In March 1941, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took a political stance against the rise of fascism in Europe with their famous creation, Captain America. Now in the 21st Century, say the creative team of the underground comic, Halloween Man, a US presidential candidate, “a man whom not long ago was seen as nothing more than a media farce”, has risen through the ranks with his hate-filled rhetoric.
The creative team of the underground comic, Halloween Man is honouring Simon and Kirby by taking a stance they hope they’d approve of – and have released art onto the net they happily want people to share homaging the cover of the very first issue of Captain America, published in the 1940s.
The very first issue of Captain America, published in March 1941. Art by Jack Kirby
“Donald Trump says he will ‘Make America Great Again'”, notes Halloween Man creator Drew Edwards, who came up with the concept and captions for the artwork, drawn by Evan Quiring and coloured by Sergio Calvet Renedo. “Well, I for one believe America is already great and one of the things that makes it so is its people. A people who are diverse culturally, racially, sexually, and religiously.
“America’s melting pot culture is what gave us everything from Rock ‘n’ Roll to Chicken Fried Steak. I know I’m just the creator of an underground comic, but I love this country and seeing this hate sweep the nation is absolutely heartbreaking. So I’ll fight it with the only weapon at my disposal, my characters.
“If anyone feels similarly powerless, please remember, we’re not. Together, we can show Donald Trump and his followers, that America is better than his narrow view of it.”
Halloween Man – Solomon Hitch, a flesh-eating zombie who hunts down monsters in Solar City, Texas with his girlfriend Lucy Chaplin, the world’s most glamorous mad scientist – is a webcomic series created 10 years ago by Drew. The collected comics are available digitally through Comixology.
Drew is inviting Halloween Man fans – and anyone else who likes the art – to share it, print it up, paste it anywhere you want. “This image is free,” he says. “It’s protest art. Please join Solomon and Lucy and help fight the monster of fascism on our homefront.”
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John Freeman
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Star Trek Explorer (previously known as Star Trek Magazine) and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War and “Dan Dare”. He’s the writer of "Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies" for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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