The Great Dave Simons Has Gone on to His Reward

Comic book and animation artist Dave Simons passed on Tuesday, June 9 after a long battle with cancer. He was 54 years old.

David Lloyd Simons was born on December 10, 1954 in New York City. He wanted to be a comic book artist from when he was eight years old. Throughout school his art teachers encouraged him. Following high school Simons joined the Coast Guard. It was while he was in the Coast Guard that he began attending art classes conducted by the legendary John Buscema. It was at a convention in 1979 that Simons showed his work to Rick Marschall, then editor at Marvel Comics. His first work was inking a story featuring The Falcon, pencilled by Sal Buscema and written by Mark Evanier.

At Marvel much of his time was spent inking the work of such artists as John Buscema, Frank Miller, John Romita Jr., and Marc Silvestri. His inking appeared in such titles as Dr. Strange, Iron Man, Star Wars, and Thor. Simons also did a good deal of his own pencilling, working on such titles as Spectacular Spider-Man, Bizarre Adventures, King Conan, and What If. He also did cover art for such magazines as Ghost Rider, Power Man & Iron Fist, Machine Man, and Moon Knight. His best known work at this time was perhaps that he did on Ghost Rider, working with artist Bob Budiansky.

In the Nineties Simons moved to DC, where he worked on such titles as Deathstroke The Terminator and the D&D spinoff comic series Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms.

Simons not only worked in comic books, but in animation as well. He first worked on the TV show Gem from 1985 to 1987. He would go onto work on such series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures, Conan the Adventurer, and Courage the Cowardly Dog. In fact, he not only did the art for the series Courage the Cowardly Dog, but on its comic book spin off as well.

Dave Simons was one of the most talented artists of his generation. What always caught me about his work was his attention to detail, whether he was inking or pencilling. Indeed, when he left Ghost Rider there was a noticeable difference. Simons was more than a great artist, however, he was also a great human being. He was well liked by those in the comic book industry and always had time for his fans. Even after he was diagnosed with cancer, he continued to communicate with his fans. He will certainly be missed.