SIMON, JOE 577
productions from Marvel Comics, particularly Conan the Barbarian. Sim, along
with his then-wife, Deni Loubert, established his own publishing imprint, Aardvark-
Vanaheim, as a vehicle for Cerebus.
Sim attracted interest in Cerebus for its high quality, his resistance to fi nancial
support from any outside publishers, and his vow to complete 300 regularly-issued
numbers of the series. He was a tireless advocate of creator ownership, particularly
through the vehicle of self-publishing, which he felt allowed the individual creator
the best opportunities for fi nancial success as well as artistic integrity. To that end,
Sim published the Cerebus Guide to Self-Publishing, a collection of columns and writ-
ten observations about creating and distributing comics independently. Together
with his creative partner, Gerhard (who was responsible for the backgrounds), Sim
also founded the Day Prize, named for his friend and mentor Gene Day, which was
awarded yearly for outstanding achievements in self-publishing at the Small Press
and Alternative Comics Expo (S.P.A.C.E.), held yearly in Columbus, Ohio. Th e prize
gave critical recognition to independent creators from 2001 until 2007. In 2008, Sim
withdrew from participation in the prize, which has been renamed the S.P.A.C.E.
Prize.
For a time, Sim assisted other creators to achieve publication. With Deni Loubert
as publisher, Aardvark-Vanaheim published several other titles for a time, including
Flaming Carrot Comics by Bob Burden, normalman by Jim Valentino, and Ms. Tree by
Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty. Upon their divorce, Loubert would publish most
of their old titles through her own company, Renegade Press, leaving Cerebus as the
sole title published by Aardvark-Vanaheim. Subsequent titles (written and illustrated
by Sim) published by Aardvark-Vanaheim include Judenhass, a prestige-format title
about the Holocaust, and Glamourpuss, an unusual series that at times discusses Sim’s
opinions about the history of cartooning (in particular, early issues featured Sim’s
recreations of later illustrations by Flash Gordon creator Alex Raymond), and at other
times lampoons fashion culture. While Sim’s creative output has slowed somewhat
since the end of Cerebus, he remains an important creative force in comics.
Robert O’Nale
SIMON, JOE (1913–). Raised in Rochester, New York, Joe Simon is one of the central
fi gures in comic book history. After graduating high school and later working as art
director for the Syracuse Journal American, Simon moved to New York City where he
retouched publicity photos for Paramount Pictures and did illustrations for various
magazines. In 1939 he did his fi rst comics work assignment for Funnies, Inc. and then
created his fi rst comic book hero. He also did freelance stories and art for Centaur,
Novelty, and Fox Publications. Working on Blue Bolt Simon met Jack Kirby and the
two would soon become one of the most successful and infl uential teams in the comics
business.
After leaving Fox, Simon found himself at publisher Martin’s Timely (the future
Marvel). As the company’s fi rst editor, Simon had a young Stan Lee as his offi ce
