Friendly reminder that when Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, both Jewish, created Steve Rogers America had not yet joined the war. They created Steve as a form of protest for Hitler and what was going on in Europe.
“We both read the newspapers,” Simon said. “We knew what was going on over in Europe. World events gave us the perfect comic-book villain, Adolf Hitler, with his ranting, goose-stepping and ridiculous moustache. So we decided to create the perfect hero who would be his foil. I did that first sketch of Captain America, and Jack and I did the entire first issue before showing it to (publisher) Martin Goodman at Timely Comics. He loved it immediately.”
Friendly reminder that the first issue of Captain America, which featured art of Steve punching Hitler in the face, caused a lot of controversy among the Nazi sympathizers in New York, so much so that Simon and Kirby were constantly being threatened. At one point Timely (re:Marvel) received a call from someone in the lobby threatening bodily harm to Kirby if he showed his face. And Kirby, proving just where Steve got his spirit from… went on down there to fight the bastard.
“…Jack took a call. A voice on the other end said, ‘There are three of us down here in the lobby. We want to see the guy who does this disgusting comic book and show him what real Nazis would do to his Captain America’. To the horror of others in the office, Kirby rolled up his sleeves and headed downstairs. The callers, however, were gone by the time he arrived.” Based on everything we know about Kirby, these Nazi crank-yankers got lucky.”
But the threats did not stop there…
“Years later, [Kirby] told an interviewer, ‘I once got a letter from a Nazi who told me to pick out any lamppost I wanted on Times Square, because when Hitler arrived, they’d hang me from it. It was typical of a genre of fans who have long since died out.”
Friendly reminder that when America did join the war, and despite the success they had with the Captain America comic, both Simon and Kirby joined the service. Kirby was drafted into the Army, Simon joined the Coast Guard. In fact Kirby was a successful scout for the army and during that time discovered and helped liberate a concentration camp. During his service he got severe frostbite and almost lost his legs. Afterwards he was awarded a Combat Infantryman Badge and a bronze battle star.
Friendly reminder that both Kirby and Simon were proud of Steve to their dying day. In fact, according to Joe Simon’s granddaughter, Megan Margulies, Joe’s apartment, right up until the day he died, was covered floor to ceiling in Captain America paraphernalia.
…and this is the legacy that Nick Spencer is denigrating with this current story-line.
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