The latest entry in the Simon & Kirby Library reprint series — following Science Fiction, Crime, and Superheroes — is Horror. This volume reprints comics I didn’t even know existed — stories by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon from Black Magic #1-33 (1950-1954) and The Strange World of Your Dreams #1-3 (1952). There’s not a lot of explanation of what these titles were or how they came to be, I assume because most people interested in reading these stories likely […]

written by Monty Nero art by Mike Dowling Titan Comics is actively plugging this six-issue miniseries as original (as can be seen by the cover blurbs), but I found it intriguing because it was a modern take on the Strikeforce: Morituri concept: you get superpowers, but that acquisition drastically shortens your life. In this case, there’s a G+ virus, sexually transmitted, that gives you abilities and six months to live. The big difference with Strikeforce: Morituri is that that series […]

Review by KC Carlson In comic shops this week, the latest and maybe the most fascinating volume yet in the Simon & Kirby Library series. The Simon & Kirby Library: Science Fiction was slightly delayed due to the passing of Joe Simon in late 2011. Simon was very involved in the production of these wonderful volumes, and it can’t have been an easy time for editor Steve Saffel and the rest of the crew at Titan Books. Nonetheless, this volume […]

Review by KC Carlson “As long as the crime comic books industry exists in its present forms, there are no secure homes.” — Senate testimony by Dr. Frederic Wertham, author of Seduction of the Innocent (back cover pull-quote) Published in a deluxe hardcover, beautiful and substantial enough to give Dr. Wertham nightmares, Simon & Kirby: Crime collects over 300 newly restored pages of stories and covers from comics’ most brutal genre — possibly proving crime does pay! The beneficiary is […]

As indicated by the cover caption “From the creators of Captain America”, the pitch of Fighting American is clear. It’s a patriotic hero with a familiar feel from the original creators — but if you’re just looking for a tie-in to one of the summer blockbusters, you’re underestimating the inspired insanity of Jack Kirby. First, the basics. This paperback includes all the Fighting American comics — the first seven issues, published by Prize from 1954-1955; the attempted first-issue relaunch from […]

Review by KC Carlson It seems like there are a ton of big chunky comic book histories and anthologies out this season, but easily one of the most important is The Simon & Kirby Superheroes. Its nearly 500 pages barely contain what purports to be every superhero story (not published by Timely/Marvel or National/DC Comics) that the legendary creators produced. I’m not an S&K scholar, but I certainly trust editor Steve Saffel — who lives and breathes this stuff! From […]

When I first opened this coffee table book, I expected more text, fewer comics, but it’s not that kind of retrospective. Instead, The Best of Simon and Kirby is a sampler of the many types of work Joe Simon and Jack Kirby produced over their long career in comics, with over two dozen comic stories reprinted. Grouped by genre — heroes, science fiction, war and adventure, romance, crime, western, horror, and sick humor — each section has an introductory essay […]