Life In Four Colors Book Review:
The Best of Simon and Kirby
A few short weeks ago I received one of the coolest spur of the moment gifts I ever received in my life from one of the coolest people on the face of the planet.
"I saw this....thought you might like it."
Incredible.
That gift was a book. A very awesome book called The Best of Simon and Kirby from Titan Books. A book I knew I did indeed want from the moment I learned it was in the planning stages but thought I was just going to add it to the "someday I'm gonna have to pick that up" list.
Little did I know somebody else had other plans.
And as I was feverishly reading through this book....things got turned up a notch or two. The opportunity arose where I could actually interview the editor of the book, Steve Saffel.
Steve was a pleasure to work with as was Tom Green, both of whom supplied me with the art clips used in this interview.
Simon.
Kirby.
Saffel.
Titan Books.
The G-Man.
Let's get this party started.
Bill Gladman: I first learned of this book while attending Mid-Ohio Con at Columbus Ohio Oct.2008. Mark Evanier brought it up during a Jack Kirby tribute panel co-hosted by Tony Isabella. Mark made it seem the book was almost complete in late 2008 and had been in production for some time. When exactly did work on this book begin?
Steve Saffel: That's a tough question to answer, because Joe and I had been working on a number of proposals for the last few years, and Harry Mendryk has been restoring the Simon and Kirby stories for longer than that. We kicked into gear in the first half of 2008, finalizing the contents, establishing schedules and working out a page design. So the concentrated work probably took place over about a year.
Bill: Besides Mark....and of course Joe Simon...how many people who were involved with the production of the book actually knew or met Jack Kirby?
Steve: Though I can't say for certain, I'm pretty certain Harry met Jack at some time or another, given that he's so intensely enthusiastic about all things Kirby. Nick Landau, who owns Titan Books, has been a part of the comics scene for more than thirty years, so he likely crossed paths with Jack at some point. Other than them, I would be the other person who met Jack (and Roz). One of my prized possessions is a copy of Headline Comics #37-the one with the photo cover-signed by Joe, Jack, and Roz (who noted that the photo was taken in her bedroom!)
Bill: How soon will the Simon and Kirby Library series of books from Titan be available and in what order can we expect them?
Steve: We were planning to have the second book-volume one of The Simon and Kirby Superheroes-out this fall, but then the project began to evolve into something more ambitious than we had expected, so it will come out in 2010. Joe's definitive autobiography is tentatively planned for next year, as well, to be followed by the detective adventures, horror tales, and romance stories, but not necessarily in that order.
Bill: Other than the introduction how much involvement did Joe Simon have with the book?
Steve: Joe approved everything, including Mark's section introductions. In choosing the stories that would be included, Harry and I consulted with him, and relied on our own knowledge of the stories and characters that Joe would consider definitive. Design elements were run past him for approval, though he often instructed us to let our terrific designer (Martin Stiff) run with his own instincts, thus proving that Joe Simon is still one of the best editors in the business.
Bill: Perhaps I missed it, but what exactly was the last project Simon and Kirby worked on together?
Steve: Their last collaboration was the first issue of DC's new Sandman, back in 1974-a variant on the character they wrote and illustrated back in 1942. Then in 1989 they released hardcover editions of Fighting Americanand The Kid Cowboys of Boys' Ranch through Marvel. I don't think they collaborated on anything after that.
Bill: I was glad to see that the Kirby Estate fully endorses this book. How involved were they in the production?
Steve: Not at all. Lisa Kirby was the person with whom we communicated most, and she expressed her confidence that Joe had it all handled. She was terrific to deal with, and wonderfully supportive.
Bill: I am a comic history junkie. I love seeing old photographs of legendary creators. Will the "Joe Simon: The Man Behind the Comics" book feature any more of these great photos Joe shared for this book?
Steve: Absolutely. We've unearthed many photos from over the years, and are in the process of scanning them and cleaning them up now.
Bill: Will the other books include photos as well as reproduction of story and art?
Steve: Perhaps, though there may not be a need. The collections of stories are really focused on the results of the Simon and Kirby collaboration-the stories themselves. Harry and I always sought to take the readers back in time, to make them feel as if they just picked up a copy of Stuntman or Justice Traps the Guilty, pristine off the newsstand. That's why the restorations are made to evoke the actual comic book stories and the thrilling experience of reading them for the very first time.
Bill:.) The art restoration in this book was just fantastic. Harry Mendryk did an excellent job. How long did that process take and how big of a staff was needed to help Harry see this through?
Steve: In the dictionary, under the listing for "Herculean," I think there's a photo of Harry Mendryk. All of the restorations were by him, and I don't think he would have it any other way. He's been working on it for years, which gave him a bit of a head start, but given the thousands of pages of material Joe and Jack produced, we're just getting started.
Bill: How in the world does someone pick "The Best of Simon and Kirby"? Who was involved in the selection of stories and how difficult was it narrowing it down to the two dozen classic tales that appear in the book?
Steve: Very difficult. A true "Best of Simon and Kirby" would be several volumes, but we wanted to give the reader something that was the one book they had to have-an instant library of some of the finest comics ever produced. Some of the stories were obvious, like the first Red Skull appearance, or "My City is No More," one of Joe's all-time favorites. The Blue Bolt story was the first one that really showed the emergence of the S&K collaboration, while the Fighting American story was iconic for it's offbeat villain-something that made that series famous. Nick Landau was pivotal in this involvement, always challenging us to make certain the stories really were among the best. In the end, we had to surrender to the law of physics, producing a book that could remain affordable to the largest possible audience, but within those parameters, I think we succeeded.
Bill: Will the same team that produced this book be involved with the other scheduled books?
Steve: Yes. I've already made certain we'll have Martin as the designer, and can't imagine anyone but Harry doing the restorations. We're all in it for the long haul.
Bill: Do you have a favorite story in the book? If so which one is it?
Steve: Everyone asks that, yet it's a moving target. Which story I love depends on the day-Joe and Jack did so many wonderful stories, many of which simply can't be compared to one another. I have a real soft spot for Blue Bolt, and I've gained a new and deeper appreciation for the swashbuckling action in Stuntman (especially those brilliant double-page splashes). The one piece I always show folks is the unbelievable "Alamo" double-page spread from Boy's Ranch,
and I'm always blown away by the gothic horror of the Black Magic story "Scorn of the Faceless People." Perhaps my favorite single scene is the guest appearance by Joe and Jack in the Boy Commandosstory, complete with an office door proclaiming, "New Characters Interviewed from 9 to 12."
Bill: I have never really taken the time to read much Crime or Western Comics. I usually stick to super-heroes, sci-fi stuff, and horror. But the stories reprinted in this book were amazing. How much research did Simon and Kirby do for those types of stories.
Steve: I don't think much research was needed for the horror, though I think Joe and Jack always used visual reference when it was needed. For the detective stories, so much of the background was available right there in the headlines throughout their careers, and both Joe and Jack had a long-standing fondness for the material, from the movies to the novels. Joe was even the art director on Martin Goodman's pulp magazines during his Timely stint-titles like Complete Detective Cases and Detective Short Stories. There's Simon and Kirby artwork sprinkled throughout the 1941 issues of those titles.
Bill: I was very glad that some of the art you sent tied into the Fighting American story that featured "Double Header"? What an interesting character. Has the character ever seen again after this story?
Steve: I don't think so. As I said, the villains were a cornerstone of the Fighting American stories, including such greats as Poison Ivan, Hotsky Trotski, Yuscha Liffso (say it out loud), and of course, Jiseppi the Jungle Boy. There were so many of them that there was no need to repeat.
Bill: Another character I enjoyed was the western hero Bulls Eye. How many stories did Simon and Kirby work on together featuring this character?
Steve: Bulls-Eye was one of Joe's favorites, and he and Jack did seven issues-five for their creator-owned imprint Mainline, then two for Charlton. There's a great story about a Bulls-Eye adventure where the Comic Code Authority-then a brand-new organization-made them remove the tomahawks from a scene, thus leaving the Indians to attack with blatantly empty hands. For titles like Bulls-Eye, one of the best reference resources is the Jack Kirby Checklist
published by TwoMorrows. It lists all of the comics Jack Kirby illustrated over his career, complete with page counts. The only disadvantage is that they don't list the non-Jack pages, thus leaving out Joe's solo work, and brilliant stuff by Bob Powell, Mort Meskin, and many more. We tried to give the new fan a boost by including a basic "Simon and Kirby Checklist" in the back of THE BEST OF SIMON AND KIRBY, just in case any of our readers catch the bug-as we're certain they will.
Bill: I actually have that book at well....but been a little guilty of just checking the Marvel and D.C. stuff. Did Simon and Kirby create the original Vision or did they just produce stories featuring the character?
Steve: They created him. With the exception of the odd story here and there-such as their Captain Marvel Adventuresissue-they didn't really take on characters created by other writers and artists until they got to DC and took on Manhunter and Sandman for a long stretch.
Bill: Does Marvel own the copyright to that character? He really should be used more often. I believe he has popped up from time to time but not nearly often enough.
Steve: Marvel does own The Vision, and I believe their Marvel Mystery Comics editions of the Marvel Masterworksare beginning to reprint the stories.
Bill: Has Joe Simon ever mentioned what he thinks of the current status of the Captain America books? I remember seeing a comment made by him after the "Death of Captain America" in which he said "That's too bad, the world can really use him now."
Steve: I think Joe was concerned with the fact that Captain America has been carrying a gun-something his character wouldn't be doing, but other than that I think he's content to let the modern creators do their own thing.
Bill: Joe and Jack were both big movie buffs, Does Joe still go to the movies? Is there a character, perhaps even featured in this book, that he has always wanted to see on the big screen but never has?
Steve: At 95, I think Joe lets the movies come to him. And of course, he's watching the progress on the Captain America movie with great anticipation. I think the other character he'd love to see on the screen would be Fighting American, but it would take a deft hand indeed to produce a script that would capture that brilliant balance between fist-smacking action and wry Cold War humor.
Bill: What was Joe's favorite project that both he and Jack worked on?
Steve: That's really a question for Joe, but from what he's said, I think they both considered The Kid Cowboys of Boys' Ranch to be a high-point of their careers, and many people agree that the series was a genuine masterpiece. However, he always speaks especially fondly about Captain Americaand Boy Commandos. I think he considers their work on Stuntman to be some of their finest, which is ironic given the fact that the character fell victim to a glut in the industry at the time. And Joe will always be proud of the fact that they gave birth to an entire new genre within the comics medium, resulting in blockbuster sales for Young Romance and Young Love, spawning a legion of copycats.
Bill: Thanks for your time, Steve.
What a great interview!
What a great book!
Believe me...you're going to want a copy for yourself.
Bill Gladman - Bill is a writer and illustrator and currently working on several different projects including the first issue of an ongoing comic book series (Prodigy), an illustrated fantasy novel (The Book of Noheim), and the first of four illustrated science fiction/fantasy novels (Jack the Rabbit, Living Legend of the Purple Plains) as well as a light-hearted on going mini-comic (Three Wise Men). Bill also pens a column for Comic Related and will be doing a mix of regional convention coverage.
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