Marvel Visionaries: Steranko

(Marvel, 2003)
™ and © Marvel Entertainment Group

Jim Steranko earned his reputation as one of the revolutionary art talents of the 1960s on the basis of fewer than 30 stories done for Marvel between 1966 and 1972. His work on Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. in Strange Tales and the first five issues of the self-titled series were collected in two trade paperback editions in 2000 and 2001. Now, Marvel has gathered the remaining stories and covers into a 128-page trade paperback as part of its Marvel Visionaries series.

Marvel Visionaries: Steranko leads off with the rarely reprinted two-part story from X-Men (Vol. 1) #50-51, featuring the debut of Polaris. Unfortunately, this is more of a historical curiosity included for completists’ sake than for artistic merit. Not only is Arnold Drake’s script florid and uninspired, but Steranko’s bold layouts are buried under a horrid ink job from John Tartaglione.

Joe Sinnott is a much more sympathetic embellisher, giving Steranko a Kirbyish sheen in the first of a three-part Captain America arc from Captain America (Vol. 1) #110-111 and #113 (#112, a fill-in by Kirby, was omitted). Here, Cap battles The Hulk, and Rick Jones decides to don the mantle of Bucky. In the final two parts of the story, dealing with the death and return of Captain America, Tom Palmer finds the perfect balance of clean blacks and halftone effects to bring out the best in Steranko’s dynamic designs. Thirty years down the line, the art still leaps off the page and dazzles the eye.

The final two stories are the great “At the Stroke of Midnight” from Tower of Shadows #1 and “My Heart Broke in Hollywood” from Our Love Story #5. Both show Steranko working in different, though no less arresting, styles that rise high above the by-the-numbers genre scripts. Finally, there are the often-spectacular covers Steranko provided throughout the 1970s for such unassuming titles as Creatures on the Loose, Supernatural Thrillers, and Tex Dawson, Gunfighter. Seeing all of this great work in such a beautifully produced volume is a treat for old and new fans alike, and once more points out the great loss to the comics world when Steranko withdrew from the business in the early ’70s.

— Rob Salkowitz

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Jim Steranko