One of the local library’s children’s librarian overheard me telling my kids about how much I loved Power Pack as a kid when I found a collection on their shelves. Turns out, she’s the daughter of Louise Simonson (!!!) and step-daughter of Walt (!!!). Her daughter attends a small private school in town and they have an annual literature fair. In 2013 I took the kids and Walt was there with a big sketch pad and sharpies just banging out any weird thing any kid asked for. For free! I hung out at his table the entire time watching. He’s a talker, so it was fascinating hearing him talk about how he got into art when he was the kids’ age and how he really wanted to draw animals and dinosaurs for Disney. One kid asked him to draw a donkey and damned if it wasn’t spectacular. My kids each got one (Ms Fantastic and Two Face) and he even asked if I wanted one. I had to ask for classic Thor from his run (even though I think he wanted to draw me his IDW Thor).
Sorry this is slightly off topic, but artists that are able to just dash out amazing sketches blow my mind. Ones who are willing to give them away to kids (and over-enthusiastic adults) are heroes.
Here’s the Two Face he did, which was overall the best that day.
Note his signature. Apparently, he does it in the shape of a brontosaurus so he can always keep drawing dinosaurs. ![]()
