My Captain America: A Granddaughter's Memoir of a Legendary Comic Book Artist

My Captain America: A Granddaughter's Memoir of a Legendary Comic Book Artist

By Megan Margulies

Released August 4, 2020

In the 1990s, Megan Margulies’s Upper West Side neighborhood was marked by addicts shooting up in subway stations, frequent burglaries, and the “Wild Man of 96th Street,” who set fires under cars and heaved rocks through stained glass church windows. The world inside her parents’ tiny one-bedroom apartment was hardly a respite, with a family of five—including some loud personalities—eventually occupying the 550-square-foot space. Salvation arrived in the form of her spirited grandfather, Daddy Joe, whose midtown studio became a second home to Megan. There, he listened to her woes, fed her Hungry Man frozen dinners, and simply let her be. His living room may have been dominated by the drawing table, notes, and doodles that marked him as Joe Simon the cartoonist. But for Megan, he was always Daddy Joe: an escape from her increasingly hectic home, a nonjudgmental voice whose sense of humor was as dry as his farfel, and a steady presence in a world that felt off balance. My Captain America offers a tender and sharply observed account of Megan’s life with Daddy Joe—and an intimate portrait of the creative genius who gave us one of the most enduring superheroes of all time.

Megan Margulies is the author of My Captain America: A Granddaughter’s Memoir of a Legendary Comic Book Artist. Her essays have appeared in various publications, including the The New York Times, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Woman’s Day, and LitHub. She lives outside of Boston with her husband and two daughters.