Roughing It Out
One of the greats drops some science.
This tweet by my pal, Matt Selman reminded me of a couple of things. First, comics were rarely ever signed on the cover until the late eighties or early nineties. And second, if you’re going through a comic collection be sure to look at the first page of every issue — you may be in for a fun, if unverifiable treat.
My favorite personal signature is on Fantastic Four # 337. Walt and Weezie Simonson were two of my favorite comics creators back in 1990. He had already had made Thor one of the best comic runs ever produced, and at that time he was writing and drawing the first family of Marvel Comics.
In February of 1990 the duo were attending a show over the state line in New York — just a short trip from where I lived in Ridgewood, New Jersey. Were it not for the Simonsons, the show would have been forgettable. I brought a copy of Thor for Walt to sign, and the first appearance of Apocalypse for them both, and I also had that week’s FF.
I was with a few friends and we were dying to know how the two of them set about to make comics. What came first? The script? The art and then the words? We were hitting them with too many questions, too fast.
Walt scratched his chin and said “Lemme show you.” And he reached under his table and produced and art portfolio that had been hidden from view. It would have been easy for the two of them to politely send us on our way, but instead they spent time with us and it had a very big impact on my life.
We had a copy of FF 337, and Walt pulled out the thumbnail pages for the issue. For those that may not know, thumbnails are a critical piece of the storytelling machine that eventually becomes a comic book. They hold key pieces or milestones for the comic, and they lay out the structure of every panel on every page. The artist then has them as a map to eventually turn into finished pencils and inks.
Walt showed us that it was an ongoing collaboration of words and pictures. He may not have known exactly what Iron Man & Reed Richards were saying to each other on the page below, but he knew the gist of it, and that was enough for thumbnail pages. The time spent with them have me a skeleton key into the secrets of how to make comics, especially critical for someone like me with no drafting ability. It’s why I wrote in my look back at Planet Size X-Men that there isn’t ever any single comic book script. There is just the script that is bringing the team closer to being able to hit the print button.
The Simonsons were so generous with their time and knowledge and it gave me the hope that if I could tell stories that I wanted to see as comics, that someone my want to draw them, and that perhaps they would find an audience. That was gift enough, but we must have charmed the couple because they gave us each a thumbnail page from the issue.
My copy of Fantastic Four # 337 has the breakdown for page 16 from Walt’s very own pencil and sharpie. He used the marker to hit the panel structure in single bold strokes and then lightly penciled the figures and held space for the balloons.
You’ll notice after completing this page, he called for shifting that panel under the kiss, but later thought better and called to ignore that note with “stet” which goes ALL THE WAY BACK to Latin. Meaning “let it stand”.
Walt’s Iron Man was a beefy unit. Had a real sense of scale. Wished we gotten more of his Iron Man, but I’ll take what I can get.
In 2013, I’d been attending San Diego Comic Con as a young pro for a decade. I was writing Nova and co-writing Deadpool for Marvel when I was randomly assigned a signing slot next to Walt & Weezie and I got to thank them again for their time and the profound effect it had on me on the way into high school.
The Simonsons didn’t just teach us how to make comics, but also how to be the best pros we can. When someone is looking to break in, we try our best to remember what it was like to be on the other side of the desk, and take a moment and offer whatever knowledge or advice we can. It’s the best job in the world.
Coming soon in this space: a different take on thumbnails courtesy of my collaboration with Greg Smallwood, and more on the nearly completed David O’Sullivan comic. Plus, an in depth look on the adventure to come in Invincible Iron Man, and maybe…some more exciting news from some unexpected places.
GD
Oh man, I loved reading this. The Simonsons are the absolute best. Walt is a true gentleman, and chatting with him is always a treat. I'll forever be in Weezie's debt for the time she spent talking to me about her experience working in comics in the 70s. Invaluable stuff that helped me a ton while writing SECRET IDENTITY. Thanks for sharing this story, Gerry.