Editing Walt Simonson (section)

==Early life==
Walter Simonson was born September 2, 1946, in [[Knoxville, Tennessee]], and lived there for two and a half years. When his father, who worked for the [[United States Department of Agriculture]], received a promotion at work that required him to relocate to [[Washington, D.C.]], Simonson, his younger brother and his parents moved to Maryland, where Simonson's parents still lived as of 1989.<ref name=DirectCurrents>May, Peggie (Editor) (June 1989). "People at Work". ''[[Direct Currents]]'' #18. [[DC Comics]]. p. 7</ref> Simonson first read comics as a child, through the subscriptions to ''[[Walt Disney's Comics and Stories]]'' that his brother had. By the age of ten he was an avid fan of the work of [[Carl Barks]],<ref name=Slush>{{cite web |url= http://www.slushfactory.com/features/interviews/walts.shtml|title= Walt Simonson|first= Marc|last= McKenzie|date= August 16, 2000|publisher= The Slush Factory: The World's Coolest Comics Magazine|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150221060522/http://www.slushfactory.com/features/interviews/walts.shtml|archive-date= February 21, 2015|url-status= live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> ''[[Little Lulu]]'', ''[[Little Iodine]]'', and [[Alex Toth]]'s work on ''[[The Land Unknown]]''.<ref name=DirectCurrents/> He also enjoyed drawing from a very young age.<ref name="Slush"/> Although Simonson was embarrassed to be seen by girls buying comics while in high school, he discovered [[Russ Manning]]'s work on ''[[Magnus Robot Fighter]]'' right before he started college, and submitted a drawing that was printed in issue #10 in May, 1965, in the publication's fan page, "Robot Gallery." This was his first published work in comics.<ref name=DirectCurrents/>

Simonson studied geology at [[Amherst College]], with the intent of becoming an expert on dinosaurs.<ref name=Slush/> In 1964 or 1965, Simonson discovered [[Marvel Comics]], in particular that company's version of ''[[Thor (comic book)|Thor]]''.<ref name=DirectCurrents/><ref name=Slush/> Having already developed an interest in [[Norse mythology]] prior to discovering [[Stan Lee]] and [[Jack Kirby]]'s take on the hammer-wielding deity,<ref name=ThorVisionaries>Simonson, Walter (May 1, 2001). "Introduction", ''Thor Visionaries: Walt Simonson'' (Vol. 1), p. Marvel Comics (New York)</ref> it became Simonson's favorite title, one that he read for four years.<ref name=DirectCurrents/><ref name=Slush/> From this he realized that drawing comics was more fun, and more feasible as a career than working outdoors in hot weather as a geologist or paleontologist, despite harboring a love for the latter that continued the rest of his life.<ref name=Slush/><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.amherst.edu/news/campusbuzz/node/328773|title= Cartoonist Behind Thor Donates Time and Talent to Alma Mater|date= n.d.|location= Amherst, Massachusetts|publisher= [[Amherst College]]|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150823050432/https://www.amherst.edu/news/campusbuzz/node/328773 |archive-date= August 23, 2015|url-status= live|df=mdy-all|access-date= May 13, 2014}}</ref><ref>Bell, Josh (2011). [https://www.amherst.edu/aboutamherst/magazine/issues/2011summer/amherstcreates/simonson "A Thousand Pages of Thor: Thor by Walter Simonson Omnibus, by Walter Simonson ’68 (Marvel Comics)"]. Amherst College.</ref> Simonson came to be heavily influenced by the artists who worked for Marvel, such as [[Jack Kirby]], [[Steve Ditko]], and [[Gil Kane]], as well as British artist [[Jim Holdaway]] and European artists such as [[Jean Giraud|Moebius]], [[Jean-Claude Mézières]], Antonio Hernández Palacios and [[Sergio Toppi]].<ref name=Slush/> In 1967, while in college, Simonson began writing his own epic story starring Lee and Kirby's version of the character, featuring [[Surtur (Marvel Comics)|Surtur]] and the [[Odinsword]]. In later years he would be given the opportunity to publish this story, as the writer on that title.<ref name=ThorVisionaries/>

After graduating from Amherst with a degree in geology,<ref name=Slush/> Simonson took a year off, and then enrolled as an art major at the [[Rhode Island School of Design]], graduating in 1972. His thesis project there was the 50-page black and white book ''[[The Star Slammers]]'', which took him two years to write, pencil, letter and ink himself, and was initially published as a series of [[ashcan copy|ashcan]] promotional 5.5" x 8.5" b&w chapter booklets from 1971–1973 to promote the 1974 [[World Science Fiction Convention]] in Washington, D.C. (DisCon II). Simonson would later revisit ''Star Slammers'' throughout his career, publishing it through various publishers over the decades.<ref name=DirectCurrents/><ref name=Slush/>