Dave Simons (died June 9, 2009) was an American

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. ...

artist known for his work on '' Conan'', ''

Ghost Rider Ghost Rider is the name of multiple antiheroes and superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider. The first s ...

'', ''

Red Sonja Red Sonja is a fictional sword and sorcery comic-book superheroine created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith for Marvel Comics in 1973, partially inspired by Robert E. Howard's character Red Sonya of Rogatino. Marvel Comics pub ...

'', and '' Spider-Man'' for

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in 19 ...

and ''

Forgotten Realms ''Forgotten Realms'' is a campaign setting for the '' Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 a ...

'' for

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...

. He is also known for commercial storyboard and games artwork work on '' The Secret Files of the Spy Dogs'' and '' Greyhawk Ruins''.

Early life

Dave Simons has always wanted to be a

comic book artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

. ''"I always wanted to do comics since I was about eight years old ... so I started making a point of drawing something every day. I figured if I just kept doing that, then eventually I'd get better at it."'' After a stint in the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

, and a chance series of meetings with

Frank Robbins Franklin Robbins (September 9, 1917 – November 28, 1994) was an American comic book and comic strip artist and writer, as well as a prominent painter whose work appeared in museums including the Whitney Museum of American Art, where one of his ...

, Simons elected to undertake formal training to be an artist. As part of his education Simons attended the now legendary art workshops run by

artist John Buscema. It was while attending these classes that he became friends with future comic book artists

Ken Landgraf Ken Landgraf (born 1950) is an American comic book artist and commercial illustrator. Early life and education Kenneth Landgraf was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. He admired the work of comic book artists like Reed Crandall, Russ Heath, Sam Glanzm ...

and Armando Gil. It was through Landgraf that Simons produced his first published work, which consisted of mainly commercial illustrations and the occasional soft-core pornographic comic book.

Career

Marvel Comics

Approaching then-

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics * ...

editor Rick Marschall at a convention in the late 1970s, Simons was able to get his samples seen and assessed. At the time Marschall was overseeing the Curtis Magazines line for Marvel, and Simons was duly assigned the duty of inking the first issue of the ''

Howard the Duck Howard the Duck is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Steve Gerber and artist Val Mayerik. Howard the Duck first appeared in ''Adventure into Fear'' #19 (cover-d ...

'' magazine. After submitting the story Simons was assigned a fill-in

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

story, which he inked with the assistance of Gil over

Sal Buscema Sal Buscema (; ; born Silvio Buscema, January 26, 1936) is an American comics artist, primarily for Marvel Comics, where he enjoyed a ten-year run as artist of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk'' and an eight-year run as ar ...

s pencils. This marked his first professional work for Marvel and in mainstream comic books. Simons was then assigned both pencilling and inking jobs for Marvel. One of the artists whose pencils he inked was

Gene Colan Eugene Jules Colan (; September 1, 1926 – June 23, 2011)Eugene Colan
at the at was like a match made in heaven because a lot of people didn't understand Gene's shading. I thought, 'this is great, this is a great jumping on point if you're gonna do black and white stuff'"''.Adelaide Comics And Books
/ref> Colan has spoken highly of Simons's talent. ''"Do you know how few artists have ever been able to ink my very complex and often inscrutable pencils? Do you know how exquisitely Dave Simon inks my pencils? ... I've yet to see anything Dave has done that I haven't loved! Artists and inkers have come and gone but Dave remains today still at the top of his form!"'' Simons' attention to detail came into high demand in the 1980s and his inking credits include artists such as

Keith Pollard Keith Pollard (; born January 20, 1950) is an American comic book artist. Originally from the Detroit area, Pollard is best known for his simultaneous work on the Marvel Comics titles ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', ''Fantastic Four'', and ''Thor'' i ...

, Ron Wilson,

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'' and subsequen ...

, John Buscema,

Marc Silvestri Marc Silvestri (born March 29, 1958) is an American comic book artist, creator and publisher. He serves as CEO of both Top Cow Productions and Image Comics. Early life Marc Silvestri was born on March 29, 1958 in Palm Beach, Florida.Rosenberg, ...

, Greg LaRocque,

John Romita Jr John Salvatore Romita (; born August 17, 1956), known professionally as John Romita Jr., is an American comics artist best known for his extensive work for Marvel Comics from the 1970s to the 2010s. He is the son of artist John Romita Sr. Earl ...

and Ed Hannigan. Titles that featured his inking include ''

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing ...

'', '' The Thing'', '' Marvel Premiere'', '' Night Thrasher'', ''

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...

'', ''King Conan'', '' Doctor Strange'', ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

'', ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vario ...

'', '' Thundercats'' and others. Simons's tenure at Marvel was not limited to inking. He proved himself to be a very capable penciler and his pencils and ink combination were featured in titles such as ''

The Spectacular Spider-Man ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' is a comic book and magazine series starring Spider-Man and published by Marvel Comics. Following the success of Spider-Man's original series, ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', Marvel felt the character could support ...

'', '' Team America'', ''

What If What If may refer to: Film * ''What If'', a 2006 TV film starring Niall Buggy * ''What If...'' (2010 film), an American film * ''What If...'' (2012 film), a Greek film * ''What If'' (2013 film) or ''The F Word'', a Canadian-Irish film Tele ...

'', ''

Marvel Comics Presents ''Marvel Comics Presents'' was an American comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics originally from 1988 to 1995. It returned for a second volume in 2007–2008, and a third volume that started in 2019. Volume 1 The first volum ...

'', '' Bizarre Adventures'', ''

'', ''

Web of Spider-Man ''Web of Spider-Man'' is the name of two different monthly comic book series starring Spider-Man that have been published by Marvel Comics since 1985, the first volume of which ran for 129 issues between 1985 and 1995, and the second of which ran f ...

'', and ''

King Conan ''King Conan'' is a collection of five fantasy short stories by American writer Robert E. Howard featuring his sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It is also the name of two separate comic book series featuring the character. The book ...

''. He also provided cover art to titles such as '' Power Man and Iron Fist'', ''

'', ''

Darkhold The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. There follows a list of those features. Places Certain places fe ...

'', ''

Machine Man Machine Man (also known as Aaron Stack, Mister Machine and serial number Z2P45-9-X-51 or X-51 for short) is an android superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Jack Kirby for '' 2001: A ...

'', '' Kull The Conqueror'', ''

Marvel Team-Up ''Marvel Team-Up'' is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The series featured two or more Marvel characters in one story. The series was originally published from March 1972 through February 1985, and featured Spider-Man ...

'', '' Marvel Two-in-One'', '' Crystar'', ''

Moon Knight Moon Knight is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Doug Moench and artist Don Perlin, the character first appeared in '' Werewolf by Night'' #32 (August 1975). The son of a ...

'' and many others, along with pin-ups for the black and white magazine ''

Savage Sword of Conan ''The Savage Sword of Conan'' was a black-and-white magazine-format comic book series published beginning in 1974 by Curtis Magazines, an imprint of American company Marvel Comics, and then later by Marvel itself. ''Savage Sword of Conan'' starre ...

''. ''"Pencilling, if you're doing it right ... is a much tougher gig than inking. Even though I usually liked to know what was going on, with inking you don't necessarily have to be involved with the story. With pencilling you have to be intimately involved with the story because you're the one who's bringing the writers work and intentions across to the readers, as to what he's trying to communicate there. You have to think of the drama, the camera angles, and the composition, make sure you leave room for the word balloons, all those sorts of things"''.

''Ghost Rider''

Simons' best known Marvel work was his run on the first series of ''

''. His run on the title saw him first inking veteran artist Don Perlin before joining with Bob Budiansky to create one of the best remembered runs of the characters history. Budiansky and Simons worked with writers

Roger Stern Roger Stern (born September 17, 1950) is an American comic book author and novelist. Biography Early career In the early 1970s, Stern and Bob Layton published the fanzine ''CPL'' ('' Contemporary Pictorial Literature''), one of the first platfo ...

and

J.M. DeMatteis John Marc DeMatteis (; born December 15, 1953) is an American writer of comic books, television and novels. Biography Early career J. M. DeMatteis's earliest aspirations were to be a rock musician and comic book artist. He began playing in ban ...

. ''"The only speed bump we hit in this whole thing was when Simons, who of that team is the unsung hero, left"'', Budiansky recalled. ''"He used to come to the office dressed in leather. I mean, this was not an act, he'd come dressed in one of these black leather, zipper jackets. I don't know if he also wore leather pants. He might have worn them. But anyway, the point is, he knew how to ink leather, which was really important for ''Ghost Rider''. So when he left the book we never really were able to replace that look that he gave the book. The rest of the team was all somewhat saddened by his departure."'' Marvel attempted to duplicate the highly detailed and rendered look that Budiansky and Simons were able to give the character when the character was relaunched in the early 1990s but never quite succeeded.

DC Comics

In the 1990s Simons left Marvel and crossed companies to

. At DC he worked on '' Deathstroke The Terminator'', '' Spelljammer'', ''

Dragonlance ''Dragonlance'' is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived ''Dragonlance'' while driving i ...

'', and ''

''. ''"I liked the combination of me and Rags Morales ... has that

Frazetta Frank Frazetta (born Frank Frazzetta ; February 9, 1928 – May 10, 2010) was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers, and other media. He is o ...

thing going on and I was hip to that and tried to bring that out a lot."'' Simons worked on a number of cartoon based books during his time at DC and his work is featured in titles such as ''

Cartoon Network Block Party ''Cartoon Network: Block Party'' is a 2004 arcade-style party game released for Game Boy Advance, developed by American studios Monkeystone Games and One Man Band LLC, and published by Majesco Entertainment. It features characters from Cartoon N ...

''. During this time he also illustrated

Roger Rabbit Roger Rabbit is an animated anthropomorphic rabbit. The character first appeared in author Gary K. Wolf's 1981 novel, '' Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' In the book, Roger is second banana in a popular comic strip, "Baby Herman". Roger hires priv ...

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Dungeons & Dragons

Simons also worked for TSR on books such as '' Otherlands'' (1990), '' Greyhawk Ruins'' (1990), ''

Tales of the Lance ''Tales of the Lance'' is a boxed set issued by TSR for Dragonlance. It includes maps, source books, and player stat cards for various non-player characters (NPCs). Contents The ''Tales of the Lance'' boxed set summarizes the history of the sett ...

'' (1992), DMR2: ''Creature Catalog'' (1993), ''

Monstrous Manual The ''Monster Manual'' (''MM'' is the primary bestiary sourcebook for monsters in the '' Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'' fantasy role-playing game, first published in 1977 by TSR. The ''Monster Manual'' was the first hardcover D&D book and inc ...

'' (1993), ''

The Knight of Newts ''The Knight of Newts'' is an adventure for the Rules Cyclopedia edition of the '' Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, published in 1993. Publication history ''The Knight of Newts'' was written by Dale "Slade" Henson. Doug Stewar ...

'' (1993), and '' The Created'' (1993).

Animation career

In the late 1990s Simons left the comic book industry and moved into animation. As an artist he provided storyboards to such shows as '' Captain Planet'', '' Exo-Squad'', ''

Masters Of The Universe ''Masters of the Universe'' (sometimes referred to as the ''He-Man'' or ''She-Ra'' series) is a sword and planet-themed media franchise created by Mattel. The main premise revolves around the conflict between He-Man (the alter ego of Prince Ada ...

'', '' Zula Patrol'', '' Psi-Kix'' and '' Maya and Miguel''. ''"The list of shows I've worked on is certainly longer than the list of comic books that I've worked on at this point"'', Simons once commented Simons also storyboarded for the show ''

Spy Dogs Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...

'', which was directed by Will Meugniot and later, Mike Joens. Dave worked again with Gil on this show, hiring him as a storyboard artist. Simons has the distinction of working on both an animated TV program and the comic book spin-off at the same time, this was when he worked on the animated show ''

Courage The Cowardly Dog ''Courage the Cowardly Dog'' is an American animated comedy horror television series created by John R. Dilworth for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. It was produced by Dilworth's animation studio, Stretch Film ...

'', which he subsequently drew the DC comic book of the same name.

Post-animation

Simons also created characters. He developed Beastball Saga, with Sebastian Mondrone. He was also developing a new character, Donna Thyme, with writer Daniel Best. Simons' last comic book work was on the book '' Army of Darkness'', along with contributing art to various trading card sets issued by Rittenhouse. He contributed art for '' Dynamic Forces'' and ''

'' variant cover series and the 100 '' Hulks'' project. In December 2008 Simons accepted a seat on the committee for the Inkwell Awards, and remained a member until his death. He posthumously holds the title of Inkwell Awards Committee Member Emeritus Ad Infinitum.

Death

Dave Simons died on June 9, 2009 at the age of 54, following a long battle with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

References

External links

*
Dave Simons interview.
Adelaide Comics and Books. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Simons, Dave 1954 births 2009 deaths American comics artists American comics writers American storyboard artists Artists from New York City Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Role-playing game artists