Dave Simons: 1954-2009

I just learned that artist Dave Simons has died after a long battle with cancer. There's a nice tribute at Daniel Best's site. Daniel was the force behind getting Dave help when he really needed it and he stayed with Dave's situation throughout the ordeal.

"In my last interview with Dave," writes Daniel, "I asked him what his perfect comic book would have looked like. His reply, "Conan The Barbarian. Figures by John Buscema, costumes by Steranko and the whole thing inked by Wally Wood. Written by Roy Thomas, of course. Wouldn't that have been great?"

The extra attention that Daniel gave Dave went a long way toward Dave's quality of life, and the quality of his death. Lesson learned: There's not a damned thing you can do about cancer. But there's a world of things you can do when someone falls from grace.

So long Dave Simons--it was swell to know you.