Captain America Co-Creator Joe Simon Shares His Thoughts On The Movie!

Captain America Co-Creator Joe Simon Shares His Thoughts On The Movie!

The 97-year-old legend who co-created Captain America alonside Jack Kirby in 1940 shares his thoughts on the movie, the characters current comic book status and whether he'd like to work on him again...

News
By JoshWilding - Dec 12, 2010 02:12 PM EST
Filed Under: Captain America
Source: Big Shiny Robot

The guys over at Big Shiny Robot managed to score a rare interview with the legendary writer, artist, editor, and publisher, who's career in comic books has spanned over 70 years. To read the entire interview, just follow the link at the bottom of this article. Below is what Joe Simon had to say about perhaps his greatest creation: Captain America.

On What He Thinks About The Upcoming Movie:

"I’m very excited about it. I don’t know the details of the story in the movie, though I have a great deal of confidence in the Marvel movie makers, and have been contacted by Stephen Broussard, the co-producer, several times. It’s apparent that they’re putting a great deal of energy and creativity into all of their projects."


On Whether He'd Consider Returing To Work On The Character In The Future:

" I did a short piece for Captain America issue #600, and other than that, I’m just happy to draw sketches of him for friends and family."


On How He Feels About Captain America's Current Portrayal In The Comic Books:

"I haven’t followed the character too closely over all of the years, but I’m very happy that they kept the patriotic aspects of the character according to what I would have done, and that Captain America emerged as an icon for the readers. For the sake of the sales and trends of the times I did participate in the horrific death of Captain America. I was told about it in advance, and one of the top quotes in the New York Daily News was the statement “Captain America, gone just when we really need him.” Given the way the world is today, that’s probably truer than ever before. Strangely enough, when Jack and I created those first ten issues, with the exception of Hitler on the first cover, there wasn’t much politics in the stories–they were mostly horror and detective adventures."


While I have no doubt that Stan Lee deserves a cameo in Captain America: The First Avenger for his excellent work with the character in the 1960's, it's a pity that Marvel Studios don't seem to have reached out to Joe Simon! Still, be sure to share your thoughts on that and his above comments in the usual place!



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jjmeylar
jjmeylar - 12/12/2010, 3:09 PM
I wish that he had a cameo in this. He deserves one more than Stan does. Sure, the first comic that Stan ever wrote was "Captain America Comics" #3, but even so. I'm thrilled to know that he's still alive and I hope that he's still alive when the film comes out so he can see his character come to life in a much greater way than ever before.
marvel72
marvel72 - 12/12/2010, 3:15 PM
@ intruder

that is a cool,idea.
superotherside
superotherside - 12/12/2010, 3:15 PM
woah! can't believe the guy is still alive, but since he is he should have a cameo in the movie...
patriautism
patriautism - 12/12/2010, 3:16 PM
I would totally salute him if I saw him on the street.
JoshWilding
JoshWilding - 12/12/2010, 3:19 PM
He's a bigger legend than this guy:

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;D
JoshWilding
JoshWilding - 12/12/2010, 3:21 PM
Seriously though, he really does deserve a cameo in this movie, and I'd like to think that Marvel Studios at least offered him one. Stan Lee's work was excellent (the WWII stuff and resurrecting him to join The Avengers) and although we have him to thank for the majority of what we'll see on the big screen, it shouldnt be forgotten that we have Simon to thank for actually creating him in the first place. :)
Boekelaar
Boekelaar - 12/12/2010, 3:33 PM
I have that t-shirt lol
If Stans 'the man' then Joe Simon is a god, I love Captain America and I'm Australian. Truly a genius if he can create a character that's a patriotic symbol for one specific country yet can be loved and honoured by a citizen of another :)
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 12/12/2010, 3:34 PM
LEGEND... He should cameo in CAP just as much as STAN or even more so!
marvel72
marvel72 - 12/12/2010, 3:36 PM
@ joshw

lmao,"online dating legend".

thats some funny shit. :D
gunner
gunner - 12/12/2010, 3:50 PM
Wow i'm glad to hear he's still kicking !!
gunner
gunner - 12/12/2010, 3:53 PM
He really should have a Cameo in this , we / I hold him in awe for what he and Jack did in creating him .
Anthrax
Anthrax - 12/12/2010, 4:05 PM
@Josh lmfao he deserves a TFACA cameo better than lee don't get me wrong I like lee but this Mofo stuck around 97 yrs so yeah
CENSORSHIPSUCKS
CENSORSHIPSUCKS - 12/12/2010, 4:18 PM
Joe Simon's daughter lives next store to my mother. My mother told her I was a huge Captain America fan. She gave my mother a Joe Simon hand sketched drawing of capt. america drawn and signed by him. I have it hanging on my wall
SmokinIndo
SmokinIndo - 12/12/2010, 4:27 PM
Wow. Some of yall really need to catch up on your comic book history.

Sure, Joe Simon created Cap. The guy deserves some credit. But in all fairness, his version of Captain America was radically different from the Cap that we all know and love. Simon's version of Steve Rogers was a Nazi serial killer who thrived on the blood of the Japanese and the Germans. His version of Cap stood for EVERYTHING that Captain America today is AGAINST. Stan Lee made Cap into the sentinel of liberty, the beacon of hope, the protector of justice, and the defender of freedom. Joe Simon's Cap was just a racist pig. He's the soldier from the movies that guns down a trio of German kids because "He's there to kill Krauts."

I'm not hating on Joe Simon. He was writing Captain America as propaganda for the war effort. And that usually involves instilling racism to some degree in your creation. Hell, everyone was racist towards the enemy at that time. But I believe Stan Lee deserves way more credit for giving us the Cap that's permeated Marvel for the past 50 years, the Cap that brought people to tears when he died and shook the entire Marvel Universe, and the Cap that's getting a blockbuster movie based off him.
SmokinIndo
SmokinIndo - 12/12/2010, 4:56 PM
@Intruder

Don't you hate the Ultimates? Because Timely's Cap was pretty much Ultimate Cap to the max. Do you really wanna see Cap in the movie roasting some Germans with a flamethrower while saying "That's right, Bucky. The only good Kraut is a dead Kraut."

??

slimybug
slimybug - 12/12/2010, 5:28 PM
Wow. I had no idea he was still alive! Everyone always talks about Stan Lee, but this guy is 97 and totally rocking it!
SmokinIndo
SmokinIndo - 12/12/2010, 5:52 PM
would you not like to see Cap put a bullet in Bin Ladens head while saying to Bucky "The only good towlhead is a dead one." after 9/11 ??...I would

@Intruder-You're comparing Osama bin Laden and Hitler to your average German infantry during WWII. A lot of German soldiers were drafted to fight for a tyranny they didn't support. They weren't Nazis and they had nothing to do with the Nazis. Now that doesn't mean that I expect Captain America to run in the opposite direction of the D-Day invasion like a coward. But I don't expect him to viciously slaughter German civilians and relish doing it. Should he encounter several German infantry surrendering on the battlefield, I would expect him to take them into custody as POW's, instead of gunning them down in excitement.

I would recommend reading Captain America: Theater of War. It answers a lot of confusion you seem to have about Cap on the battlefield.
robdel
robdel - 12/12/2010, 6:18 PM
@indoraptor12 - Nazi serial killer? WTF? The Simon/Kirby comics were during war time.Those comics were sent overseas to the troops who were fighting for their lives against ruthless enemies bent on World domination. They rarely took prisoners especially towards the end of the war. And If you were Jewish forget it. Unbelieveable. Just stop alright...stop, you are being disrespectful whether you realize it or not.
SmokinIndo
SmokinIndo - 12/12/2010, 6:38 PM
@Intruder

Actually, I do know my history. My grandfather fought in D-Day, and my dad (his son) is one of the greatest D-Day historians I think you'd ever meet. Most German soldiers were not committed to Nazis. They were just German civilians that were told to fight. Just like the U.S in Vietnam. Many US soldiers did not believe in what they were fighting for. They just did it because they were forced to. (A lot of soldiers did go AWOL in Vietnam, but the price of treason in Nazi Germany is death.)

I understand that your average soldier would not show that kind of fairness and justice on the battlefield. Captain Average isn't your average soldier. Many, many times he has kept his mind straight and allowed his moral principles to override his emotions. You may have your reasons for liking Cap, but Steve Rogers didn't become popular today through racial intolerance and killing out of spite.

For the record, I never blamed Simon for anything. I even said in my first post that I wasn't attacking Simon for the way things were back then. I was simply pointing out that the Captain America that we have today is much more the brain-child of Stan Lee than Joe Simon. My statement is a response to the fact that some people think Joe Simon deserves more credit than Stan Lee.
SmokinIndo
SmokinIndo - 12/12/2010, 6:49 PM
@robdel

That's exactly what Captain America was in the TIMELY era. Let me apologize for using the term "Nazi" serial killer. He was a GERMAN serial killer. That does NOT mean that I think that US soldiers were ruthless murderers. Wartime propaganda exaggerated many things in order to rowdy up support for the war. And that's not necessarily a bad thing as it helped our soldiers make the push towards victory. I'm just saying that's not what Captain America is about. At least not in the past 50 years.
SmokinIndo
SmokinIndo - 12/12/2010, 6:59 PM
@Intruder

So because I don't believe in the raping and pillaging of someone just because they're a different nationality than I am, I'm somehow a pansy American? I'm not a pacifist. I'm not even a Liberal. In fact I am a patriot. I support my troops and would gladly serve my country should I must. Why else do you think I am a huge fan of Captain America?
SmokinIndo
SmokinIndo - 12/12/2010, 7:11 PM
@Intruder

Again, I'm not slamming Joe Simon for anything. I am simply pointing out that he has little to do with the Captain America that has permeated Marvel comics for 50 years. I don't think he deserves more recognition that Stan Lee, the man who revived him and made him so popular today.
Armageddon26
Armageddon26 - 12/12/2010, 7:16 PM
I love a good arguement
Armageddon26
Armageddon26 - 12/12/2010, 7:16 PM
But indoraptor@ is mostly right,just not about cap being a german serial killer,and i say Mostly for his History to,just sayin
SmokinIndo
SmokinIndo - 12/12/2010, 7:33 PM
@Intruder

I'm very curious as to where you're looking up your facts. Wikipedia? There were plenty of Wehrmacht in Normandy. There were certainly more in Russia because the poor Soviets were getting hammered. But Hitler would certainly prepare for an invasion by the Americans, the British, and the Canadians with a massive army of his own. And I'm sorry, but Hitler didn't use Nazi SS as cannon fodder. The Nazi SS were ELITE OFFICERS. Hitler used the Wehrmacht as the main fighting force during WWII.

Also, since you seem to hate my attitude towards wartime casualties, by default you must hate Captain America. And you call yourself a fan?
SmokinIndo
SmokinIndo - 12/12/2010, 8:06 PM
I think you need to do better research on who exactly the SS were. You would not find the men pictured below fighting the brunt of the battle in D-Day or any of WWII for that matter.

http://www.spacestation.carolan.info/NaziUniforms.htm

The next picture is your typical Wehrmacht. This is what you've seen in the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan, the same sequence in which the invasion of Normandy is taking place.

http://www.ww2incolor.com/german/Infanterie+koloriert_001.html



SmokinIndo
SmokinIndo - 12/12/2010, 8:22 PM
That's fine that you prefer Cap the way he was written in 1942. I never made any attack on your opinion. I simply stated that the Cap that's been with us for decades is vastly different than the one during the Timely era. And frankly, I feel no reason to argue with you about it. This is because I think your opinion that "modern Cap has been neutered" won't settle to well with the natives here on CBM. I'll leave you to them.
Grimm
Grimm - 12/12/2010, 8:52 PM
You two should just screw already...
SmokinIndo
SmokinIndo - 12/12/2010, 9:10 PM
@Intruder

Those are Waffen-SS members. The Waffen-SS were soldiers drafted from the German Army because they were considered the elites. The Waffen-SS were STILL mere soldiers who were DRAFTED from the army and none had anything to do with the final solution nor did any soldier actually take part in any of the war crimes commonly associated with the Nazi Party. While technically considered the combat soldiers of the SS, they served right alongside the regular German army. In fact, they were by all means considered the fourth branch of the Wehrmacht. Hence, the Wehrmacht saw plenty of action in Normandy as well. As it stands, both groups saw many in their ranks who were fighting out of either loyalty to Germany or fear of Hitler rather than true belief in Nazism.

Also, I want to point out that firing at a surrendering enemy is a war crime as is firing at others taking no active part in hostilities. (civilians, wounded, sick, ect.) Just saying since you seem to think that's what is appropriate conduct on the battlefield.
marvelguy
marvelguy - 12/12/2010, 9:46 PM
Josh,

Thanks for the piece. I feel awkward not having known he was still alive! When they made the first one, Kirby fought so hard to put his name on it(before seeing it)that Simon's absence made me think he was gone.

Glad he's still chugging along!
Choppaholic26
Choppaholic26 - 12/12/2010, 10:06 PM
@Intruder You have no [frick]ing clue what youre talking about. I wouldnt expect much more from such a worthless,racist cockroach.(Raghead comment?... you disgust me.) So according to you Nazi SS was not the ELITE set of german infantry divisions?And every german on d day was an SS infantryman? Youre ignorance is freaking amazing. Dont facepalm yourself, slap the shit out of your head for being so stupid.

Watch as i actually use a historical source instead o good ol' youtube and pulling shit out of my ass.

German Divisions present on the the first day of operation overlord.
source: "The D Day Companion" written by several historians and Major Richard Winters. Edited by Jen Penrose.

716th Infantry
352nd Infantry(included units from the disbanded 321st)
91st air landing division(comprised of 1057th and 1058th regiments)
709th Infantry(729th 739th 919th regiments)
The above are the divisions that occupied the landing zones. There were other divisions adjacsent to the landing zone. 243rd infantry, 711th infantry, 30th mobile brigade.

NONE OF THESE INCLUDE ANY SS REGIMENTS.

The 1st 12th 17th SS Panzer Divisions were the only SS divisions that were sent to normandy... SEVEN DAYS AFTER THE INITIAL INVASION, AS IN D DAY WAS [frick]ING OVER.

These were all [frick]ing tiny by the way as most of them were decimated in the eastern front, which shits on your whole "SS was all thats left" rudiculous argument.

You know NOTHING and made this personal when you insulted indoraptor's dad's knowledge of history which i have personally witnessed and is godlike compared to your sniveling little scraps of shit. You feel so superior spouting pure crap and forming it so it sounds like you know what youre talking about but you dont. Youre just a racist stupid loser that gets off on feeling superior above other people. But youre way below everyone else here. And way below me, see I can actually see that just because a small band of muslim radicals attacked us on 9/11 that it doesnt mean i sholuld nuke every middle eastern country. With that logic since the KKK comprise of white christian americans, then all white christian americans are radical racists.

I already know youre going to ignore this and come up with whatever strips of bull you can come up with. And i probably wont respond, youre not worth it. And youre completely full of shit. So much so that you dont even know it. I just want everyone reading this to know what a massive dissapointment as an american you would be to captain america if he were here right now. Thats if you are american, which i pray that youre dumb ass is not.

You Just remind me of a good quote.

"You cant beat stupid people, because they are too stupid to know when they have lost!"
IronicMan
IronicMan - 12/12/2010, 10:48 PM
indoraptor12 is right- this man's a legend, but it was Lee- who was a pretty radical, crazy guy when you think of it- who created the fun-loving, all-American Cap we know today (although I'm a Canadian, and know that Wolverine can kick Capn'n America's ass any day)!!
JohnnyKrypton
JohnnyKrypton - 12/13/2010, 7:37 AM
Joe Simon ROCKS!
Choppaholic26
Choppaholic26 - 12/13/2010, 9:00 AM
@Intruder

I've been around more than you little boy.

"it is a fact SS divisions went head to head with allied troops on D-Day"
"The SS was a major part of Normandy..who do you think led the fodder infantry and engaged the allies a day after..."

Nice contradiction my retarded ass friend. One day after D Day is not D Day.You are right, they were apart of the counter attacks after the initial invasion... I had just said this before.... you know, when i posted evidence??? As in unlike you didn't just pull shit from nowhere?? Any of this getting through shit brains??

Post EVIDENCE. Don't ignore it when I completely destroy your argument and just try to play it off like it never happened. ("a lot of the soldiers on D-Day were SS")Stop making your monkey ass look any more stupid.

You can't though, stupidity goes hand in hand with racism, and though you fight to try to hide your own stupidity, you can't hide your racist values.
niknik
niknik - 12/13/2010, 10:37 AM
Have any of you guys even read Captain America Comics issues 1 thru 10???

I have. He's not the bloodthirsty Nazi serial killer that Indoraptor makes him out to be. Unless of course you yourself are a sprout eating, tree hugging, yoga chanting pacifist. Then yeah, in that jaded opinion he was, and so was every other American soldier fighting in the big one.

Is he different than the Captain America of today? Well yeah! Duh! It was 70 frickin years ago and it was WARTIME! What the he|| do you expect ya knucklehead? We refered to Japanese soldiers as Japs. German soldiers as Krauts. And it was acceptable because they were the enemy. Cap never was portrayed as "bloodthirsty" against Japanese or German civilians, or even soldiers for that matter. I defy you to show just ONE EXAMPLE!!! You can't, because it's total bs. Never happened. He was portrayed just as every other American soldier of the time....because that's who they were....soldiers. Fighting in a war. Did they wan't to kill Japs and Krauts? Well they more or less had to to survive. It was a war. That's what you do in a war. Fight for your life. Ask anyone who has seen combat. Then ask them if they are "bloodthirsty serial killers". Hopefully they will smack you so hard in the mouth you can't open your stupid trap for a month.

And please don't try to pull out Vietnam comparisons. I mean really??? Seriously??? WWII was a far different story. Not even close. Hitler was hell bent on world domination and committing genocide while the Japanese attacked us with an unwarranted, cowardly full scale military assault. This wasn't Nam. This truly was a fight for freedom against forces bent on world domination. There wasn't a whole lot of protesting going on after Pearl. Just a bunch of REALLY long enlistment lines at the recruitment offices.

And btw, what does D-day have to do with it? That was five years later. Simon and Kirby had been off the title for four years by then. Did I miss something?

To come in here and say Simon's cap was a bloodthirsty nazi serial killer who "thrived on the blood" of Germans and Japanese is showing what a total ignorant dufus you truly are....not just in respect to the history of the character but to history itself. I'm still just totally amazed that someone could actually make that rediculous of a statement while professing others need to catch up on their comic book history. BWAA HAA HAA! Man I've seen everything now! I can see who it is who "really needs to catch up on his comic book history".

Now go hug a tree or protest something. Better yet, run down to your local comic book shop and buy the Marvel Materworks Captain America Comics Volume One (covering the S&K issues), then rent or stream Ken Burns documentary "The War", Then come back here and tell us all what a bloodthirsty nazi serial killer Captain America was when Joe was writing him.
SmokinIndo
SmokinIndo - 12/13/2010, 4:17 PM
@niknik

I don't have to respect and justify the typical racist attitude during WWII just because we were fighting the good fight. Captain America of the Timely era really embodied the racist mindset that many countries and soldiers had during WWII. Let me remind you that racism was the prime motive for the atrocity that was the Holocaust. It was also the motive for the Japanese Detainment Camps in the US during WWII. Captain America should NOT reflect the unacceptable mindsets that plagued a lot of people during that era. He should reflect the positive mindsets that speak of freedom and liberty for all, which was the core principal of WWII. That hits the core point in my argument, that Captain America TODAY is the very opposite of the jingoistic, ego-driven racist that was Captain America of the Timely Era. I'm not saying that we should ignore the fact that WWII soldiers fought bravely and gave their lives to bring down an evil man and dismantle Nazism. I'm saying that the kind of racism we saw at that time did nothing to protect our ideals and promote wellfare in the world during WWII. Captain America TODAY represents a lot more of what WWII was fought for than Captain America of the Timely era.

I will confess that calling Timely Cap a "bloodthirsty Nazi serial killer" was insensitive on my part, and for that I apologize. But he did kill. A lot. Perhaps more than most soldiers during WWII. This is a drastic difference to Captain America today where he has claimed that he has few times used a gun, but he has never killed. (Cap vol 1 #241) Most people gawk at the thought of Captain America taking a life. Re-tellings of Captain America's wartime stories, ranging from Stan Lee's run all the way to Ed Brubaker's flashbacks and CA: Theater of War, all depict Cap as using his shield and fighting abilities as his offensive during WWII.

And as for my Vietnam comparison... It would seem that you missed my point entirely. My analogy wasn't of US Soldiers in WWII to US Soldiers during Vietnam. It was of German soldiers in WWII to US soldiers during Vietnam. Indeed, many German soldiers were not Nazis themselves but those who were fighting because they were told to and who believed Hitler was leading Germany down a path of despair. The Nazi party has a history of German rebellion and even rebellion within the Nazi party itself. (See Operation: Valkyrie)
niknik
niknik - 12/14/2010, 9:25 AM
Great. I get it. So now American soldiers in WWII were all racists too. Keep going. This is getting better and better. Sounds to me like you're digging one hell of a fox hole.

I can only imagine what you would have to label yourself if you were 18 and serving our country in a time of war like that. Of course you wouldn't have had that problem right? You're above all that.
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