Val was born in Youngstown, Ohio. As a young adult, he worked in steel mills to pay his way through college. Under the auspices of Dan Adkins, Val got his first assignment at Marvel Comics: a series featuring the barbarian Thongor. From there, he went on to illustrate the classic monster series of the Frankenstein Monster and the Living Mummy and was the co-creator of Howard the Duck. He has worked for almost every major comic book publisher. Since the 90's, Val has done most of his work in the advertising industry working on storyboards and the like, which he continues to do. You can find a comprehensive look at Val's comics credits at ComicBookDB. He recently did his first interview after the release of Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy movie on the Giant Size podcast and discussed his career as a young actor on Electric Shadow.