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George Kapitan (July 23, 1919 – November 27, 1996) George Kapitan at the Social Security Death Index via GenealogyBank.com. Retrieved September 6, 2013. 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.
When he was just 14-years old, he signed up for The Landon School taking lessons and receiving criticism through the mail to learn how to draw. His father told him that he could not make money doing comics but George proceeded regardless. He held onto his first lesson postmarked Nov 29, 1933.
In 1950 he married his lifelong spouse, Rosina "Rose" Olivo and they had three children together living and raising them in the Bronx, New York then moving to Long Island until 1980.
George entered 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., Green Giant Comics #1 at the Grand Comics Database a comic book "comics packaging" 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, Aug. 1940), Mystic Comics #4 (July-August 1940) at the Grand Comics Database 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). George Kapitan at the Grand Comics Database
Other work in the early days of the medium includes writing for the Timely character Fiery Mask (and inker 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".
In Kapitan's 1995 interview on the Dothan Alabama Morning show, he shares about writing the Archie Comics with Harry Sahle. He mentions Harry being responsible for him getting into the business and asking him to come up with ideas for comic books. He states that the first one he came up with was "Air Man", the second one was The Green Giant, followed by The Black Widow.
He was living in Panama City, Florida, at the time of his death in 1996, at age 77.
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