By Toney Tapia

Walter or, usually, Walt Simonson is a comic book writer and artist. After studying geology at school, he transferred to the Rhode Island School of Design, graduating in 1972. His thesis project there was The Star Slammers which was published as a black and white promotional comic book for the 1974 World Science Fiction Convention in Washington D.C. (DisCon II). Some years later he produced another version of the series for Epic Comics, the Marvel Comics imprint that was the response to the creator-owned lines of the early eighties. Simonson produced yet another story of The Star Slammers in the mid-nineties for Dark Horse comics. Simonson was also one of the founders of the short-lived Legend imprint for Dark Horse Comics.

He is best known for his work on Marvel Comics titles in the 1980s and 1990s such as Thor and X-Factor (the latter being a collaboration with his wife Louise Simonson). Thor in particular is often cited as a classic, as Simonson took nearly complete control of the series and produced epic, operatic stories that rivaled Jack Kirby's best work and displayed an in-depth knowledge of Norse mythology. He also famously transformed Thor into a frog for three issues and introduced the popular supporting character, Beta Ray Bill, a monstrous alien warrior who unexpectedly proved worthy to wield Thor's hammer, Mjolnir.

From 2000 to 2002, he wrote and illustrated Orion for DC. He will return to DC in 2006 to write Hawkgirl, with Howard Chaykin pencilling.

DF: Mr. Simonson, you've been through it all and have done it all in the world of comics.  What made you go from studying geology to entering the art world of comics?   
WALTER SIMONSON: Somewhere along the line, I think I discovered that I preferred drawing pictures of dinosaurs to digging them out of the ground.  Just a personal preference, you understand. ;-)

DF: Do you remember the first comic you ever read?
WALTER SIMONSON: Not with certainty. But one of the earliest would have been an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs A Princess of Mars with art by Jesse Marsh.  Carl Barks' duck work would have been in there as well.

DF: You've worked on many titles such as Thor, X-Factor, Detective Comics and Orion, just to name a few.  What would you say your best work was?
WALTER SIMONSON: That varies depending on what time of day I get out of bed in the morning. But a personal favorite remains Manhunter, a backup that appeared Detective Comics.  It was the work that essentially established my professional reputation, it was the first series character I'd ever drawn, it was the first character I designed myself, and the strip was done in concert with Archie Goodwin, one of the best people and finest talents I've known in the industry.

Naturally, my work with industry bravo, Howard Chaykin ranks right up there!

But I have soft spots in my heart for Thor, Orion, X-Factor, Alien, and Elric, among others. <g>

DF: You do a little of everything in the comic book world?  Do you believe you've achieved all there is in the biz or is there another mountain that you want to climb and conquer?
WALTER SIMONSON: You know, there'll always be new stories to tell. And I'd always like to tell the next one a little better than the last one.

DF: I have plenty of stuff signed by you from going to cons.  How did you come up with one of the coolest looking signatures?
WALTER SIMONSON: LOL.  I've drawn pictures ever since I can remember. But when I was in the 11th grade, I decided that as an artist, I had to have a cool signature. I mean, really, doesn't every cool artist have to have a cool signature?  

At that time, I was just block printing my name down in the corner of each drawing somewhere.  So I thought about the idea of putting my last name inside an animal, like a little silhouette.  I believe it was my Mom who suggested that I might try using a dinosaur, since I was such a big dinosaur fan.

I drew simple outlines of various dinosaurs and tried of fit 'Simonson' inside each of them. I think I tried a T. rex and a Stegosaurus in addition to what was then called a Brontosaurus.  But the 'Brontosaurus' was the first one I fiddled with and it worked pretty well, especially compared to the others. <g>  So I went with that.

Eventually, I added a couple of little flourishes, a head and an eye, and over time, the 'O' has gotten bigger, but the essential signature dates back to high school.

DF: Now, your upcoming work on Hawkgirl.  For your fans who do not know, please tell us the story behind your Hawkgirl…
WALTER SIMONSON: Hawkgirl is part of the One Year Later series of books from DC Comics that are just starting to come out. The title had been called Hawkman up to now although it starred both Hawkman and Hawkgirl. With issue 50, a year has passed since the previous issue and Hawkman is no longer around. His exact fate is a mystery but Carter and Kendra went off to fight in the Rann/Thanagar War and only Kendra returned.

Kendra went back to St. Roch, a New Orleans-like city in the DCU and the setting for the Hawks' stories in the current run. So readers of the title to date will be familiar the supporting cast and milieu.  She's been working at picking up the pieces of her life in Carter's absence. Kendra's done pretty well so far but now, a year later, strange things are beginning to happen in the city and the cracks in Kendra's life are starting to show. And these affect not only her life as Hawkgirl but her personal life as well.

DF: How is it working with Howard Chaykin on this project?  Is this the first time you worked with him on a project?
WALTER SIMONSON: It's been a riot.  Howard is one of my oldest friends in comics but we've only worked together in very small ways a handful of times.  I ghosted a few panels and inked a few pages of Sword of Sorcery a million years ago. I inked a few pages over Howard for a DC book, Heroes for Hope, to raise money for famine relief.  Howard scripted and drew a backup story on one of my plots in Orion.  But this is really the first time we've worked on an ongoing project as partners.

Now I talk to him several times a week, he gives me flak about my plots, I give him flak about his art, and we both make fun of Mike Carlin.  Behind Mike's back of course as he's bigger than either of us.

Doing Hawkgirl with Howard has been a treat.

DF: If you were stranded on a deserted island, with a portable DVD player that had enough power to watch one last film, what would that film be and why?
WALTER SIMONSON: Again, another question with a different answer every day but today, the answer is The Professionals with Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Woody Strode, Robert Ryan, Claudia Cardinale, Jack Palance, and Ralph Bellamy.  A great late-era western adventure film. With two of my favorite exchanges in movies.

A.     “Your hair was darker then.

     “My heart was lighter then.”

B.     “You bastard!”

“In my case, an accident of birth.  But you? You're a self made man.”

DF: What was your favorite convention experience?
WALTER SIMONSON: I don't know about a single one but because of conventions, I got to meet Jack Kirby. That's got to be right up there at the top.

DF: What's your best advice that you can give to a starving artist who wants to get in the biz and do you recommend any books that he/she should read on How to become a comic book artist?
WALTER SIMONSON: The best advice I can give a starving artist is:

1. Draw your brains out to get better.  You get good enough, you'll find work.

2. Don't be a putz. Nobody owes you anything.  If you're good enough, you can get work and still be a putz but almost nobody's that good.

3.  Observe the world around you.  See it.  Put it in your drawings.

4.  You're not drawing enough. Work harder.

5.  You're not seeing enough. See harder.

6. And if you want to do good comics, always bear in mind that your job is to tell stories.  If you have any questions about what you're doing, the real question you should be asking yourself is-is this making my story better?

If you're not asking that question, you're not really drawing comics.  

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