WORD BALLOON FLASHBACK: WALT SIMONSON

[MattBrady]

<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/wordballoon/WBlogo.jpg" align="right">On this Flashback edition of Word Balloon from 2005 host John Siuntres chats with artist writer Walter Simonson, and looks back at his classic works. From Thor The Frog, and the creation of Beta Ray Bill, to <b>Orion</b> and <b>New Gods</b>; from his collaborations with Martin Pasko to put the bronze age spin on Dr. Fate, to reviving Manhunter with Archie Goowdwin.

The two also talk about his work on the <b>Fantastic Four</b>, his take on <b>X-Factor</b> (co-plotted with his wife Louise) and working on the Marvel <b>Star Wars</b> comic with David Michelene at that awkward time between <i>The Empire Strikes Back</I>, and <i>Return Of The Jedi</I>.

Click here (http://media.libsyn.com/media/wordballoon/WB_walt_simonson.mp3) for the episode.

[hamgravy]

Wow - thanks John. Can you do this every week? Pick out some old favorites or interviews that may be pertinent to current comic current events.

Looking forward to hearing it.

[joaokamikaze]

This flashback stuff is really great. Too bad we can't read it also.
Walter Simonson can be really proud of his work. My favorite: Avengers, with John Buscema. It was a small run in terms of issue numbers but a great run in terms of quality.

[Stringer]

I wish that they would hire a transcription service so that these interviews were readable, too. I am really interested in most of their content but I just have no interest in listening to it.

[Jeremy Williams]

I miss that guy!

[cookepuss]

Walt's a freakin' genius. I've always held his art in the same high regard that I do JRJr.'s Spidey work. Brilliant. His Thor and FF runs have been nothing short of classic. If I have to pick a favorite Walt run, it'd have to be his stint on X-Factor with his wife Weezie.

My top 5 favorite Walt art bits....

http://dallaspenn.com/pics/albums/album02/simonson2.jpg
http://dallaspenn.com/pics/albums/album02/simonson1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/DataZak/blog/frogthor.jpg
http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/x-factor/24-1.jpg
http://www.littlestuffedbull.com/images/comics/ff352/ff350.jpg

[wordballoon]

I miss that guy!

no need to miss him, he still does covers for many DC books and is writing the world of warcraft series.

[FancyFroglin]

I've been a fan of his since the Thor days. I even sought out Star Slammers at a con years ago.

In the local college natural history museum there are drawings of dinosaurs that Walt did when he was a student there (before he moved on to RISD) to accompany the dinosaur skeletons. Unsigned, but unmistakably his.

[Starbird]

Oh Man, did I LOVE Walt's Teen Titans/X-men crossover, as well as a being a big fan of his run on THOR many years back. Also, I wasn't a fan of ORION, until Walt was on the book, that's how much I appreciate HIS art. If I could publish a title of my own and had the money to "do it right," Walt's one of the top 3 choices of artist I'd want on the book.

:)

[Lupek]

Always been a big Walt Simonson fan. I hope to see more from him at DC or Marvel.