Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, DC Comics | Tagged: Dan Jurgns, martian manhunter, terrificon, walter simonson

Fifty Years Later, Walter Simonson Gives Dan Jurgens His Comic Back,

Walter Simonson had a tale to tell on Facebook about, three handmade comics that showed up at Marvel in 1975.

Published Sat, 05 Aug 2023 11:57:08 -0500

by Rich Johnston

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Walter Simonson had a tale to tell on Facebook. Heading back from TerrifiCon, he wrote "Back in the day, three handmade comics showed up at Marvel. They were written and drawn by an enthusiastic 14-year-old and mailed to the office. Two of them were stories with Marvel characters, or maybe his own characters. I don't remember. The third comic was called The Manhunter, a 16 page story, with a cover and a plain back sheet, all drawn on what was then known as typewriter paper. And because it was Manhunter, somebody in the office passed on to me. Clearly, the kid had looked very carefully at my Manhunter strip and did a remarkable job of emulating it. I loved it. So I wrote him back and we did a trade. I sent him a drawing, and I got to keep the comic."

Walter Simonson continued "This past weekend, Weezie and I went to TerrifiCon, and I knew the kid was going to be there. So I scanned the comic and took it with me to the con. I found the kid and returned the comic to him, thanking him for the 48-year loan of the book. He hadn't seen it since he sent it to Marvel. But that was okay because he grew up to become Dan Jurgens. Of course, he was actually Dan Jurgens back then too. Clearly, he had a fierce determination to do comics, and in the end, he did. Thanks for the book, Dan. I hope you enjoy having it as much as I did."

Dan Jurgens, creator of Booster Gold, the man who killed off Superman. This is what his work looked back in 1975, almost fifty of those years ago. You can see the reunion between Walter Simonson and Dan Jurgens here.