Walt Simonson

1990s Simonson became writer of the Fantastic Four with issue #334 (Dec. 1989), and three issues later began penciling and inking as well (#337). For issues #347–349, he collaborated with Arthur Adams, introducing the "New Fantastic Four" consisting of Wolverine, Spider-Man, Ghost Rider and the Hulk. In issue #345 he depicted dinosaurs with feathers, two decades before this idea gained mainstream acceptance among paleontologists. Simonson's decision to depict the dinosaurs in this manner was inspired by Gregory S. Paul's then-controversial book, Predatory Dinosaurs of the World, in which Paul theorized that dinosaurs had feathers. Because this idea was met with skepticism from the scientific community at the time, Simonson decided to compromise by depicting the dinosaurs with a small amount of feathers, rather than covered with them. Simonson left the Fantastic Four with issue #354 (July 1991). In 1992, he wrote and illustrated the one-shot Superman Special #1 for DC. His other Marvel credits in the decade included co-plotting/writing the Iron Man 2020 one-shot (June 1994) and writing the Heroes Reborn version of The Avengers. After that series ended, he wrote six issues of Wonder Woman (vol. 2) drawn by Jerry Ordway.

From 2003 to 2006, he drew the four issue prestige mini-series Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer, written by Elric's creator, Michael Moorcock. This series was collected as a 192-page graphic novel in 2007 by DC. He continued to work for DC in 2006 writing Hawkgirl, with pencillers Howard Chaykin, Joe Bennett, and Renato Arlem. The Warcraft series ran 25 issues and was from #15 on co-written with his wife, Louise Simonson. He wrote the Demon and Catwoman serial in Wednesday Comics in 2009.

2010s In 2011, Simonson had a cameo role in the live-action Thor film, appearing as one of the guests at a large Asgardian banquet. The sequel, Thor: The Dark World, featured Simonson's character Malekith the Accursed.

Simonson serves on the Disbursement Committee of the comic-book industry charity The Hero Initiative.

Other work in the 2010s includes drawing six issues of The Avengers vol. 4 in 2012 and providing the artwork for three issues of The Indestructible Hulk which guest starred Thor. Simonson collaborated with his wife for a short story in Rocketeer Adventures vol. 2 #4 and drew covers for several Rocketeer comics during this period.

In July 2014 IDW Publishing published the first issue of Simonson's creator-owned series Ragnarök, which depicts a version of Thor unrelated to the Marvel version of the deity. It ran for twelve issues until 2017 and was followed by the six-issue mini-series Ragnarök: The Breaking of Helheim in 2019, also written and drawn by Simonson.

2020s In 2021, Walt Simonson revisited his run as an artist on X-Factor by providing covers and artwork for a two-issue X-Factor story in X-Men Legends, written by his wife Louise Simonson who had also scripted his issues for the original series.

In April 2022, Simonson and his wife Louise were reported among the more than three dozen comics creators who contributed to Operation USA's benefit anthology book, Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds, a project spearheaded by IDW Publishing Special Projects Editor Scott Dunbier, whose profits would be donated to relief efforts for Ukrainian refugees resulting from the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Simonson's contribution was a story featuring the Star Slammers, his first time returning to that property since the 1990s.

Awards and honors Simonson's awards include Shazam Awards for Outstanding New Talent in 1973, for Best Individual Short Story (Dramatic) in 1973 for "The Himalayan Incident" in Detective Comics #437 (with Archie Goodwin), and the same award in 1974 for "Cathedral Perilous" in Detective Comics #441 (again with Archie Goodwin). Simonson and Goodwin also won the Shazam Award for Best Individual Story (Dramatic) in 1974 for "Götterdämmerung" in Detective Comics #443. All three winning stories were a part of the Manhunter saga. Simonson received an Inkpot Award in 1985. At the 2010 Harvey Awards, which were held at the Baltimore Comic-Con on August 28, 2010, Simonson received the 2010 Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award. It was presented to him by his wife, Louise Simonson. A collection of Simonson's Thor comics shot from the original art, published as part of IDW's Artist's Edition series, took the 2012 Eisner Award for "Best Archival Collection/Project: Comic Books" and two Harvey Awards for "Best Domestic Reprint Project and a Special Award for Excellence in Presentation". Asteroid 53237 Simonson was named in his honor.

Signature Simonson's distinctive signature consists of his last name, distorted to resemble a Brontosaurus. Simonson's reason for this was explained in a 2006 interview. "My mom suggested a dinosaur since I was a big dinosaur fan."

Creative process Simonson creates using the Marvel method, plotting out his storylines on a grid and then doing detailed plots for each issue. After thumbnailing the story, he writes a full script, from which he moves to full-size layouts, and then finished art.

Simonson inked his own work with a Hunt 102 crow quill pen. He switched to a brush during the mid-to-late 2000s, and despite the disparity between the two tools, Bryan Hitch, an admirer of Simonson's, stated that he could not tell the difference, calling Simonson's brushwork "as typically good and powerful as his other work."

Influence Comics creators who have been influenced by Simonson's work include Arthur Adams and Todd McFarlane.

Personal life Simonson met his future wife Louise Jones in 1973. The couple started dating in August 1974 and were married in 1980.