Even before he entered comics, Jim Steranko led an eclectic life as a magician, an illusionist, a musician and even as an escape artist during his early twenties. In 1965, Steranko broke into the comics industry with Harvey Comics, where he created characters for their short-lived superhero comics like SPYMAN and MAGICMASTER.
The following year, Steranko made his Marvel Comics debut on STRANGE TALES, as the artist and eventually the writer of the NICK FURY: AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D.; for which he won critical and audience acclaim for his innovative approach to sequential art along with his unique blend of surrealism and graphic design. Steranko went on to work on the subsequent NICK FURY solo series. His run with the character is so influential, that it is continually referenced to this day.
During his initial tenure at Marvel, Steranko also had short runs on CAPTAIN AMERICA and X-MEN before creating FOOM, a fan club magazine for Marvel which he produced during its first year. In 1970, Steranko also solidified his role as a comic book historian by writing and publishing THE STERANKO HISTORY OF COMICS; as well as a second volume which was published two years later.
Over the course of five decades within the comic book industry, Steranko has worked on numerous titles, primarily as a cover artist on THE INCREDIBLE HULK, DAREDEVIL, DOC SAVAGE, SHANNA THE SHE-DEVIL, FANTASTIC FOUR, SUPERNATURAL THRILLERS and EPIC ILLUSTRATED. Steranko has also provided cover paintings for several novels, including over 20 covers for a revival of THE SHADOW.
As an author, Steranko has also written and illustrated CHANDLER: RED TIDE, UNSEEN SHADOWS: 50 COVER CONCEPT ILLUSTRATIONS and DOMINO LADY: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION. Steranko has also co-written an episode of the animated series JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED that focused on Mister Miracle, a character which Jack Kirby partially based on Steranko’s own experiences as an escape artist.
More recently, Steranko has worked with Radical Publishing on a number of covers, character and logo designs for HERCULES THE THRACIAN WARS and RYDERS ON THE STORM.
Jim Steranko is coming to the Big Apple Comic Con October 16-18. 2009 to greet fans and sign autographs. Don’t miss your chance to meet this comic book living legend!
Save up to 15 percent off the price of tickets by ordering now.
