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Joe Simon (Artist)

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Artist

The Resume

    (October 11, 1913-December 14, 2011)
    Born in Rochester, New York
    Joseph Henry 'Hymie' Simon
    Comic book artist and writer
    Co-creator of Captain America, along with Jack Kirby
    First Editor of Timely Comics (an early prototype of Marvel Comics)
    Also created many characters during the Golden and Silver Ages of DC Comics, including the Sandman and the Boy Commandos
    Inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame (1999)

Why he might be annoying:

    His original design for Captain America, unintentionally looked more like the Puerto Rican flag than the American.
    He left Timely Comics for National (later DC) Comics over a salary dispute, but never reached the height of success he had before.
    He started his own magazine, which he entitled 'Sick.'
    Some of his lesser known, less interesting, characters included 'The Fly,' 'Stuntman,' 'Black Magic' and 'Brother Power the Geek.'
    He gave his 'Sandman' hero an obnoxious sidekick - Sandy the Golden Boy (basically a carbon copy of Bucky, only in yellow).
    He sued Marvel Comics for royalties over Captain America in the late 1960s, but settled out of court (he tried a second time in the early 2000s, this time losing).
    He created the Captain America character, but Stan Lee inevitably gets all the credit (although Lee did resurrect the hero for contemporary 'Avengers' readers).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was the son of Jewish immigrants.
    He started out doing newspaper editorial cartoons and retouching movie posters for Paramount Studios.
    He served with the US Coast Guard during WWII.
    He has been credited with merging the romance genre with the comic books medium.
    He created the original 'Human Torch' superhero, the template for the 'Johnny Storm' character of the Fantastic Four teaming.
    He depicted Captain America punching out Adolf Hitler in the comic's very first issue, in a now iconic cover (Mar. 1941).
    He wrote the first issue of 'Captain America' at 24, and it sold over one million copies (published only months prior to US entry into WWII, the depiction of Hitler caused an unprecedented sensation).
    He was posthumously inducted into the Inkwell Awards Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame (2014).
    He died the same year Captain America was finally becoming a household name (the first film had been released earlier in the year).
    His grandkids attended the premiere of 'First Avenger' in his honor, phoning him when the creator's name was mentioned at the event.
    Had he lived he might have (should have) scored a Stan Lee-style walk on cameo in 'The Winter Soldier' or 'Civil War.'
    He told the Philadelphia Daily News, in 2005: 'Everywhere I went - in the service or wherever - I wasn't Joe Simon; I was Captain America. It was like a cloud hanging over me, but a good cloud. I loved it.'

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 72.73% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 14 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 29 Votes: 72.41% Annoying