Walter Simonson - Sketches and Line Art from a Nice Guy!

Thanks for finding this on a Friday rather than the customary Thursday. I figured with the holiday, there wouldn't have been much traffic yesterday.

Do you follow Walt Simonson on Twitter? You should. I don't know him personally - I don't think he and I have ever even attended the same cons or shows. But my impression of him is that he's just a genuinely nice man. When I think of him, the image in my mind most closely resembles the photo at right - just a happy guy.

That being said, count me among those who appreciate his art and style, and then follow up such a comment with "it's not always for me". I can't always put my finger on it, but when I can, my "complaints" would usually center around the looseness of his style. I'm more in the "tight realism" crowd - if that's a crowd. At times I've found the switch from one artist to Simonson to be a bit jarring. That being said, however, I've long felt a bit sorry for the guy in that his first run on Thor seemed to ape John Buscema, without a lot of Walt's uniqueness being allowed to shine through. Perhaps some of that was due to the inking of Tony DeZuniga, perhaps it was an editorial mandate. Whatever, we all know the heights to which Thor soared when Simonson gained full control. Many fans of the Thunder God put those years right beside the Lee/Kirby/Colletta run, and maybe rightfully so.

Today enjoy some sketchwork, some original art, and whatever else I've cobbled together for you. And as always, drop me a personal impression of yours in the comments section. Thanks, too, to the many collectors and original art aficionados across the interwebs, who of course retain ownership of the images in today's post.