The Simon and Kirby Library: Horror

by Joe Simon

Other authorsJack Kirby (Illustrator)
Hardcover, 2014

Status

Available

Call number

PN6727.S51576 S54

Publication

Titan Books (2014), Edition: Illustrated, 320 pages

Description

At every point, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby raised the bar. When they came to comics, Superman had been around for about a year, and the medium was still in its infancy. They took the action and made it explode, breaking out of the panels and sprinting across the page. They showed what comics could do, experimenting with layout and design, creating the first full-page panels and double page spreads. Their first million-seller was a superhero (Captain America), and their next was military adventure that outsold Superman (DC's Boy Commandos). These two guys from Rochester and Brooklyn broke all the rules when they created the first romance comics, and they blazed trails in every genre: horror, science fiction, crime etc ... Their work in the legendary title Black Magic was acclaimed by readers. It was held up on national television by the Senate Committee on Juvenile Delinquency, where experts claimed Black Magic contributed to the corruption of American youth! Also included here are the Simon and Kirby stories from the experimental terror title Strange World of Your Dreams.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member lesindy
Great stories! Too bad there are numerous typos in the restoration's text.
LibraryThing member rickklaw
Before playing Lennon to Stan Lee’s McCartney, Jacky Kirby teamed with writer/artist Joe Simon to create a legacy that included Captain America, the romance comic, and numerous other creations. The latest volume of Titan’s handsome, full color collections of the duo’s collaborative works
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features horror tales from Black Magic and The Strange World of Your Dreams. The former enjoyed a 33 issue run from 1950-1954 (though it was later resurrected years later with #34, but sans Simon/Kirby) and the latter beginning in 1952 for a scant 4 issues, a rare business failure for the pair. Simon and Kirby did not work on every story in either title but rather employed a small group of artists which included the amazing Mort Meskin and Bruno Premiani. Though Kirby did draw the majority of the tales, he often just contributed the splash page with others providing the rest of the story. This volume reproduces and restores every story from the two series that contained any Kirby art.

The stories themselves rise above much of the muck, some just below the era’s horror gold standard EC. Perhaps the volume’s biggest flaw lies not with the largely excellent stories but rather with the scant historical data. Series editor Steve Saffel penned the introduction that offers some interesting background material, but acknowledging the credits to other artists when known (or even suspected) would certainly have enhanced the project. Even with that minor quibble, The Simon and Kirby Library: Horror successfully encapsulates this lesser known epoch of Kirby’s impressive output and should be part of every well stocked comics library.
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Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2011

Physical description

320 p.; 11.38 inches

ISBN

9781848569591

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