Legendary Comic Book Creator Walter Simonson Turns 69 Today

Walter Simonson, legendary comic book writer-artist and creator of the fan-favorite character Beta Ray Bill among others, turns 69 years old today.

Simonson is one of the most influential artists of the last forty years, and is credited with inspiring generations of artists including Art Adams and Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane.

Simonson, who has written and/or drawn acclaimed runs on Thor, Fantastic Four, X-Factor, Manhunter, Orion and many other comics, was born in Knoxville, TN, in 1946. Over his decades long career, he has drawn nearly every major Marvel and DC superhero, as well as licensed series like Star Wars, Alien, Battlestar Galactica and Robocop vs. Terminator. Simonson is also known for his creator-owned Star Slammers and the crossover miniseries The Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans, which he drew in 1982.

Man of his Thor stories are considered among the best ever published featuring the character, and elements of it have been brought into the cinematic universe. During that time, he created Beta Ray Bill, Frog Thor and a number of other strange and wonderful concepts that remain fan favorites. You can see a list of ten memorable moments from his Thor run here.

He also worked on a number of memorable Fantastic Four stories during his fan-favorite run on that title, including the famous “The New Fantastic Four” story with artist Art Adams, which featured Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, The Hulk and Wolverine.

Simonson currently creates Ragnarok at IDW Publishing, which reunites him with the Norse mythology that informed much of his run on Thor at Marvel Comics.

Walter Simonson is married to fellow comics writer Louise Simonson (Power Pack, Superman: The Man of Steel, Super Secret Crisis War), with whom he collaborated on X-Factor from 1988 to 1989, and with whom he made a cameo appearance in the 2011 Thor film.

Happy birthday to Mr. Simonson, who once tabled next to ComicBook.com at New York Comic Con and was incredibly kind and patient with my many, many questions about his great career.