive that is endlessly fascinating. They worked. They might not have been digging ditches, but they worked, night after night, day after day, leaving their day jobs in comics, to go work in another office and make different comics at night, often in secret. In that hustle, there is a throughline to the way comics pros work today. If you don’t work and scrape and network and prove yourself over and over again, it will be a short career. Of course, the rewards are quite possible greater today, with the possibilities of movie franchises and merchandizing. This isn’t to day they couldn’t make a good living. It was probably easier to make more (relative) money making comics in the 40’s than now, but ownership of IP was a whole other thing.

The book has a kind of sense of humor that more recent generations don’t tend to employ. Simon comes from working class, immigrant Jewish people, and there are no barbs directed outwardly. It’s just sort of simple and good natured, which is, in essence how Simon comes across in the writing. You can’t really help but like and respect him, both for his tenacity, but also for just being who he is.

A couple of years ago, I read The Comic Makers, an earlier biography Simon co-wrote with his son, and a lot of the same ground was covered. But it was a little simplistic and almost felt like it was written for younger readers. On the other hand, it was chock full of great art from Joe’s whole career, and the two pieces together really tell the whole story. Still, if you’re trying to decide, go with the new book.

For all the focus today’s comic book audience puts on the workings of the industry, I still think most readers don’t have any idea what things are actually like on the inside. When Joe Simon was making comics, almost no one cared, but that history, and those people, and those stories are still incredibly interesting, and that generation of men (yes, mostly men) were so very different to how most comic creators are today. Yet they were doing essentially the same thing. To think that a little story and character they came up with 70 years ago is still around, and stronger than ever is a magnificent triumph. Then you learn that Simon thought up the Red Skull when looking at a dish of his dessert makes it all the more interesting. If you’ve got any interest on where comics came from, and who made them, this book is a must read. Comics wouldn’t be the same today without Joe Simon, and we’re much better off for having had him.

Buy Joe Simon: My Life in Comics on Amazon.