Simon "bombs" Marvel Comics on Perl Harbor Day!

This report is copyright by Mike Sangiacomo and used here with Mike's permission. Catch Mike's weekly report on the comics industry in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

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Joe Simon challenges Marvel Comics ...By Michael Sangiacomo

Comic artist and writer Joe Simon is challenging Marvel Comics for the ownership of one of its major characters - Captain America.

Last week the 86-year-old artist filed a claim with the U.S. Copyright Office reclaiming his copyright of the red, white and blue Avenger. Under copyright law, a creator can reclaim his property after 56 years have passed.

The filing puts Marvel Entertainment Group on notice two years notice before the transfer takes place, a legal requirement.

Simon's lawyer, Ethan Horwitz, said Simon timed the filing so that his claim would take effect on Dec. 7, 2001.

"I think it was only right that on Dec. 7 (the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the day America entered World War II) that Captain America should return to Joe," he said.

Horwitz said Simon was inspired to make the claim for cap after hearing that the family of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel had filed such a claim earlier this year.

Simon was quoted in a press release from Horwitz' office as saying, "I'm looking forward to getting the Captain back after all these years. Heroes protect us all, but who protects the heroes?"

Simon's claim that he is the sole creator of Captain America is also going to create a stir. For years, stories recounting the creation of the patriotic superhero in 1940 have listed both Simon and his longtime partner Jack Kirby as Cap's father.

"Look, I know the stories, but my client says he created Captain America by himself and that's that," said Horwitz. "Since none of the original people are alive to dispute what he says, I think people should accept it."

In Les Daniel's "Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics," he notes that Simon and Kirby created Cap. All versions of the story agree that Simon sent Marvel executive Martin Goodman a pencil sketch of Cap that he (Simon.) Simon's style is very distinctive, besides, the sketch is signed by Simon.

In fact, it has been widely accepted that Simon and Kirby joined created Captain America. Even so, Captain America was not the first super-hero who, in the words of one critic, "wore a costume that looked like it was made by

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