Joe Simon and Jack Kirby created Captain America for Timely Comics (later to become Atlas and finally Marvel Comics), and in the post-war period continued to create comics for their own publishing ventures as well as other publishers.

In 1954, two characters were created, but never went beyond unpublished covers. Night Fighter was a super-heroic character that could walk up walls with magnetic boots, and Sky Giant was an alien come to Earth, appearing to create havoc in his first appearance. Night Fighter was to be published by Simon & Kirby’s Mainline, while Sky Giant landed at Charlton.

Both Night Fighter covers were left unfinished. All three covers were uncoloured. Here they are finished and packaged as what-might-have-beens.

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Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.

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Night Fighter No. 1

Pencils by Jack Kirby. It’s interesting to note the corner box showing off the book’s two stars, something Marvel would pick up in the early 1960s.

Backgrounds and inking by Scott Dutton.

Colouring by Scott Dutton.

Re-created trade dress added.

Alternate cover layout.

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Flip over the comic and you’d have—

Sky Giant No. 1

Art by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. The Sky Giant cover was intended to be an issue of Charlton Comics’ Win a Prize.

Trade dress removed, art extended at the bottom, and missing bits drawn in.

Colouring by Scott Dutton.

Re-created trade dress added.

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Night Fighter No. 2

Art by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. This was drawn over an unused Fighting American cover.

A different scan of the cover shows the background characters more clearly.

Retouching on the main figure, and inking of the background by Scott Dutton. Given this was the 1950s, I made the background related to the Cold War.

Colouring by Scott Dutton.

Re-created trade dress added.

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Night Fighter and Sky Giant are copyright and trademark the estates of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. All Rights Reserved.
New artwork and colour copyright Scott Dutton.
New York City Comics is trademark Scott Dutton.

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