Joe Simko

Joe Simko grew up collecting Garbage Pail Kids during the nineteen-eighties and drawing his own homemade strips long before he ever painted a card for Topps. After earning a cartooning degree from the School of Visual Arts in 1999, he worked full-time drawing commercial television storyboards while producing posters and album sleeves for local punk rock outfits, including an association with Dr. Chud that began around 2003. His entrance into Topps arrived when he approached the publisher to pitch an independent trading card concept called Cereal Killers, but art director Jeff Zapata and Ira Friedman steered him toward their existing lines instead. That pivot brought Joe his debut job on a flashback card showing Split Kit, followed by assignments for Wacky Packages, Mars Attacks, and concepts for unreleased novelty toys.

Along the way, Joe originated nearly two hundred new characters for the brand, populating modern checklists with figures such as AVA Tar, Barf Bot BOB, Deformed DANA, and Mutant MULDER.

Joe also co-founded Peel Here Productions to chronicle the brand on film. He helped shepherd the documentary 30 Years of Garbage to completion, securing funding through Indiegogo after an earlier campaign fell short, and seeing it premiere in New York City over the Fourth of July weekend.