Jim Steranko Information

Comic Artist
USA

Biography:
JIM STERANKO has cut a ferocious path through the entertainment arts, with a dozen successful careers to his credit: author, magician, illustrator, escape artist, historian. He is cited as one of the prime architects of Marvel Comics and the co-creator of NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. He also wrote and drew CAPTAIN AMERICA, THE HULK, SUPERMAN, and THE X-MEN (for which he designed the classic title logo); generated more than 150 original storytelling devices and techniques that changed the direction of the comics medium; and evolved a devoted cult of followers who have nicknamed him The Innovator. WIZARD magazine credits Steranko as the 5th Most Influential Artist in the history of the form.

He has painted a multitude of movie posters, record albums, and book covers; and in 1975, created RED TIDE, the First Modern Graphic Novel. As the editor-publisher of the international newsstand entertainment magazine PREVUE, he conducted hundreds of superstar interviews and penned more than three million words over 25 years. He numbers among his friends and associates animation giants Ralph Bakshi and Shamus Culhane; writers Mickey Spillane, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ray Bradbury; and directors Federico Fellini, John Huston, Alain Resnais, and Orson Welles.

As a musician, he gigged with Bill Haley in the early days of rock 'n' roll; as a pop-culture lecturer, his two volumes of THE HISTORY OF COMICS have sold more than 100,000 copies each; as an escape artist, his death-defying performances inspired the character Mister Miracle and, according to Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon, he was the man upon which the protagonist of THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & KLAY was based; and more-photographer, ad agency art director, sideshow fire-eater, male model, typographer, designer...the list goes on.

As a filmmaker, he collaborated with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas-for whom he created the look of Indiana Jones-and Francis Ford Coppola on some of their most popular films, and served as Creative Consultant for the History Channel's two-hour documentary COMIC-BOOK SUPERHEROES-UNMASKED. He has shown his work at more than 300 exhibitions worldwide, including at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC and the Louvre in Paris. His S.H.I.E.L.D. TV reviews for THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER sometimes elicited more hits than any other feature; he shook up Twitter with his innovative TNT technique; and is currently prepping AN EVENING WITH STERANKO for live theatrical venues across the country.

Over the past several decades, he has amassed more than 100 highly-commercial Intellectual Properties-his Theatre of Concepts-which range from children's interactive-learning entertainments to high-action adult digital gaming, from science fiction to superheroes. His vision is to shape, structure, and synthesize character-driven projects with state-of-the-art technology for the World of Tomorrow. And he's still the best-dressed man in comics.