Steranko is great but......

[RickL]

I don't know about acclaimed... I suppose I used to hear Steranko referred to in those terms. But I'm guessing that was in house Marvel hype.

 

I like it because it's kooky. Steranko let it all hang out in those early Furys. I don't think his later stuff had that sense of fun to it.

 

I couldn't take it seriously enough to acclaim it. But, yes sir, I do like it.

[Raphael]

I grew up in the 90s and even though I only know Jim Steranko's Cap issues, and those are awesome.

[ComicConnoisseur]

I don't know about acclaimed... I suppose I used to hear Steranko referred to in those terms. But I'm guessing that was in house Marvel hype.

 

I like it because it's kooky. Steranko let it all hang out in those early Furys. I don't think his later stuff had that sense of fun to it.

 

I couldn't take it seriously enough to acclaim it. But, yes sir, I do like it.

and that`s cool! (thumbs u

btw I find Todd McFarlane`s work overated as well to the person who inferred that it was Mcfarlane`s artwork that influenced my thoughts about Steranko`s work.

Give me Jack "King" Kirby over Steranko and McFarlane anyday.

[jjonahjameson1]

Steranko = 1st quadruple page splash in comics!

 

His design sensibilities were fantastic, and I enjoyed a lot of his work.

 

I believe he's the only artist who's Silver/Bronze books garnered 'Classic Cover' designation in Overstreet.

[namisgr]

Another Steranko innovation was the two-tone 'less is more' style, which he introduced in Nick Fury. Wouldn't be surprised if it had influence on Frank Miller.

[John R]

Isn't he also credited for being the first to use black and white or gray tone for flashback scenes? I remember reading that somewhere.

[RickL]

Give me Jack "King" Kirby over Steranko... anyday.

Well, yeah, but I'll take Kirby over nearly everybody out there. Being somewhere under Kirby allows a lot of leeway in the direction of greatness.

[*paull*]

Actually I like Ditko,Colan and Infantino much better than Steranko.There probally is a reason why Steranko hasn`t produced any works of significance in the last 40 years.

He is similar to Neal Adams. If we look at Neal Adams latest work it is universally panned, the same thing would happen to Steranko if he drew a modern mainstream comic today.

 

I ignored a lot of silliness on this thread until this post. Perhaps you're not familiar with what Steranko did after leaving Marvel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and Spielberg had a higher opinion of Steranko than you do when he asked for these pre-production concept paintings to be made for a film you might recognize:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One more for you...

 

 

 

[Comicopolis]

Those Shadow covers are great

[*paull*]

Here are more works of "no significance":

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[*paull*]

 

 

[Ted Knight]

Yeah, his Shadow work is really awesome. I've always loved his Noir work, too. (thumbs u

[jjonahjameson1]

Give me Jack "King" Kirby over Steranko... anyday.

Well, yeah, but I'll take Kirby over nearly everybody out there. Being somewhere under Kirby allows a lot of leeway in the direction of greatness.

 

Ah yes, those wonderful 'squiggly lines' and warped anatomy brought forth what you call 'greatness'. I'll take Steranko, Adams, Wrightson, Williamson, Salinas and Godwin over Kirby any day of the week, and twice on Sunday!

[RickL]

Those Shadow covers are great. I take it they're paperback novels. Did he ever produce comic stories in this style?

 

Give me Jack "King" Kirby over Steranko... anyday.

Well, yeah, but I'll take Kirby over nearly everybody out there. Being somewhere under Kirby allows a lot of leeway in the direction of greatness.

 

Ah yes, those wonderful 'squiggly lines' and warped anatomy brought forth what you call 'greatness'. I'll take Steranko, Adams, Wrightson, Williamson, Salinas and Godwin over Kirby any day of the week, and twice on Sunday!

 

Kirby was hugely inconsistent, but the flaws you identified are not ubiquitous in his work. Anyway, I'm on Steranko's side and am continuing to enjoy his ST's fury run. It seems to get better and better, artwork especially.

 

But, it has to be said, that Steranko is taking HUGE cues from Kirby in those issues. Especially with his representation of gadgetry and machinery.

[RickL]

I ignored a lot of silliness on this thread until this post. Perhaps you're not familiar with what Steranko did after leaving Marvel.

Why wait for us to embarrass ourselves with ignorance? I can't imagine anyone saying boo about Steranko now that you've demonstrated what he actually went on to do.

[Juswuh]

Re all that pulp/noir stuff: so what? It's all second-hand imagery.

[*paull*]

Re all that pulp/noir stuff: so what? It's all second-hand imagery.

 

Nothing like superheros, right?

[*paull*]

Those Shadow covers are great. I take it they're paperback novels. Did he ever produce comic stories in this style?

 

The final image above (black and white) was a piece that tied into his Red Tide (Chandler) graphic novel. He didn't do any Shadow stories.

[ComicConnoisseur]

Actually I like Ditko,Colan and Infantino much better than Steranko.There probally is a reason why Steranko hasn`t produced any works of significance in the last 40 years.

He is similar to Neal Adams. If we look at Neal Adams latest work it is universally panned, the same thing would happen to Steranko if he drew a modern mainstream comic today.

 

I ignored a lot of silliness on this thread until this post. Perhaps you're not familiar with what Steranko did after leaving Marvel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and Spielberg had a higher opinion of Steranko than you do when he asked for these pre-production concept paintings to be made for a film you might recognize:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One more for you...

 

 

My point was his storytelling in a comicbook. I know he can draw pretty pictures.Lot`s of people can draw that one great shot,but to do comicbook book storytelling that is a different matter.

Example

great storytellers

Eisner

Frank Miller

Berni Wrightson

Steve Ditko

Jack "KING" Kirby

great cover artists

Steranko

Neal Adams

Joe Jusko

The greatest storytelling example would be Carl Barks. I would take a story written

and drawn by Barks over Steranko any day. The key word here is story and not cover. Steranko can draw a cover with the best of them. It`s the insides of a comicbook were he falls below the Carl Barks,Frank Millers and Jack Kirbys of the world.

Same can be said with Neal Adams. Great covers but when you actually go and open up the comics you find that nostalgia can only take you so far.

btw Please don`t take this personal. I do like his covers and I find them amazing. My point of contention was his Nick Fury interiors were lacking, and were not the acclaimed masterpieces I had been led to believe.

[Ted Knight]

My point was his storytelling in a comicbook. I know he can draw pretty pictures.Lot`s of people can draw that one great shot,but to do comicbook book storytelling that is a different matter.

Example

great storytellers

Eisner

Frank Miller

Berni Wrightson

Steve Ditko

Jack "KING" Kirby

great cover artists

Steranko

Neal Adams

Joe Jusko

The greatest storytelling example would be Carl Barks. I would take a story written

and drawn by Barks over Steranko any day. The key word here is story and not cover. Steranko can draw a cover with the best of them. It`s the insides of a comicbook were he falls below the Carl Barks,Frank Millers and Jack Kirbys of the world.

Same can be said with Neal Adams. Great covers but when you actaully go and open up the comics you find that nostalgia can only take you so far.

btw Please don`t take this personal. I do like his covers and I find them amazing. My point of contention was his Nick Fury interiors were lacking, and were not the acclaimed masterpieces I was led to believe.

 

I'm not sure that I agree with you about the names on your story-teller list but I think I agree with you about Steranko and his focus on graphics over narrative. He was definitely one of the first to approach his panels from a cinematic point of view, but the overall presentation of pages and stories is sometimes a little incoherent (kind of like the current crop of film directors- Michael Bay, anyone?). And it could very well be that it was his influence that led to the Alex Ross types and John Cassadays of today which suffer from the same thing.

 

Now, as to that list, I agree whole-heartedly with Eisner, Kirby, Ditko, and Barks, but I'm not sure that either Wrightson or Miller deserves to be in their company. Perhaps Alex Toth and Gil Kane instead? I think Wrightson and Miller fall into the same stylized trap (and what a delicious trap it is) that you dislike about Steranko. I think many of the great iconic artists do the same thing to some extent or another including Frazetta, Wood, and to a much lesser extent, John Byrne.

 

( notice I didn't mention either McFarlane or Lee in there at all, that's because they don't belong... )

 

(thumbs u