Captain America Co-Creator And Comic Legend Joe Simon

One of the legendary creators of the Golden Age of Comics, Joe Simon, passed away earlier today. Mr. Simon was 98 years old.

Born Hymie Simon in 1913, Joe Simon began working as art director for his high school newspaper as a teenager before moving onto editorial cartoons and, eventually comic books. Simon was the first editor for Timely Comics, the company that would eventually become the Marvel Comics that we know and love today.

Simon was best known for his collaborative work with Jack “The King” Kirby in the 1930’s and 40’s. Together the two created some of the most legendary characters in the Golden Age of Comics. For DC Comics, the duo created the Golden Age Sandman, Newsboy Legion, and Boy Commandos. However, Simon’s most enduring creation is Captain America, who he co-created with Kirby in 1941.

Simon has been in and out of the comic industry throughout the past eight decades, including work on DC’s ‘Brother Power: The Geek’ and serving as Editor in Chief at Harvey Comics for a while. Simon last made headlines in 2007 when Marvel comics killed off Captain America and Simon famously stated, “It’s a hell of a time for him to go. We really need him now.”

‘New Teen Titans’ Artist Eduardo Barreto

Eduardo Barreto, the artist for the 1980’s ‘New Teen Titans’ series from DC Comics and the newspaper strip ‘Judge Parker’ also passed away today from complications with an illness that he had been fighting since 2010. Mr. Barreto was 57.

Barreto was born in Uruguay in 1954. As an artist, he came to America in the 1980’s. Best known for his work on ‘The New Teen Titans’, Barreto also worked on many DC Comics titles including ‘Action Comics’, ‘Martian Manhunter’, ‘The Shadow Strikes’, and ‘Superman’. In 1989, Barreto did the art on the one-shot ‘Lex Luthor: The Unauthorized Biography’ which is hailed by many as his best work.

Barreto had to step down from art duties on ‘Judge Parker’ in 2010 after contracting meningitits. He had worked on the strip since 2006. At that time, King Features, the publisher of ‘Judge Parker’ stated that they expected Barreto to return to his art duties. It took some time but Barreto returned to newspaper comics this past July when he began illustrating ‘The Phantom’. Barreto also has some art appearing in an upcoming issue of ‘Dark Horse Presents’.