Walter “Walt” Simonson is a comic book writer and artist who has worked on many notable titles at Marvel and DC. He is especially celebrated for his run on Thor, his work in X-Factor and Detective Comics, and for licensed titles including Star Wars.

Simonson was born on September 2, 1946, in Knoxville, Tennessee, then spent much of his youth living in Maryland. He started reading comics as a kid, primarily books starring Disney characters, and began drawing for fun. His comic interest grew into superheroes, in particular Thor, which tied to his interest in Norse mythology.

When Simonson was studying geology at Amherst College he began writing his own Thor comics based on Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s work. After he got his degree, Simonson decided to change career directions to study art at the Rhode Island School of Design. It was then that he wrote and drew the first Star Slammers comic as his thesis project.

Simonson took his Star Slammers portfolio to New York in 1972 where his friend Gerry Boudreau got him a meeting with DC editor Archie Goodwin. It turned into a meeting with publisher Carmine Infantino and editors Julius Schwartz and Joe Orlando, and Simonson secured jobs with each editor. His professional work began with the story “Cyrano’s Army” in Weird War Tales #10 (January 1973), and other back-up short stories in war books.

His first big notable assignment was a Manhunter backup feature in Detective Comics #438 (January 1974). That snowballed into work in Metal Men, Hercules Unbound, he co-created Doctor Phosphorus, and worked with Goodwin on an adaption of Alien. Simonson was the original artist on the black and white Rampaging Hulk and had his first run illustrating Thor. In 1978, he formed the Upstart Associates studio space with Howard Chaykin, Val Mayerik, and Jim Starlin.

A year later, Simonson pulled double duty writing and drawing a book for the first time with the Battlestar Galactica comic adaptation. Simonson and Chris Claremont partnered on The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans DC and Marvel crossover.

Simonson began his long run as a writer and artist on Thor with issue 337 and continued in both roles through issue 367. During that time, he created the alien warrior Beta Ray Bill and Malekith the Accursed, and turned Thor into a frog for a three-issue arc. He finished providing art after issue 367 and continued writing the book until issue 382.

He joined wife Louise on X-Factor in 1986. They revised Angel by giving him blue skin and metal wings, leading to him being renamed Archangel. Together they created memorable story arcs like “Mutant Massacre,” “Fall of the Mutants,” and “Inferno.”

Simonson started writing Fantastic Four in issue 334, then began penciling three issues later. In Fantastic Four #347-349, he and Arthur Adams introduced the New Fantastic Four featuring Wolverine, Spider-Man, Hulk, and Ghost Rider. He wrote and illustrated the Superman Special #1 (December 1992) one-shot, wrote the Heroes Reborn version of the Avengers, and he crafted a Star Slammers limited series.

In the early 2000s, Simonson wrote and illustrated Orion, wrote six issues of Wonder Woman, and drew the Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer. He wrote Hawkgirl, provided covers for Bat Lash and Vigilante, and wrote the World of Warcraft series based on the roleplaying game. Then he drew a few issues of Avengers and Indestructible Hulk, and he wrote and drew The Judas Coin. In 2014, Simonson created the series Ragnarök about a non-Marvel version of Thor. More recently, he contributed to the Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds benefit anthology.