[4] He is also known for commercial storyboard and games artwork work on The Secret Files of the Spy Dogs and Greyhawk Ruins.

"[5] After a stint in the Coast Guard, and a chance series of meetings with Frank Robbins, Simons elected to undertake formal training to be an artist.

As part of his education Simons attended the art workshops run by Marvel Comics artist John Buscema.

It was while attending these classes that he became friends with future comic book artists Ken Landgraf and Armando Gil.

It was through Landgraf that Simons produced his first published work, which consisted of mainly commercial illustrations and the occasional soft-core pornographic comic book.

"[8] Simons' attention to detail came into high demand in the 1980s and his inking credits include artists such as Keith Pollard, Ron Wilson, Frank Miller, John Buscema, Marc Silvestri, Greg LaRocque, John Romita Jr and Ed Hannigan.

[10] He also provided cover art to titles such as Power Man and Iron Fist, Ghost Rider, Darkhold, Machine Man, Kull The Conqueror, Marvel Team-Up, Marvel Two-in-One, Crystar, Moon Knight and many others, along with pin-ups for the black and white magazine Savage Sword of Conan.

You have to think of the drama, the camera angles, and the composition, make sure you leave room for the word balloons, all those sorts of things".

"The only speed bump we hit in this whole thing was when Simons, who of that team is the unsung hero, left", Budiansky recalled.

Simons also worked for TSR on books such as Otherlands (1990), Greyhawk Ruins (1990), Tales of the Lance (1992), DMR2: Creature Catalog (1993), Monstrous Manual (1993), The Knight of Newts (1993), and The Created (1993).

[15] As an artist he provided storyboards to such shows as Captain Planet, Exo-Squad, Masters Of The Universe, Zula Patrol, Psi-Kix and Maya and Miguel.

[17] He contributed art for Dynamic Forces and Red Sonja [18] variant cover series and the 100 Hulks project.

[21] The Inkwell Awards created an annual scholarship,[22][23] for the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in his name.