?Joe Simon, co-creator of Captain America and a true comics legend, has passed away at the age of 98. He was best known for his work with Jack Kirby, with whom he wrote the first issue of Captain America in 1941 for Timely Comics. Besides introducing one of the most popular, recognizable comic characters of all time, Captain America is also recognized for its cover depicting Cap punching Hitler, a bold statement for Simon and Kirby to make when America had not yet entered World War II. He was one of many comic creators who fought with Marvel over the rights to his characters, but I hope he gained some measure of satisfaction from knowing his beloved character finally came to the big screen earlier this year, gaining Cap a new generation of fans. Comic Book Resources has a more thorough career retrospective and eulogy here.
About The Author
Robert Bricken is one of the original co-founders of the site formerly known as Topless Robot, and its first editor-in-chief, serving from 2008-12. He brought the site to prominence with “nerd news, humor and self-loathing” as its motto, raising it from total internet obscurity to a readership in the millions, with help from his savage “FAQ” movie reviews and Fan Fiction Fridays. Under his tenure Topless Robot was covered by Gawker, Wired, Defamer, New York magazine, ABC News, and others, and his articles have been praised by Roger Ebert, Avengers actor Clark Gregg, comedian and The Daily Show correspondent John Hodgman, the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax, and others. He is currently the managing editor of io9.com. Despite decades as both an amateur and professional nerd, he continues to be completely unprepared for either the zombie apocalypse or the robot uprising.