Walter Simonson - 5 Quick Questions

Walter "Walt" Simonson (born September 2, 1946) is an American comic book writer and artist.



While Walter Simonson was in art school, he became interested in the challenges of creating comic books. He wrote and drew a 50-page graphic story 'The Star Slammers' for his senior degree project. In 1972, he began drawing comic books professionally as a freelance artist.

Working for several companies he drew characters such as 'Dr. Fate', the 'Metal Men', 'Hercules Unbound', 'Batman', and 'The Hulk'. In 1983, he started writing and drawing the adventures of 'The Mighty Thor' for Marvel Comics. For his work on Thor he won the Haxtur Prize Award as Best Writer.

During the 1990s, Walt Simonson worked on a number of projects. Some titles he was involved with include 'X-Factor', the 'Avengers', the 'Fantastic Four', 'Cyberforce', and 'GEN-13'. Walter then created the on-going monthly series 'Orion' for DC Comics.

He agreed to answer 5 Quick Questions.

1) What would you say is your greatest achievement in comics?

Honestly, I hope I still haven't gotten there. But there are some highlights across the past including Manhunter (for DC), Alien (the graphic novel for Heavy Metal), Thor (for Marvel), and Orion (for DC again).

2) Who was your favorite writer or artist that you worked with & why?

Archie Goodwin. We worked in synch in a way that's hard to explain but was a delight to be a part of.

3) What character you have never worked .., would you like to do & why?

I haven't really done Spider-man, although I did write s short story about him once in a public service comic that Marvel did. I don't know if I'd want to draw him or not-probably too many buildings.

4) Who are your influences?

Off the cuff: Archie Goodwin, Jack Kirby, Jim Holdaway, Frank Bellamy, Palacios, Toppi, Moebius, Mezieres, Ottomo-the list is pretty endless.

5) What hero or villain would you like to change if you could and why?

I'm not sure. I think I change all the ones I work on, one way or another.