Posted in: Comics | Tagged: captain america, Comics, indiana jones, jim steranko, marvel, nick fury

Jim Steranko's Birthday Art Gallery

He wasn't the first artist to work for Marvel in the Silver Age, and he wasn't the most prolific artist to work for Marvel in the Silver Age, but when you think of inventive artists of the 1960s and beyond, Jim Steranko is one of the first names to come to mind. Born November 5, 1938, Steranko entered comics around 1965 and quickly made a name for himself with his innovative layouts, powerful design, and intricate linework on Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD, both in the character's Strange Tales run and in the short but memorable 1968 Nick Fury series.

A man of many talents, Steranko's father had been a stage magician and he himself had performed as an escape artist — a fact immortalized when Jack Kirby was inspired by Steranko's past career for Kirby's creation of the character Mister Miracle for DC Comics.  In 1969, Steranko published a widely-distributed book on comics history called The Steranko History of Comics which served as inspiration for a generation of comics historians. In 1981, he served as a concept artist on the film Raiders of the Lost Ark, designing the character of Indiana Jones.

James F. Steranko[1] (born 5 November 1938,[2] Reading, Pennsylvania, United States) is an American graphic artist, comic book writer-artist-historian, magician, publisher and film production illustrator.

His most famous comic book work was with the 1960s superspy feature "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." in Marvel Comics' Strange Tales and in the subsequent eponymous series. Steranko earned lasting acclaim for his innovations in sequential artduring the Silver Age of comic books, particularly his infusion of surrealism, op art, and graphic design into the medium. His work has been published in many countries and his influence on the field has remained strong since his comics heyday. He went on to create book covers, become a comics historian who published a pioneering two-volume history of the birth and early years of comic books, and to create conceptual art and character designs for films including Raiders of the Lost Ark andBram Stoker's Dracula.

He was inducted into the comic-book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2006.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RztUzmkiBo[/youtube]

(and big thanks to bigfanboy.com for the vid)

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