George Kapitan
# George Kapitan

George Kapitan (July 23, 1919 – November 27, 1996) was an American writer for Timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics, during the time fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comics. He co-created the medium's first costumed, superpowered female protagonist, the Golden Age Black Widow, an antiheroine who killed evildoers to deliver their souls to Satan, her master.

## Biography

George Kapitan broke into comics in 1940, creating with artist Harry Sahle the early superhero Green Giant (no relation to the advertising icon) in Pelican Publications' Green Giant Comics #1 (1940), produced by Funnies, Inc., a comic book "packager" that produced outsourced comics for publishers testing the waters of the fledgling medium.

Also in 1940, in Mystic Comics #4 (dated Jul. 1940 in postal indicia, cover dated Aug. 1940), he and Sahle created comic books' first costumed, super-powered female character, the original Black Widow, Claire Voyant, an antiheroine who killed evildoers to deliver their souls to Satan, her master.

He is also the unconfirmed, generally accepted co-creator, with Sahle, of the Centaur Publications superhero the Air Man in Keen Detective Funnies #23 (Aug. 1940).

Other work in the early days of the medium includes writing for the Timely character Fiery Mask (and inking at least one Sub-Mariner story); Hillman Periodicals' feature "Private Parker"; Novelty Press' "Dick Cole", "Blue Bolt" and "Target and the Targeteers"; publisher McCombs' humor feature "Master Marvin"; and even Archie Comics' "Archie".

He was living in Panama City, Florida, at the time of his death in 1996, at age 77.

