Walter Simonson

MODERN MASTERS VOLUME EIGHT: WWAALLTTEERR SSIIMMOONNSSOONN 6 6 0 0 0 . 0 . 2 c 2 c n n © © I I , , & & s s r r M e M e t T t T c c s s a a r r r r e e a t a t c h c h a C a C r r l l a a e e h v h v c r c r l a l a l l M A M A By Eriic Nollen-Weatthiingtton & Roger Ash Modern Masters Volume Eight: WALTER SIMONSON Table of Contents Introduction by Michael Moorcock . 4 Part One: “Well, This is Nice. What Else Can You Do?” . 6 Interlude One: Archie Goodwin . 14 Part Two: Enter Manhunter... and DC Comics . 16 Interlude Two: John Workman . 29 Part Three: In Space, No One Can Hear You Draw . 32 Part Four: “It’s Nice to Be Best Known for Something” . 45 Part Five: “X” Marks the Spot . 59 Part Six: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again . 65 Interlude Three: Star Slammers Gallery . 76 Part Seven: Gods and Champions . 81 Part Eight: Storytelling and the Creative Process . 94 Art Gallery . 99 3 Introduction alter Simonson is the nicest guy in comics. It regard as a skimped job. I want depth and texture and a wouldn’t matter if he was the meanest man in dozen narratives working at once. Walter’s own models Wcomics. He is one of the masters of this are some of the finest daily comic strip artists ever to be genre, both as a writer and, of course, as an artist. Only reproduced on cheap newsprint. In his own introduction his old friend and colleague Howard Chaykin is his liv - to the On Stage strips of Leonard Starr, Walter shows how ing equal in original story-telling powers. They have he understands both the problems and the solutions of quite a lot in common and I have had the pleasure of keeping a narrative going not only on a day-to-day basis working with both of them. What we all three have in but also of incorporating a Sunday page which might or common is that if you want our best work delivered on might not be seen by the same reader and had to be pro - time, you had better lie about the deadline. In fact duced so that it could exist as a narrative of its own. Walter, like me, assumes you are lying about the deadline I have written and edited all kinds of comics since and once told me, in an aggrieved tone, to explain his the age of 16, from 64-pagers to serial strips and have lateness, “Hey, they gave me the right deadline... who had the privilege of working with some of the greatest does that ?” artists in the business, including Frank Bellamy, the Like me, he is used to using adrenaline not merely to Embleton brothers, Don Lawrence, Jim Cawthorn, Mal get his work to the Dean, and Howard publisher, but also to Chaykin, all of whom solve narrative prob - were also admired lems. My scripts tend masters of their craft. to require a lot of nar - All of them taught me rative solutions and something. It was a not only has he never joy to work with them let me down, he has and until I started always improved on working with Walter I the story, the character had already enjoyed or the image. He is some great high not only the nicest points. With Walter it guy in comics, he is has all been high probably the most points. He is a great- conscientious guy in hearted man by comics, as far as inter - nature, constantly preting another’s story entertaining at the is concerned. Many house he shares with times he has called me his wonderful wife and said modestly, Louise and their two “Tell me I’m an idiot dogs (and their vast for suggesting it, but how about if we—?” And I don’t library), and is notoriously generous with his time as he remember ever turning a suggestion down. He is, in is with his hospitality. He has a tremendous work ethic other words, an absolute joy to collaborate with. but at root will always put human relationships first. His Although I first met Walter in 1979, when Howard wide circle of friends and relations will confirm that. Chaykin introduced us at their old Upstart office, we I am always in awe of someone with a talent for didn’t start working together until the ’90s, when DC draughtsmanship, something I value enormously in an was doing a twelve-issue series, Michael Moorcock’s artist. In fact I hate artists who, in fantastic art especially, Multiverse , which still exists in collected form and which hide their weaknesses with a lot of baroque flourishes or I’d recommend to anyone who wants to marvel at some distorted perspective. I don’t know an incident where superb artwork, even if they don’t think much of the Walter has “faked it”... that is, obscured a panel’s weakness writing or ideas. We became natural collaborators. I tend in some way. I don’t know a time when he has “lifted”... to demand a lot of work from the artists with whom I that is, copying another artist’s work because he is unable work, packing a lot of narratives into a very small space. to draw what is demanded of him. I know, for instance, I get grumpy about artists who simplify or do what I that if you want crows in a story, then by God Simonson 4 “Well, This is Nice. Part 1: What Else Can You Do?” MODERN MASTERS: You were born in Tennessee? you’re just bored stiff and we didn’t have a television then, but we had a radio. My mom brought me pencil and paper WALTER SIMONSON: That’s right. to while away the time in hopes that I’d begin to draw MM: When was that? again, which I did. After that, as far as I know, I never stopped. I really don’t remember not drawing. WALTER: September 2, 1946, in Knoxville. MM: When did you start reading MM: Then you moved to Maryland? comics? WALTER: My WALTER: I read them from as young dad worked for as I can remember. My parents wanted the Department to encourage both me and my brother of Agriculture in to read. They thought comics were fine Soil Classification for that purpose, so they bought some & Correlation. He comics for us and we bought some with was promoted and our allowances. In the dining room there we moved to was a toy shelf that my father had built Washington, DC. My for all the different toys we had, and one parents took a home in corner of that was reserved for all our the Maryland suburbs. I really comics. We had a pile of comics about a grew up in College Park. I was foot or a foot-and-a-half high. just a little over two-and-a-half This was the ’50s, and in the ’50s when my parents moved. My only there were comics about every - memory of Tennessee is I can thing. Dell and DC were the remember being in the back seat of a ones primarily distributed car on my knees and watching a where we lived. There were white house disappear around a cor - Western comics based on tel - ner. I know, for whatever reason, that’s evision shows like Cheyenne the house I lived in the day we moved. and Sugarfoot ; Little Ida Iodine and Little Lulu ; the Duck MM: Any siblings? stuff—Carl Barks’ Ducks— all the Disney comics. We WALTER: I have one younger brother bought Classics Illustrated named Bruce. He’s three-and-a-half years comics. We read super-heroes younger than I am. He’s a professor of as well. Later on, some of the Geology at Oberlin College in Ohio. Mystery in Space . I was in MM: Were you always into art high school by that when you were growing up? time. I really read comics a lot when I was WALTER: As far as I can remember. What a kid. We had subscrip - my mom told me is that apparently I tions to Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories began drawing younger than I can remember. when I was young. Then, when I was And then I quit. My mom was very sad because maybe a sophomore in high school, I it’s always nice to have artistic children. But when I had a subscription for a while to Turok, Son of Stone . Hey, was four years old, I had a barely diagnosable case of Indians and dinosaurs, it couldn’t be better. mono. Mostly mono just wipes you out and you’re in bed for several weeks while you’re recovering. Of course, MM: Did you have any favorites? 6 “Rite of Spring” adaptation. From that point on, I wanted to be a paleontologist and study dinosaurs. My dad is a scientist, and although he’s younger than I am, my brother became a scientist as well. I didn’t know anybody who did art for a living. I had no idea how that could be done. I don’t think I ever thought about doing art or doing storytelling and such. I was certainly chatty and told enough stories of my own when I was younger. I drew little spacemen climbing across my school notes, stuff like that.

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