Author: Joe Simon
Illustrator: Jack Kirby
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Titan Books
ISBN-10: 1848569610
ISBN-13: 978-1848569614
Synopsis:
The Simon and Kirby Library: Science Fiction spans more than 20 years, beginning with the first stories Joe Simon and Jack Kirby ever produced together (beginning in June 1940)–their ten-issue run of Blue Bolt adventures. Then the Cold War years will be represented by Race For the Moon, featuring pencils by Kirby and inked artwork by comic book legends Reed Crandall, Angelo Torres, and Al Williamson.
“Joe was one of the industry’s greatest innovators–he commissioned stories from some of the greatest talents of the time,” series editor Steve Saffel notes. “Thanks to his efforts, we have exclusive access to more than 80 pages of original artwork from the 1950s. Stories by all four artists appear in all of their stunning detail. This was a book Joe wanted the world to see.”
Other rarities from both decades are included, and as a bonus for readers, the volume features stories illustrated by Crandall, Torres, and Williamson–without Kirby.
Including an introduction by Dave Gibbons, the award-winning co-creator and illustrator of Watchmen, this is an historic volume no comic book aficionado will be able to live without.
Comic book aficionado, I am not. I read this as a stand alone and educational book without previous knowledge of the author and illustrator, and my first impression is that this book is the most epic piece of geek, and it should sit on the shelves of any card-carrying geek in the galaxy.
When I walk into a comic book shop I am hugely overwhelmed about where to even begin. The Simon and Kirby Library: Science Fiction sounded like the perfect jumping off point, and I was not disappointed. It’s just a taste of a huge world of comics, but this was a great place for me to get schooled.
The book is separated into three sections devoted to comics from the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s, with a bonus unpublished covers section in the back. The book is preceded with a CANNOT SKIP foreword by Dave Gibbons whose comic work includes (but is not limited to) Doctor Who, Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Captain America and on and on. Each section decade of comics starts with an introduction by Pete Sanderson who is the curator at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art.
I learned a lot about the confusion behind the art of comics, and the origins of the science induced super hero. And I got to enjoy a lot of comics that I would have normally picked up on their own. Here are my favorites from each decade:
From the 1940’s I loved the Blue Bolt series. There are 10 issues in the book and I cannot get enough of the complicated relationship Blue Bolt has with the scantily clad green sorceress. The story telling is amazing and the cliff hangers are fun.
From the 1950’s I am torn between The Emissary (Win A Prize Comic #1 Feb 1955) with its awesome and bizarre marketing scattered throughout the comic, and Today I am A–? (Black Cat Mystic #59 Sept 1957) with really creepy art about a strange humanoid raised among us.
Clawfang the Barbarian (Unearthly Spectaculars #2 Dec 1966) has to be my favorite from the 1960’s because it has these amazingly drawn women that look like Amazonian Betty Rubbles.
The Simon and Kirby Library: Science Fiction is beautiful and awesome. I highly recommend it, and if you like it you might want to check out one of their other titles. Also available is The Best of Simon and Kirby, The Simon and Kirby Library: Superheros, The Simon and Kirby Library: Crime, Fighting American, and Joe Simon: My Life in the Comics.
I give The Simon and Kirby Library: Science Fiction 5 out of 5 stars.
The Simon and Kirby Library: Science Fiction will be available from Amazon June 4th! Pre-order your copy today!
[AMAZONPRODUCT=1848569610]
