Another Golden Age titan passed away this week: Joe Simon, co-creator of Captain America, dead at 98.  Simon was a writer and penciller among the very first wave of comic creators in the U.S., getting his first paid comic work in 1936. Simon was best known for his collaboration with Jack ("The King") Kirby, which produced Captain America (now a Marvel character); the Newsboy Legion, the Boy Commandos, and Manhunter for DC; and Boys Ranch, Fighting American, and the Fly for other publishers. 

Simon was the first editor of Timely, which eventually became Marvel Comics. 

Simon and Kirby also pioneered the development of the horror comics genre in the 40s, and created the first romance comic, Young Romance, which created a whole new category of comics publishing.

Simon dropped out of comics after the censorship-induced crash in the mid-50s, returning in the mid-60s to develop Harvey’s superhero line.  He did some limited work for DC from the late 60s into the mid-70s. He also founded the satirical magazine Sick in 1960, continuing with it for a decade. 

Over the last 10 years, a number of Simon retrospectives and collections have appeared, including The Comic Book Makers (with his son), from Vanguard; and Joe Simon: My Life in Comics (see”Review: Joe Simon: My Life in Comics”) ,The Simon and Kirby Superheroes (see “The Simon and Kirby Superheroes”), and Fighting American, all from Titan.

This is the second major Golden Age creator to pass away in the past month. Jerry Robinson died just a week ago (see “RIP Jerry Robinson”).