Customer Reviews

The Simon and Kirby Superheroes

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As people have asked, here is the a list of the works in this collection.

Black Owl
"The Whistler" (Prize Comics #7)
"Return of the Whistler" (Prize Comics #8)
"Menace of Madame Mystery" (Prize Comics #9)

Stuntman
cover of Stuntman #1,2 and #3
"Killer in the Big Top" (Stuntman #1)
"Crime on Cauliflower Row)
"Stuntman Enters the House of Madness"
"Curtain Call for Death" (Stuntman #2)
"Rescue of Robin Hood"
"Stuntman Smashes Rest Camp for Criminals" (Stuntman #3)
"Stuntman Battles the Diamond's Curse" (Stuntman #3)
"Stuntman Battles a New Menace on Terror Island" (unpublished)
"Stuntman Brings to Justice the Evil Sons of M. LeBlanc" (unpub)
"Stuntman Crowns a Jungle Lord" (unpub)

Vagabond Prince
"Trapped n Wax" (unpub)
"Madness of Dr. Altu" (Black Cat Comics #7)
"Death-Trap De Luxe (Black Cat Comics #8)

Captain 3-D
"Man from the World of D" (Captain 3-D #1)
"The Menace of the Living Dolls"
"Iron Hat McGinty and His Destruction Gang"

Fighting American
Covers for Fighting American #1-7, V2 #1,2 and unpublished #4
"First Assignment: Break the Spy Ring!" (Fighting American #1)
"Second Assignment: Track Down the Baby Buzz Bombs"
"Duel to the Finish Line!"
"Assignment: Expose the League of the Handsome Devils!" (FA #2)
"Assignment: Find the King of the Crime Syndicate"
"Assignment: Investigate the City of Ghouls"
"The Man Who Sold Out Liberty!" (FA #3)
"Stranger from Paradise"
"Poison Ivan"
"Z Food"
"Tokyo Run Around" (FA #4)
"Home=Coming Year 3000"
"Operation Wolf!"
"Follow the Dangerous Trail of Jiseppi the Jungle Boy" (FA #5)
"The Year Bender"
"Track Down Invisible Irving"
"Deadly Doolittle" (FA #6)
"Super-Khakalovitch.. Boy Has been"
"Sneak of Araby" (FA #7)
"Three Coins in the Pushcart"
"Space-Face!"
"ROund Robin" (FA V2#1)
"Roman Scoundrels"
"Secret of Yafata's Moustache"
"Beef Box" (from FA collected edition)
"Mad Inker" (unpub)

Double Life of Private Strong
Cover from Double Life of Private Strong #1
"Meet Lancelot Strong" (DLPS #1)
"Double Life of Private Strong"
"Spawn of the X World"
"Private Strong: Sneak Attack" (Adventures of Fly #1)
"Mystery of the Vanished Wreckage" (DLPS #1)
"Menace of the Micro Men"
"Loveable Lou: The Toy Master" (DLPS #2)
"Ultra-Sonic Spies"

Adventures of the Fly
Cover of Adventures of the Fly #1,2
"Strange New World of the Fly" (Fly #1)
"Fly Strikes"
"Fly Discovers His Buzz Gun"
"Come into My Parlor"
"Marco's Eyes" (Fly #2)
"The Fly: Hide-Out" (DLPS #1)
"Tim O'Casey Wrecking Crew" (Fly #2)


Bonus Gallery of S&K covers & rarities

For those in the know, Joe Simon & Jack Kirby were "THE" super-hero creative team during the Golden Age of the American comic book. While most other creators (Jerry Siegel-Joe Shuster, Bob Kane-Bill Finger, Will Eisner, Jack Cole) had to content themselves with creating one popular strip, the Simon-Kirby team created more than a score of them.

While their work for the major publishers (Marvel & DC) is being reprinted, many of their efforts for the other, smaller publishers has not - until now!

Titan Books has assembled ALL of the super-hero stories the team created for every one of those other publishers in one massive collection.

This is a HUGE volume of meticulously restored comic book stories, prepared with Joe Simon's participation. You'll find the complete Simon & Kirby runs on such characters as Fighting American (their own parody of their wildly popular Captain America strip), Stuntman, the Black Owl, the Vagabond Prince, Captain 3-D, the Shield (Pvt. Strong), and the Fly.

Because this stunning hardcover also contains previously unpublished art and stories, it is a "must-have" for any fan of Simon & Kirby.

You won't find a better value in Golden Age comics material anywhere! Highly recommended!

I have been a huge fan of Jack Kirby's work, and the work of Simon & Kirby together, for many years. For a long time, I wouldn't even consider adding a book to my collection unless it was by Kirby. So my expectations for this new volume by Titan Books was very high, especially since their first collection of S&K's work, "The Best of Simon & Kirby", had such excellent production values and reproduction quality.

First, let me just say that this is a MASSIVE volume of work, weighing in at nearly 4 pounds and close to 500 pages of material. It is also a delight to find rarely seen work here, including three Black Owl stories and unpublished stories featuring Stuntman, Vagabond Prince and Fighting American. And a real bonus is having the entire Captain 3-D comic published in full-color 2-D for the first time.

However, despite the great selection of material and a great design, the artwork reproduction and color leave a lot to be desired. The overall quality of the reprinting is much darker than the previous volume, with the black lines seeming to bleed together. Colors are way too dark in most cases, making it even more difficult to see the the line work and distinguish between objects. Overall, much of this fabulous work is rendered murky and flat.

My guess is that the editors decided to reproduce the stories as close as possible to the original printed versions. This seems to be supported by the decision to use coarse screen tints (the dots that make up the color tints) to simulate the look of the four-color pulp printing of yesteryear. Although I can appreciate the desire to reprint the material to appear just like it did 50 to 60 years ago, the unfortunate reality is that decision does not do justice to the ingenious work of Joe and Jack.

I still believe this book is worth the investment, especially for the price, but as much as I'd like to give this rave reviews, the most I can muster is a four out of five star rating. I will continue to support the efforts of Titan Books in compiling some of the greatest comic work ever created, but I urge them to use better digital processes now available to show the work in it's very best light.

Beautiful follow-up to Titan's earlier 'Best of Simon and Kirby'. A HUGE book, with wonderfully restored artwork. Collects every non-Marvel and non-DC superhero created by the Simon/Kirby team. If you're a Kirby or Simon/Kirby fan, you'll love this.

Simon and Kirby (Joe Simon and Jack Kirby) were the indisputable team to the Golden Age of comics. Their creations (in this large tome, is the characters they created outside of Marvel or DC Comics) bring fun, action, glorious double page spreads (especially in the Stuntman reproductions), and wonderful stories. It may take you a whole day to read the book in its entirety, but I think you, dear reader, won't mind. The artwork is digitally restored to give the reader the feeling of being in that particular time era. I myself, have the previous Marvel collection of Fighting American (which this tome does reprint, plus unpublished stories too), both are restored and still fun to read. You have commentary by Joe Simon's son Jim and an introduction by Neil Gaiman. If you are a Jack kirby or Simon and Kirby fan, this is a book to get, along with the previously released Best of Simon and Kirby, as well as the forthcoming editions; these tomes are a grand addition to any library. Enjoy!

This is a great volume. At the original price of approx. $49 it would be a bargain, at the Amazon price it is even more so. The color and reproduction are outstanding, I highly recommend this.

Allen Smith

This book is chock full of Simon and Kirby greatness! It has smaller dimensions than Titan's previous "Best Of" release, but that doesn't detract from the stories or the presentation. The "Best Of" book is more like an overview of S&K's other non-National or Timely work, and this book (along with the future Crime, Romance, Horror and probably Western editions) are complete (or almost complete) collections of their combined work in those particular genres. Harry Mendryk has done a fantastic job on remastering/recoloring/editing the artwork contained in this volume. Frankly, I don't understand his fawning over the atrocious scanning and editing jobs done on golden age DC collections like Starman Archives v2 and S&K's Sandman, given his superior work on these lesser known S&K books (unfortunately Fantagraphics is as bad at restoring or bothering to even try to restore artwork, given the Ditko collections, and now Sadowski's Four Color Fear, which I don't believe were touched up at all).

For some strange reason I held off buying this book? I finally ordered it and was blown away... IT IS HUGE. It is heavy and it is full of some really good stuff. The quality from dust jacket, colors, layout and selection is outstanding. I want more.

Titan Books' collections honoring Simon & Kirby's work continue to impress. Like The Best of Simon & Kirby, this new volume is a respectful work celebrating two of the biggest legends the industry has to offer.

Inside this behemoth book are such classic heroes as The Fly, Stuntman, The Black Owl, Fighting American, Private Strong, and more. Even better is the fact that multiple stories starring those characters are presented, so the reader can spend a good long time getting to know how and why these stories built the careers of their creators.

An introduction by comics legend Neil Gaiman sets the tone for the collection. Moreover, it does a good, albeit brief, job of introducing the history and perspective of these stories. It's fascinating to hear him talk about these stories and the impact they had on him.

Even better is the essay from Joe Simon himself that's also included. Simon recalls the 1940s, the time that he and Kirby spent creating all these heroes and their adventures. For any fan of comics history, this essay, like the book itself, is essential.

But nothing beats experiencing the stories for yourself. Yes, they hearken back to a simpler time (and sometimes a much less politically correct time). But still, the stories are timeless tales of good and evil and the courage it takes to rise up and inspire young readers to dream big.

Y'know those "Absolute" volumes DC has produced of their classics?

This is the equivalent treatment given to Jack Kirby & Joe Simon's work of the 1940s-1950s.

This sucker is MASSIVE. I dunno its weight (someone here said 4 pounds, and that sounds right), but this isn't something to stick under your arm and take on the bus or subway. And you certainly shouldn't attempt to read it in bed. Soooo big. And it includes EVERYTHING.

Of course, the highlight for me is to see those great Fighting Americsn stories again -- ALL of 'em! Every single story is here, reproduced gorgeously. That's worth the price of the book all by itself.

Any fan of Kirby & Simon -- or Golden-Silver Age comics in general -- should buy this monster.