Editing Jack Kirby (section)

====Postwar career (1946–1955)====
[[File:Young Romance Issue 1.jpg|thumb|''Young Romance'' #1 (Oct. 1947); cover art by Kirby and [[Joe Simon|Simon]]]]

After the war, Simon arranged work for Kirby and himself at [[Harvey Comics]],{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=45}} where, through the early 1950s, the duo created such titles as the kid-gang adventure ''Boy Explorers Comics'', the kid-gang [[Western comics|Western]] ''[[Boys' Ranch]]'', the superhero comic ''Stuntman'', and, in vogue with the fad for [[3D film|3-D movies]], ''[[Captain 3-D]]''. Simon and Kirby additionally freelanced for [[Hillman Periodicals]] (the [[crime-fiction]] comic ''Real Clue Crime'') and for [[Crestwood Publications]] (''[[Justice Traps the Guilty]]'').<ref name=gcdjack />

The team had its greatest success in the postwar period by creating [[romance comics]]. Simon, inspired by [[Macfadden Publications]]' romantic-confession magazine ''True Story'', transplanted the idea to comic books and with Kirby created a first-issue mock-up of ''[[Young Romance]]''.<ref name="joesimon123-125">Simon, Joe, with Jim Simon. ''The Comic Book Makers'' (Crestwood/II, 1990) {{ISBN|978-1-887591-35-5}}; reissued (Vanguard Productions, 2003) {{ISBN|978-1-887591-35-5}}, pp. 123–125</ref> Showing it to Crestwood general manager Maurice Rosenfeld, Simon asked for 50% of the comic's profits. Crestwood publishers Teddy Epstein and Mike Bleier agreed,<ref name="joesimon123-125" /> stipulating that the creators would take no money up front.{{sfn|Evanier|2008|page=72}} ''Young Romance'' #1 (cover-date Oct. 1947) "became Jack and Joe's biggest hit in years".{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=46}} The first title sold a staggering 92% of its print run, inspiring Crestwood to increase the print run by the third issue to triple the initial number of copies.<ref name="Real Love">{{cite book|last= Howell|first= Richard|author-link= Richard Howell (comics)|chapter= Introduction|title = Real Love: The Best of the Simon and Kirby Love Comics, 1940s–1950s|publisher= Eclipse Books|year= 1988|location=Forestville, California|isbn = 978-0-91303-563-4}}</ref> Initially published bimonthly, ''Young Romance'' quickly became a monthly title and produced the spin-off ''[[Young Love (comics)|Young Love]]''—together the two titles sold two million copies per month, according to Simon<ref>Simon, p. 125</ref>—later joined by ''Young Brides'' and ''In Love'', the latter "featuring full-length romance stories".<ref name="Real Love" /> ''Young Romance'' spawned dozens of imitators from publishers such as Timely, [[Fawcett Comics|Fawcett]], [[Quality Comics|Quality]], and [[Fox Feature Syndicate]]. Despite the glut, the Simon and Kirby romance titles continued to sell millions of copies a month.{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=46}}

Bitter that [[Timely Comics]]' 1950s iteration, [[Atlas Comics (1950s)|Atlas Comics]], had relaunched Captain America in a new series in 1954, Kirby and Simon created ''[[Fighting American]]''. Simon recalled, "We thought we'd show them how to do Captain America".{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=52}} While the comic book initially portrayed the protagonist as an [[Anti-communism|anti-Communist]] dramatic hero, Simon and Kirby turned the series into a superhero satire with the second issue, in the aftermath of the [[Army-McCarthy hearings]] and the public backlash against the Red-baiting U.S. Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]].{{sfn|Ro|2004|page=54}}