Veritable gods among men to us comics fans, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby created many of the greatest legends of our time, not least of whom is the soon-to-be movie icon Captain America. Actually, he was packing 'em in at the movie houses back in the 1940s, not to mention selling more comics than today's most heavily-hyped events.
But then the war ended, and superheroes fell out of style as comics embraced crime and horror, which worked out very well for them... until it didn't.
In any event, Cap's title was canceled by the publisher that would come to be known as Marvel, then years later it returned in the early days of the Cold War - without Simon and Kirby.
"It won't be like when we did it," said the prescient Kirby, as recounted in Joe Simon's introduction, to which Simon replied "There's no reason we can't do our own character again."
An so Fighting American was born, and yes, in case you've been wondering, the many similarities ARE intentional. One of greatest teams in comics history re-teamed for a fun, patriotic romp, as Fighting American and Speedboy protected postwar America from spies, saboteurs, and Soviets.
Fighting American started its run as serious with a side of silly, and soon Simon and Kirby embraced the goofiness inherent to a star-spangled hero protecting a nation in the grip of more paranoia than actual menace, and while never actually poking fun at itself, it certainly developed a sense of humor about itself, making it all the more charming.
Fighting American stands to this day as one of the greatest titles of the 20th century - it could hardly help it, it's a Simon and Kirby book. Titan Books has been doing a spectacular job collecting the many books created by the duo not published by Marvel or DC, saving them from being lost to history and releasing remastered collections for connoisseurs and completists.
Their new Fighting American collection should please both, with beautifully restored pages, the aforementioned introduction by Simon himself, and it literally has it all - with the exception of a single page from a singel story ('The Mad Inker'), it has every Fighting American story ever produced by Simon and Kirby.
Titan has made it a mission to do Simon and Kirby fans right, and they're doing a fine job of it. Fighting American sits beside their Best of Simon and Kirby and The Simon and Kirby Superheroes (and Joe's autobiography, My Life in Comics), and I hope there's more coming soon.
Captain America is fantastic - but as you read his current title, and follow his adventures in Fear Itself and at the movies, keep in mind, these guys created him. Fighting American has all of Cap's action, adventure and patriotism, with an added dose of levity - our secret weapon against the RED MENACE!
Fighting American from Titan Books hits stores May 31 in the US, May 27 in the UK.