joe simon – Coke & Comics

PRELUDE: Daring Mystery Comics #6

Introducing– Marvel Boy

Featuring: Marvel Boy
Release: June 15, 1940
Cover: September 1940
10 cents
10 pages

Previous		Next
Daring Mystery Comics #5, Story H	PRELUDE	USA Comics #7, Story C
Daredevil #9	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery Annual 1

Do not be sad, for I do not really leave you– I shall be back– when America needs me the most–

Well, that’s an unfortunately racist cover from Jack Kirby and Joe Simon.

When we met Marvel Girl in X-Men #1, we took the excuse to meet Marvel Boy from 1950. That was actually not Marvel’s first character named Marvel Boy, and perhaps we should have met the other(s) then. We didn’t.

We’ll read about him/them now due to his/their connections to Hercules. (Join me in the next post to see why I seem so confused about singular vs. plural pronouns.)

This Marvel Boy is a creation of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, before the same team created Captain America, and before Jack Kirby and various collaborators would go on to create… a lot of famous superheroes.

I think there is a case to be made this might be Kirby’s first superhero co-creation, which makes Marvel Boy quite notable in itself. Moreso because you can see elements that made their way into Captain America, including the basic mask shape, the boots and gloves, using Hitler as an enemy.

Two notes against that point. Kirby had previously co-created with Martin Burstein the feature “Mercury in the 20th Century”. This was about the classic god Mercury. Not precisely a superhero, but if Thor counts, perhaps he should too. (We’ll probably read that Mercury story in the near future when we are ready to meet Pluto.)

That same issue introduced Jack Kirby’s science fiction hero Comet Pierce. In the Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers mold. Again, not exactly a superhero.

Marvel Boy is Kirby’s first standard superhero co-creation.

Except the second note is I have no idea who created Marvel Boy. Harry Mendryk explains the creation of this issue as follows on the Kirby Museum blog. He credits Joe Simon with the initial 3 pages which introduce the character and lay out his origin, and then Kirby with the rest. It’s thus quite possible that Joe Simon created the character on his own, and then gave the partially completed issue to Kirby to finish.

Often, history doesn’t tell us with much certainty what the division of labor going into an issue was. So I usually find it easiest to credit the writers and artists of a character’s inaugural issue as co-creators. By my normal intentionally naive standards, I would say Marvel Boy was a co-creation of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.

But there is probably room for disagreement and assertion this was a Joe Simon creation.

The character only lasts one issue, though there is a sort-of revival 3 years later we will consider in the next post.

I’ve expressed before my opinion that initials are generally the worst logo for a superhero uniform. Imagine that chest with a better logo, like say a star. And imagine he wore pants. Now lose the cape and add some little wings to the cap. You’re getting closer to a good superhero design.

Tales of Suspense #65, Story B

The Red Skull Strikes!

Featuring: Captain America
Release: February 12, 1965
Cover: May 1965
12 cents
By: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Inking: Chic Stone
Lettering: S. Rosen
10 pages

Previous		Next
Tales of Suspense #65	Reading order	Amazing Spider-Man #24
Tales of Suspense #65	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #66

As with the last two issues, this is closely based on a story from Captain America Comics #1. As with the last two issues, Joe Simon is not credited.

We at this point are well versed in the Red Skull stories of the 1940s and 50s. We are now primed to see the modern take on the Red Skull, beginning with this retelling of his first adventure.

There are significant changes, many with the effect to sanitize the story, make it less violent and more kid-friendly. For example, in this version the Red Skull is not a killer. The plot of the original was all about him murdering people.

I’ll note the shared story beats common to the stories.

The story begins with Private Rogers and Mascot Barnes escorting Major Croy. They warn him it’s not safe to be alone, but he dismisses them any way.
The Red Skull attacks Major Croy.
Red Skull’s henchmen loot a bank.
Captain America and Bucky track down the Red Skull, but the Skull escapes them.
Mr. Maxon is observing a test of his new plane. Private Rogers is present. When the plane crashes, likely due to sabotage, Maxon expresses concern, but not for the lives lost, which upsets Rogers.
Red Skull attacks a General, and then is revealed to be Mr. Maxon.

With that corresponding outline, there are heavy differences.

PRELUDE: Captain America Comics #7

The Case of the Red Skull and the Whistling Death

Featuring: Captain America
Release: August 4, 1941
Cover: October 1941
10 cents
Art and editorial by: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
13 pages

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Young Allies #1	Prelude	Captain America Comics #16, Story D
Sgt. Fury #16	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #65

We’re well into Captain America’s adventures, but it’s worth noting this still predates America’s entry into World War II.

The Red Skull’s modus operandi has all been variations on a theme so far. Originally, he had a death gaze; he killed you by looking you. (It turned out he was also injecting you with a poison while he looked at you.) Then, the death touch; he killed you by touching you. (It turned out his glove was electrified and shocked his victims to death.)

Now… the tune he plays on his flute is deadly.

This time, the explanation is simpler. Red Skull whistles Chopin’s Funeral March, but then just shoots the guy.

PRELUDE: Young Allies #1

The Coming of Agent Zero/The Red Skull and the Graveyeard of Doom!/Voyage to No-Man’s Land/Trapped in Nazi-Land!/Outwitting the Bloodthirsty Tyrants!/Captain America and the Human Torch to the Rescue!!

Featuring: Young Allies
Release: July 23, 1941
Cover: Summer 1941
10 cents
57 pages

Previous		Next
Captain America Comics #3	Prelude	Captain America Comics #7
Sgt. Fury #16	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #65

The table of contents lists Joe Simon as “Art editor” and Jack Kirby as “Art director”, while recognizing Carl Burgos as the creator of Toro. No hints as to who actually wrote or drew the comic are given. The GCD credits Otto Binder, Charles Nicholas, and Syd Shores, noting Jack Kirby supplied art for some of the chapter-opening splash pages. The cover is by Jack Kirby and Syd Shores.

We also take the on-sale date from the GCD, which disagrees with the July 10 date given in Mike’s Amazing World, but also offers an explanation for the discrepancy.

An ad shows an earlier version of the cover (and gives the July 10 release date). Notice in the original cover, Stalin is one of the villains (along with Hitler, Tōjō, and Mussolini). This comic was released in July 1941. Between its original advertisement and publication, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, so Stalin was now a good guy, and couldn’t be depicted as evil in the comic. The USSR was now part of the Allied forces.

America remained neutral in the war, but you couldn’t tell by the comic books.

We read the introduction of the Young Allies, a painfully long 57-page adventure. Our motivation is that this is the third appearance of the Red Skull, who was presumed dead in an explosion in Captain America Comics #3.

This comic is pretty rough reading. The most infamous part of it is the character of Whitewash Jones, a painful stereotype of an African American child, whose portrayal somehow keeps getting worse as the issue progresses. Even leaving aside that racial sentiment has evolved in 80 years, the other kids are also pretty awful characters. Tubby, the obese child, is portrayed no better. Nor is Knuckles, the street-tough kid. Jefferson, the nerd, probably comes off the best.

The history of cartooning is built on caricature and exaggeration, but these four kids just push it into the absurd and unreadable.

PRELUDE: Captain America Comics #3

The Return of the Red Skull

Featuring: Captain America
Release: March 17, 1941
Cover: May 1941
10 cents
By: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
17 pages

Previous		Next
Captain America Comics #1, Story D	Prelude	Young Allies #1
Sgt. Fury #16	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #65

We’ve visited Captain America Comics #3 before. We read the text story, notable for being the first story written by a young Stan Lee.

The issue also contains three other Captain America adventures, a Tuk story, and a Hurricane story.

There’s a cool feature called “Amazing Spy Adventures” which tells a loosely accurate historical story from ancient Greece, about a secret message tattooed onto a bald head, then hidden as the hair grew. Perhaps the world’s first example of steganography. You can read more about the story here.

What interests us today though is the second appearance of the Red Skull. I’m just as confused as you are, because I also remember him dying in his first appearance. Let’s read on. Maybe they’ll explain.

Ah, so it seems that the Red Skull–unmasked as George Maxon– was immune to his own poison. That makes sense. And Captain America and Bucky did just run off leaving the body in the previous story. But then we clearly saw FBI agents at the scene standing over the body. Now, the Red Skull stands up in an empty room and runs off. Hard to reconcile these things.

PRELUDE: Captain America Comics #1, Story D

Captain America and the Riddle of the Red Skull

Featuring: Captain America
Release: December 20, 1940
Cover: March 1941
10 cents
By: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
14 pages

Previous		Next
	Prelude	Captain America Comics #3
Sgt. Fury #16	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #65

When Captain America returned to the present in Avengers #4, we preceded that with a large read-through of a swath of his history from 1941-54. But we intentionally left out some pretty key issues. In particular, we neglected his battles against his nemesis, the Red Skull.

The last two issues of Tales of Suspense have both retold stories from Captain America Comics #1. This next one will do the same, retelling the first battle of Captain America and the Red Skull. We will then see some previously untold encounters between Captain America and the Red Skull in World War II. Eventually, the Red Skull will return in the present day to menace Captain America again.

In anticipation of all this, now seems like a good time to read through the early history of the Red Skull, starting with his introduction here in Captain America Comics #1.

PRELUDE: Captain America Comics #1, Story C

Captain America and the Chess-Board of Death

Featuring: Captain America
Release: December 20, 1940
Cover: March 1941
10 cents
By: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
16 pages

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Tales of Suspense #64, Story B	Reading order	Strange Tales #131

We just read the modern retelling of the first two stories from Captain America Comics #1. We’ll soon read the modern retelling of the fourth story. These modern retellings will skip the third story, so we may as well read it now.

There’s also a text story, and stories featuring Tuk and Hurricane, but I’m not incentivized to read those at present.

This story is most notable for introducing us to the Sergeant overseeing Private Rogers at Camp Lehigh. The Sergeant is never impressed by the bumbling private, and will often give him a hard time. We will learn in issue 4 that his name is Sgt. Duffy.

The villain in this story is a Nazi spy named Rathcone. He plans out his strategies with pieces on a chessboard and communicates his strategies to his agents, all of whom have numbers, but some of whom also have nicknames like the Strangler. These plans involve assassinating a number of high ranking American military officials.

Tales of Suspense #64, Story B

Among Us, Wreckers Dwell!

Featuring: Captain America
Release: January 12, 1965
Cover: April 1965
12 cents
Writer: Stan Lee
Illustrator: Jack Kirby
Delineator: Frank Ray
Letterer: S. Rosen
10 pages

Previous	#317	Next
	Prelude	Captain America Comics #1, Story C
Tales of Suspense #64	Reading order	Strange Tales #131
Tales of Suspense #64	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #65

This is an extremely close retelling of the second story from Captain America Comics #1, which we covered back when Captain America first returned in Avengers #4.

The original story is most notable for being Captain America’s first case and for introducing Betty Ross.

I see I didn’t go into great detail on the plot in that post, writing this:

The story of the comic doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. I can’t begin to try to explain it and I’m not sure it’s worth considering all the many ways in which it makes no sense. Suffice it to say they stop the bad guys.

We’ll delve deeper here.

Last issue was a close retelling of the first story from Captain America Comics #1, which was the story of Captain America’s origin. Next issue will be a retelling of Captain America’s first battle against Red Skull from the same issue. It makes sense why one might want to revisit those two stories. And then there’s this one.

The original stories are by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Joe Simon’s name should probably have been in the credits of this comic, as it’s based so closely on his original story. The plot owes more to Simon than many of the comics Stan Lee claims “plot” credit on owe to Stan.

My issue with the original is that I didn’t really understand what Sando and Omar brought to the scheme. There were Nazi saboteurs in America successfully blowing things up. Why have a member of your crew go onstage and warn people about the attacks in advance by pretending to be psychic? The comic didn’t really try to explain.

Let’s compare the new one to the original. The first thing we will notice is the new one fits into very regular grid patterns that make it easy to crop out groups of panels. The original felt bound by no such structure, so the croppings will all be imperfect.

Looking to the opening splash pages, the crystal ball image is very close. The changes fit Kirby’s more dramatized style and generally make a more modern splash page. Omar is a little less freakish in the new one. The biggest loss is Sando, whose fingers had an unusual positioning in the original, almost suggesting his role as puppeteer. Kirby opted for a more standard-for-Kirby dramatized positioning.

The modern comic claims to be “introducing” Sando and Omar. This seems blatantly false, as they were obviously introduced 25 years earlier.

PRELUDE: Captain America Comics #2, Story B

Trapped in the Nazi Stronghold

Featuring: Captain America
Release: February 10, 1941
Cover: April 1941
10 cents
By: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
15 pages

Notice that for the second issue in a row, Captain America is attacking Adolf Hitler on the cover. A disappointing thing about the first issue was that the scene was not reflected inside the comic. This comic makes up for it with this second story. Which is of course why we are reading it. To actually see Cap sock Hitler.

Note that it’s February 1941. Still 10 months before America enters the war. But Joe and Jack aren’t shy about letting their opinions out. They inform us that Cap and Bucky head to “Nazi enslaved France”. Quite the strong language.

PRELUDE: Captain America Comics #2

The Ageless Orientals Who Wouldn’t Die

Featuring: Captain America
Release: February 10, 1941
Cover: April 1941
10 cents
By: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
15 pages

This comic was released on my birthday, just 40 years early.

Our buildup to Avengers #4 continues.

Once again, the cover of the comic shows Captain America directly confronting Hitler, this time without the satisfying sock to the jaw. The interior of the first issue disappointed, as Captain America and Hitler did not actually meet. This issue will rectify that, but not with this story. We’ll see Hitler in the next post, concerning “Case No. 2”.

The title of the story alone–“The Ageless Orientals Who Wouldn’t Die”– tells you that this comic is probably extremely inappropriate, and it is. Popular culture depictions of Asian characters were problematic for decades. This comic at least only features giants, not meant to represent actual people.