Kirby fans (and everyone else, for that matter), hold onto your hats!  Kirby's work here is the most dynamic and powerful work of the first half of his career – some might even say of his entire career! – and will knock your socks off!  Clear your mind of any preconceptions and prepare yourself for the dynamic action of Headline Comics, Justice Traps the Guilty and more.  While certainly not complete, Simon & Kirby Crime provides a very healthy portion of the classic crime comics produced by Jack Kirby with Joe Simon from 1947 through 1955.  These are great stories with art that really puts you back in the day, providing an uncanny sense of the seamy side of post-WWII life.  But most of all, it is the amazing daring of Kirby's art here that will impress.  The level of pure formal abstraction, the way he breaks down pages – splashes (and double-page splashes) as well as his riffs on the standard six-panel grid – and, especially, what he manages to accomplish within each panel – the incredible bravura compositions and black placements that are at times so intense as to seem to almost prefigure Franz Kline and Robert Motherwell – this is what astonishes.  Yes, the paper stock of this volume, while flat, is a tad too reflective, and, yes, the colors are as a result a bit too bright to accurately capture the darker tone of the original comics, but these are mere quibbles next to the work itself on display here.  Really, they're that good.  Do yourself a favor and get your mitts on this one.