“Max loved to read and he loved to collect comic books. It was a passion for him.”
— Max Simon’s mom, Bren Simon

Comic Book Heroes features the Max Simon Comic Book Collection, donated by Melvin and Bren Simon in memory of their son Max, who died in 1999 at the age of 25.

Collector Max Simon was born in 1973 and grew up in Carmel, Indiana. He began collecting comic books when he was about 9 years old. By the time he was in his 20s, he had more than 19,000 comic books.

His mom says, “Max was serious about comic books! He was truly a collector.” Everywhere he traveled, he would visit the local comic book stores in order to build and broaden his collection. Like other collectors, Max focused on many of his favorite superheroes, including the X-Men, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. He also collected newer series, such as 1980s and 1990s Wonder Woman, Batman, Incredible Hulk, the Justice League and the Teen Titans. In order to strengthen his collection, Max sought older issues of various comic books with some dating back to the 1960s. For example, Max had over 500 X-Men comics dating from 1963 — when the X-Men were created — to 1999.