ShieldMaster to the Rescue

While comicbooks themselves (one word, not two, we’ll explain later)[i] can be trace back to Geneva, Switzerland back in 1837 then then jumping to appear in the UK and the U.S. in the 1840s. Here in the U.S. the recognized dawn of comicbooks in the States began in 1897, with the publication of The Yellow Kid in McFadden’s Flats has long been considered to be the first U.S. comic book (still one word, more later), insomuch that it actually bore the phrase “comic book” on its back cover. Still, it wasn’t until 1938 and the debut of Superman in Action Comics #1 that the Golden Age of comics truly began. This Golden Age ran from ’38 ‘til ’51, with the resurgence of comics as viable pop culture medium occurring during the Silver Age which ran from 1956 through 1970[ii].

Throughout the intervening years, comics have morphed into various changes, altering size, price point, format, delivery methodology, and even ultimately jumping from the static page to TV, Film, and currently living on the internet. Still, for those of us who were first introduced to comics in their “All in color for a dime”, 32-page, episodic original incarnation; even those of us (your humble narrator included) who came of age during the second (third?) great age of comics; The Silver age which ran from 1956 through 1970[i].

Needless to say, there were some folks who were there during the Golden Age, who stuck around and/hoor were still influential in one form or another. One of those people was Joe Simon, who was the partner of Jack Kirby who has been credited with founding the look of the Marvel Universe. It is no secret that one of Joe and Jack’s greatest creation has been Captain America, who, in his first cover appearance was depicted as punching Adolf Hitler in the Jaw on the cover of Captain America #1 in 1941 a full nine months before the U.S. entered the war.

Now some 80+ years later, Jesse Simon, the Grandson of Joe, along with his father Jim (Jo’s son) have brought a new set of heroes into the fold, all reminiscent of his grandfather’s greatest hero. ShieldMaster is a comicbook about four teenagers from Montauk, NY just off the eastern end of Long Island. The teens wander onto a decommissioned military base and come across a set of extra-dimensional shields that imbue them with supra-normal powers and abilities, transforming them into the incarnations of powerful warriors that once protected another world in another dimension. The first two issues of ShieldMaster initially appeared as an Illustrated graphic album entitled ShieldMaster Comics Phoenix Project and was then continued as ShieldMaster Comics in an anthology comic, packaged with The Fly in a new story by Jim Simon as well as a Blue Bolt reprint by his grandfather, Joe.

Upon reading the series, the first thing readers will see is the similarity in art style between the that of Reed Man’s and the art of many of the popular comics from the Golden age. Another aspect of the series is the rather simplistic storytelling style. To be sure, this is not so much of a slam as it is an observation of a comics historian with 50 years of first-hand knowledge of the field, from multiple angles; from that as a fan, a journalist covering the field, as well as a professional working for both major and minor publishing houses, plus publishing my own comics.  

One of the aspects of ShieldMaster (as well as Golden Age) comics is the shear simplicity of the storytelling; heroes are good guys because they do the right things, while villains are bad because they do bad things. There was little if any subtility to the storytelling during that era, some of which spilled over into the early days of the Silver Age with the appearance of the original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in X-Men #4 (March 1964), because truthfully, no real world organization would actually use the word “evil” as part of their name. As the medium evolved, subtilty and layers of storytelling were added to what was once believed to be solely a child’s medium. Needless to say, this simpler, straightforward style of storytelling is not entirely without its charm. Plus, for all of its layered subtility, a simpler, more to-the-point style of telling a story is probably more effective for a small publisher without a clear, regular publishing schedule.  

Having said all of that, as someone who spent the Lion’s share of his life reading, and working in and around comics, seeing the scion of a comicbook legend entering the field is a most amazing, and heartfelt sensation. (Back in 2010 Jason Goodman, (another third-generation offspring, the grandson of Martin Goodman (who founded Atlas, which became Marvel) and the son of Chip Goodman (who launched Atlas/Seaboard back in ’74) attempted to bring Atlas Comics back into the funnybook publishing industry with the characters from the ’74 re-launch.

In conclusion, we wish Jason and Jim all the best in their noble endeavor to keep Joe’s legacy alive in the field that he help found.

For more information about ShieldMaster, check them out on Facebook, or Twitter.

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[i] Stan Lee once stated that “comicbooks” should be written as one word because they are neither either “comical” or “books” but by combining them into a single word, they actually become an entirely new genre. Hence we have since referred to our medium of choice by the nomenclature that Stan laid on it.

[ii] The accepted eras for comics are as follows:

1 Platinum Age (1842-1938)

2 Golden Age (1938- c. 1951)

3 Silver Age (1956 -c. 1970)

4 Bronze Age (c. 1970 – c. 1985)

5 Iron/Modern Age (c. 1985 - present)

 

Taking the coward's way out

Several years ago (early-to mid ‘90s) So youngster got his hands on a Marvel trading card for the Red Skull that identified him as a Nazi. Well being a bright and curious lad, he asked his father what a Nazi was. Well, surprised and shocked the father took exception to Marvel having the audacity of using something so innocuous as a trading card and supervillain to teach his precious, and innocent youngster about the worst villains from the 20^th Century (especially something that he would eventually learn about in history class), and complained to Marvel.

Well, as you can imagine, Marvel chose to — instead of standing on principal and who the character had been for half a century — chose instead to whimper and cower in the corner. They issued an edict that — moving forward — The Red Skull would simply be referred to as a really bad man, and any trace of his former atrocities would simply be wiped from his history.

Well, move forward 20 years and, yep, it is happening once again, and (interestingly enough) once again in the pages of Captain America:

In issue No. 602 of Captain America, the hero and his ally the Falcon find themselves at a rally where protesters hold signs that read “Tea Bag the Libs Before They Tea Bag You!” and “Stop the Socialists!” Captain America remarks that the assembly appears to be an “anti-tax thing,” and the Falcon, who is black, says he probably would not fit in with “a bunch of angry white folks.”

The sequence incited complaints from Tea Party officials who say it is an unfair criticism of their movement. In an interview with FoxNews.com, Michael Johns, a board member of the Nationwide Tea Party Coalition, called the characters’ apparent jabs “juvenile,” adding: “The Tea Party movement has been very reflective of broad concerns of all Americans. Membership is across ethnic, religious and even political lines.”

Some irate Cap fans have pointed out that during his heyday, Cap’s comic upset members of the German American Bund (in 1941). At that time everyone from publisher Martin Godman (who was usually given to flight rather than fighting when profits were involved), to NYC Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia encouraged creators Joe Simon & Jack Kirby to stand their ground and not compromise.

Unfortunately, these days the company has chosen to swallow its corporate and creative pride over what amounts to a single throwaway panel that (save for the accurate spelling of all the words on the various protest signs) accurately depicts the sentiments and slogans of the Tea Baggers.

One can only hope that Stephen Colbert (to whom Joe Quesada himself once Captain America’s fallen shield), will become aware of this, and lampoon it for the idiocy that it is. Go get ‘em Stephen!

Who, who, created the book of Marvel

Yeah, Yeah, we all know the answer to that, but in the midst of the Disney buyout of The (former) house of ideas, the question of the hour is no longer who created what, but who’s heirs will reap the rewards for that which what was created.

Confused? You shouldn’t be.

As any funnybook fan should know, Stan has always partly credited Jack Kirby with the creation of Spider-Man. He has even said that Jack was originally was supposed to have been the original artist on the character, but Stan really didn’t like the over-muscled character that Jack made Peter. Stan wanted Peter to not look like the typical hero, so he turned the character designs over to Sturdy Steve Ditko. Well, Jack’s heirs have heard and, well, added a claim on Spidey to their copyright infringement suit claim.

Yep, that’s right, folks, Kirby’s heirs are claiming the rights to Spidey himself, the cornerstone character and Iconic logo to the entirety of the Marvel Universe.

It's been confirmed that that Jack Kirby's heirs are, indeed, including Spider-Man and supporting characters in their list of Marvel characters that they want the rights to. The only problem with that? Well, Kirby didn't really create the character.

According to The Hollywood Reporter:

The reasons Kirby didn't end up drawing the book [Spider-Man] are lost in the mists of comic history, with some claiming Lee didn't like Kirby's more muscular depiction and others believing Lee was just too busy. (Kirby did end up drawing the cover to Spider-Man's first appearance, "Amazing Fantasy" #15.)

According to several accounts, Kirby, with his Captain America co-creator Joe Simon, did create a character called the Silver Spider, whose alter ego was an orphaned boy living with two elderly people, and that character was morphed into Spider-Man. Other accounts have the Silver Spider becoming the Fly for another comic company.

Regardless, the Spider-Man copyright termination notice filed last week by Kirby¹s four children lists Amazing Fantasy #15 as a work that belongs to Kirby. But included on the list of possible characters and story elements that should be recaptured by Kirby¹s heirs are Aunt May, Uncle Ben, J. Jonah Jameson, Flash Thompson and the Daily Bugle, as well as villains the Chameleon, the Vulture, the Tinkerer and the Lizard. Many of those characters were not originally published until 9 to 12 months after Spider-Man's first appearance and are considered to be Lee-Ditko creations.

Anyways, Kirby’s heirs claim is based on Kirby's rejected work - which didn't resemble the character as he eventually appeared, other than the name - and a claim Kirby made in a 1982 interview with Spirit creator Will Eisner, where he stated “Spider-Man was discussed between Joe [Simon] and myself. Spider-Man was not a product of Marvel.”

Still, some of this information is a tad misleading, as the Kirby/Simon “Spider-Man” never actually saw print, but instead became the 1959 character The Fly, which was a reworking of a previous Joe Simon character (co-created with artist CC Beck) called the Silver Spider. Simon has gone on record having suggested that the discussion of a character called “Spider-Man” — or actually “Spiderman,” according to an unused logo from that time — led to Kirby suggesting the name to Stan several years later when he worked for Marvel.

According to the comicbook historian, Al Nickerson, as recently as early 2009, Lisa Kirby (Jack’s daughter) rejected the idea that her father was involved with the creation of Spider-Man.

“I had asked Lisa Kirby (daughter of Jack and Roslyn Kirby) about her father's connection to the creation of Spider-Man. Lisa told me: "Neither one of my parents ever mentioned that my father created him, in fact I have heard my mother correcting people if they alluded to that fact.”

So what does this all mean? Who knows, other than the fact that the end of this story is nowheres in sight.