Showing posts with label Steranko. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steranko. Show all posts

Upcoming large-format paperback spotlights Jim Steranko's marvelous S.H.I.E.L.D. artwork


Steranko's groundbreaking artwork on Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D. screams Sixties and spies. It should be something behold in this upcoming book from the great IDW Publishing.

Out in August. Available for pre-order now from Amazon.

Details:

Previously presented in the much-acclaimed Artist's Edition format, and winner of an Eisner Award, now you can appreciate this historic run of comics in the new Artisan Edition format.

In the mid-1960s, Jim Steranko burst into the Marvel Age of comics in a BIG way, and the innovative, cinematic techniques he introduced in his brief tenure at The House of Ideas stand to this day as a high-water mark in the history of graphic storytelling. More than any other series, Steranko is most associated with Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. This Artisan Edition collects the first 12 stories of Steranko's run, from Strange Tales #151-162, as well as his covers from these issues. Additionally, there will be a select number of extras presented. And, as usual, nearly all the pages have been scanned from the original art, from Steranko's private archives.

Story and art by Jim Steranko with additional script by Stan Lee and Roy Thomas. Additional Layouts by Jack Kirby.

AN ARTISAN EDITION PRESENTS COMPLETE STORIES WITH EACH PAGE SCANNED FROM THE ACTUAL ORIGINAL ART.

While appearing to be in black and white, each page was scanned in color to mimic as closely as possible the experience of viewing the actual original art--for instance, corrections, blue pencils, paste-overs, all the little nuances that make original art unique. Each page is printed the same size as drawn, and the paper selected is as close as possible to the original art board.

Comic art: Unpublished Captain America cover by Jim Steranko

Via Heritage Auctions.

Details:
Jim Steranko Captain America #113 Alternate Unpublished Cover Original Art (Marvel, 1969). Steranko did just three Cap covers, and only about 40 published covers total during his late 1960s/early 1970s heyday, meaning there are too few originals to meet collector demand. And the reason for that demand is the artist's incredible design sense. He certainly "pushed the envelope" of what could be done in comics.
David Spurlock's book Steranko: Arte Noir (2002) pictured this cover and noted that the artist "contrived The Death of Captain America, which he hoped to project over several issues as a major event, and submitted a showcase cover of stark, jolting intensity. Stan Lee rejected the art as being too 'shocking' for the Marvel line." The author goes on to note that the planned storyline was compressed into one issue, #113. Of course, the cover that was later used was itself a classic, with Rick Jones mourning at a memorial of Cap. Here, Cap is mourned by pallbearers Nick Fury, the Vision, Hawkeye, Thor, the Black Panther, and Iron Man (please note that all of the hero figures at bottom and the coffin are a stat, not original art).


Here's the cover Marvel used instead: 


See Steranko's NEW Captain America comics cover

In honor of the hero's 75th anniversary, veteran comics artist Jim Steranko has provided a cover for Marvel's current Sam Wilson: Captain America title, out March 7.

Pop focus: The illustrious Jim Steranko

We've focused on Steranko's S.H.I.E.L.D. art for Marvel Comics, and his paperback covers featuring "The Shadow." This is a more general look at his art, mainly magazine illustrations and posters, that displays his distinctive graphic style.

Enjoy!