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The Art of Jim Steranko

By 1966, in the midst of the Silver Age, the American comic industry was going through a curious situation; although it was in a state of full artistic ebullition, driven by the resurgence of superheroes and the consolidation of the style of several masters like Jack Kirby or Joe Kubert, the impact of the panic of the 50’s was still felt, particularly in the age of the creators. An entire generation of illustrators had completely avoided the discredited medium, and the vast majority of comic book artists had been traveling from the Golden Age, at least 10 years back. This was reflected in a high level of technique and professionalism in the comics of the decade, but also in the undeniable stagnation that results from such a standardized and undervalued creative environment. The need for fresh blood was evident wherever you looked.

In that context, Jim Steranko appeared like a lightning bolt that turned the comic book scene upside down. Expert designer and natural showman, adventurer both in front of the page and on the roads, Steranko injected the vibrant attitude of the 60s into Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., making waves throughout the mainstream. And while his creative restlessness and pride in his work meant that his work was relatively brief (only 29 comics for Marvel, and a few more pages for various magazines later), each page still buzzes with the energy of Zap Art. Ladies and gentlemen, the original rockstar of comics… Jim Steranko!

From escapist to graphic revolutionary: the beginnings of a creative genius

Steranko’s life is as colorful and eccentric as the comics for which he would become famous. Jim Steranko was born on November 5, 1938, in Redding, Pennsylvania, into a poor family in the last years of the Great Depression. Having had a brush with tuberculosis in his childhood, and being younger and smaller than his peers, he soon became the target of all kinds of bullying, and his early years were marked by gang fights and family abuse.

Despite these difficult circumstances, young Steranko’s artistic drive was present from very early on, opening and flattening envelopes and wrappers to have paper to draw on. His love for comics began with the newspaper strips of Milton Caniff, Chester Gould, and Frank Robbins, and was later cemented forever with the boxes of comics his uncle gave him. He also went to the movies constantly and learned some magic tricks with his father’s paraphernalia, who worked as a magician and musician in nightclubs. Soon Jim left home and worked in circuses and traveling shows around the country doing magic acts, punctuated by acts of vandalism and juvenile delinquency that earned him more than a brush with the law.

Steranko’s ability to master multiple artistic disciplines demonstrates the versatility that would characterize his entire career. For those looking to develop this same versatility in the art of drawing, exploring different media and techniques can be the first step towards a unique and recognizable style.

As an adult, Steranko worked by day in a printing shop in his native Redding, where he intimately learned all facets of the graphic design and printing process, knowledge that would be vitally useful for the rest of his career. During the nights, he cultivated a parallel career as a magician in nightclubs, specializing in the art of escapism (legend has it that Jack Kirby was inspired by this colorful career to create Mr. Miracle). He also developed a talent for the emerging Rock & Roll music, and had an extensive career as a guitarist for different bands.

Steranko claims for himself the idea of having beautiful girls dancing on stage while he played, which would later become the fashion of Go-Go dancers. This story from his youth shows on the one hand his sharp sense for publicity, and his incessant ability to tell interesting stories, both of his characters and of himself.

The conquest of Marvel: when talent finds its way

In the 60’s Steranko moved to New York with his girlfriend, and quickly got a job for an advertising agency, further refining his design skills in advertisements for the most diverse products. At the same time, he continued with the same passion for comics that had accompanied him since childhood, and although his drawing was still somewhat crude, he was eager for the opportunity to demonstrate what he could do.

His first brush with the industry was a brief period as an inker in Vince Coletta’s studio in 1956, fresh out of high school, but it didn’t lead to anything, and it wasn’t until 1965 that he had a serious opportunity from Joe Simon, Jack Kirby’s former business partner. Simon was editing the Harvey comics line, famous for its Casper and Richie Rich comics, and wanted to try to ride the wave of Silver Age superheroes, so he commissioned Steranko to develop characters and concepts.

While Steranko’s first published work came from this offer, the script and a couple of drawings in Spyman, the collaboration with Simon turned out to be frustrating for the combative and confident Steranko, a warning of things to come, and Harvey’s superhero line did not prosper. A subsequent attempt to enter the industry, producing a comic book for the Tower Comics line, also collapsed due to a fight with his potential editor Samm Schwartz.

Spyman presentation sheet, 1965

Wounded in his pride by that failure, but confident in his abilities, Steranko toured all the comic publishers in New York unsuccessfully seeking the possibility of creating his own work, finally arriving at the Madison Avenue offices of Magazine Management Co., Inc., the home of the Marvel Comics Group – a relatively small publishing operation that, led by artists/writers Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, and editor/writer Stan Lee, had set the comic book world on fire, becoming the creative dynamo of the nascent Silver Age.

Making use of his inexhaustible charisma, Steranko managed to bypass receptionists and editorial staff to put his art in front of Lee himself, who recognized that he had someone with potential in front of him. In a completely unexpected way, Lee pointed to the wall of his office, covered with all the comics that the publisher was producing at that time, and simply said “Choose one.” Steranko, completely surprised by the situation, thought a bit and chose the title that would make him famous.

For emerging artists, Steranko’s persistence and confidence are an invaluable lesson. Want to develop that confidence in your own art? Discover here how to transform your skills step by step.

Nick Fury: The reinvention of spy and superhero comics

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. was Marvel’s attempt to capitalize on the spy fashion of the 60s, with James Bond and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. at the forefront, with the added value of deepening the thriving Marvel universe. The character of Fury was the protagonist of a war comic set in World War II, and the new series brought that character to the modern era, connecting his work in the Army to an eventual career as a secret agent.

Despite the fact that Kirby’s monstrous imagination was well suited to the stylized technology and secret organizations typical of the genre, for some reason the title did not generate much impact on the public. In his first adventures he shared the magazine Strange Tales with Steve Ditko’s Dr. Strange, but after Ditko left Marvel, Strange Tales became one of Marvel’s lowest-circulation magazines. However, Steranko knew how to see the potential of the series, not only to offer the action and spectacle of the spy cinema of the time, but to serve as a basis for the ideas he was eager to apply to the page.

Cover of Steranko’s first published work, Strange Tales #151, December 1966

Steranko’s first works on SHIELD were as an illustrator, over Kirby’s layouts, so he had no influence on the story or how it was told, but already in these first pages Steranko stood out for his skill and particular style. He skillfully handled the deformation of the human figure, essential to the dynamism of Kirby’s style, and his inking was detailed and well balanced. His study of the greats of comics, such as Wally Wood or Will Eisner, was evident, and gave him the support to add a personal touch to his pages even before his narrative ambitions were unleashed.

Page from “Overkill!”, Strange Tales #151. Steranko over Kirby. Note the background of the last panel.

Starting with Strange Tales #154 (March 1967) Steranko took charge of the graphic/narrative aspect of SHIELD, and the following month, in a very unusual move at Marvel at that time, he became not only the artist of SHIELD, but also the writer and colorist, putting his personal touch on all elements of the series (although he still relied on Sam Rosen’s lettering). SHIELD quickly became a roller coaster of graphic experimentation, bold compositions, and constant, frenetic spy action in the Kirby style but passed through a filter of sophistication and modernity that made it the coolest comic at the newsstands.

Central splash of “Who is Scorpio?” Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #1, June 1968

The aesthetic revolution: a new visual language for comics

To begin with, Steranko completely “remixed” the aesthetic concept of the series. Kirby’s Nick Fury, with his permanent beard shadow since 1941 and his cheap cigars, changed his look from Madison Avenue suits to a sleek black jumpsuit, ideal for infiltration missions, and his arsenal of artifacts and vehicles was updated in the best James Bond style but multiplied to superhero level. He also gave him a luxurious apartment in a Manhattan penthouse, with modern furniture and art on the walls, based on his own apartment. Kirby’s famous and imaginative technology was still present, but stylized in new directions, sometimes hyper-detailed, other times more curved and organic, in tune with the design of the time.

Page from Project: Blackout, Strange Tales #160, September 1967. Steranko uses different lines to separate the telecommunicator from the wall, creating the impression that the base is overflowing with cutting-edge technology.

But Fury’s makeover was far from being the most revolutionary aspect of SHIELD. Steranko immediately imprinted his personal mark on the very composition of the comic, reflecting his refined instinct for design. Breaking with Kirby’s classic grid, he employed panels of the most varied shapes and sizes, from cinematic horizontal panels to multi-panel sequences of subtle movements, reminiscent of Harvey Kurtzman’s work for EC Comics.

Page from Death Trap!, Strange Tales #155, April 1967. The influence of EC is noticeable not only in the use of Kurtzman’s techniques but also in the inking, reminiscent of Wally Wood and Johnny Craig.

He even played with the very shape of the panels to communicate narrative elements with great effectiveness. Despite these bold decisions for the conservative American comic industry, his talent for graphic design shines through his compositions, keeping the pages readable and understandable.

Page from “Beware… The Deadly Dreadnought!”, Strange Tales #154, March 1967. The symmetrical composition of the first two panels, combined with the radio emission effect of the gutter, produce the impression of simultaneity in an elegant way.

The experimentation with visual narrative that Steranko did continues to be relevant for contemporary artists. Click here to explore advanced visual storytelling techniques that will transform your illustrations.

The action continued to follow the Kirby mold of explosive dynamism, with figures of obvious inspiration but taking the stylization of anatomy in new directions. Steranko knew well from his days as an advertiser that while his personal goal was to express himself artistically, his objective was to sell magazines, and he kept to Marvel’s basic line, sticking to Kirby’s epic battles and rhythm (and Lee’s irreverent verbosity) but added a whole new range of graphic options that elevated it above mere imitation.

Spectacular page brimming with action from The Second Doom!, Strange Tales #161, October 1967

The Zap Art: merging aesthetic worlds in the Marvel universe

Steranko took inspiration from all kinds of influences both modern and ancient that fascinated him: psychedelia, optical art, Film Noir, Jack Cole’s comics, Andy Warhol’s Pop Art, Salvador Dalí’s surrealism, and an infinity of other things, and combined it in an approach he called “zap art,” an exploration of the potential of comics as Pop art. For this he used all kinds of techniques to achieve the most varied visual effects, from the creative use of patterns and zip-a-tone, to collages and photomontages, similar to what Kirby had been doing for a couple of years, but taking it much further.

Splash page from Project: Blackout. Steranko combines here ink drawing, photography, a copy of a Duoshade drawing, different typographies, and more visual resources that completely transform the reading experience.

As the issues passed, Steranko pushed the visual possibilities of superhero comics to their limits, with increasingly daring compositions. His enormous figures loaded with energy escaped from the edges of the panel to walk over the entire page, and the spectacular splash pages and even double spreads became more and more common, and spectacular, culminating in the unprecedented quadruple spread, an explosion of action worthy of a cinerama screen.

The famous quadruple splash from Armageddon!, Strange Tales #168, April 1968. Stan Lee was strongly opposed to publishing it, until Steranko pointed out to him that readers would have to buy two issues to appreciate it in all its splendor.

His pages were brimming with ideas to involve the reader as much as possible in the story, bringing out his intimate knowledge of printing techniques and layout concepts. This obsession with the reader’s experience transformed the way superhero comics could be approached, opening paths that other artists would follow later.

In this risky page from If death be my destiny!, Strange Tales #166, March 1968, Steranko forces the reader to modify their reading pattern to reproduce Nick Fury’s disorientation in the labyrinth

Steranko’s ability to experiment with new styles and techniques demonstrates the importance of stepping out of one’s comfort zone. Dare to experiment with new drawing techniques through our specialized tools.

The rise and tensions: when creativity clashes with industry

In 1968, SHIELD got its own magazine, and Steranko immediately took advantage of the extra space to deepen his aesthetic and narrative approach, which he would later continue to develop in 3 issues of Captain America that represent the apex of Steranko’s intentions with the superhero genre.

New ways of representing cosmic energy from optical art in Who Is Scorpio?

His surrealist influence and obsession with cinema reached unheard-of limits, filling his stories with psychedelic compositions unimaginable in another mass medium at the time. Each page was a visual manifesto that challenged established conventions and opened new paths for graphic narrative.

Nightmarish and hallucinated sequence from Tomorrow You Live, Tonight I Die!, Captain America #111, March 1969

But by this point, while his experimental enthusiasm remained unscathed, his patience with the industry was rapidly running out. On the one hand, the restless Steranko not only continued working at the advertising agency, but also played 3 or 4 nights a week with his rock band, and drew his pages in the early morning. And despite the effort he put into his work, comics were by far the activity that paid the least.

The splash page of Tomorrow you live, tonight I die!. Steranko used all the colors available in the four-color process, applied to a frenetic montage of scenarios. The result is another fantastic page without precedent until its publication.

He also got tired of having to submit to the censorship of the Comics Code Authority, which constantly resisted his drawings of beautiful women and his more seductive pages, limiting his creative freedom and his artistic vision.

Attractive page from Today Earth Died!, Strange Tales #168, May 1968. When it was originally published, the CCA ordered this page to be corrected, covering the careful contour of the figure of Contessa Valentina, particularly her buttocks. Modern editions reproduce it in its original splendor.

But the biggest headaches were definitely with his own editor. Stan Lee constantly resisted Steranko’s ideas, begging him to make pages more like the Kirby layouts he had copied in his early days. It got to a point where Steranko began to feel that his effort to elevate superhero comics to a new graphic level was not only poorly rewarded but even actively resisted by a company that at the end of the day only cared about selling cheap reading material to the children of America.

This fantastic page from The strange death of Captain America, Captain America #113, May 1969, reflects Steranko at his maximum expression, using limited chromatic palettes to create atmosphere, large-scale scenarios with a modern look, and an effective montage of super close-ups to add emotion and drama to an intentionally cold scene. Steranko had taken the Marvel style to an unrecognizable limit.

For those looking to master color and composition techniques, enter here to perfect the art of color and composition as Steranko did.

The break and new horizons: reinventing oneself after Marvel

Finally, after Captain America, a couple of issues of X-Men (in which he redesigned their famous logo) and a handful of covers, Steranko got fed up with this treatment and had a tempestuous fight with Lee over At the stroke of midnight, a short horror story for the new Tower of Shadows magazine. Steranko again reinvented his style, with strong inspiration from classic horror cinema and the stories of H.P. Lovecraft, but Lee resisted the style of the art, the script, the cover that Steranko had originally designed, and even the title of the story.

After this incident, Steranko became convinced that if they weren’t going to pay him well, the least they could do was give him the dignity of accepting his work as he presented it to them. Although he soon reconciled with Stan, he decided after only 3 years that his stage as a comic artist had gone as far as the industry would allow him.

All kinds of disturbing panel transitions, always in constant movement, give a hypnotic and chilling rhythm to this page from At the stroke of midnight!, Tower of Shadows #1, September 1969.

The restless Steranko didn’t spend much time lamenting after his departure from Marvel. According to his own words, the same day he went to visit an illustrator friend to find out how that field was handled, who in an hour gave him an intensive course in acrylic painting. Soon, armed with a portfolio of 6 pieces (and again his unbreakable charisma), Steranko entered the offices of Lancer Books, a publisher of mass literature, and came out with a new career as an illustrator of paperback novel covers of all genres, highlighting his series of covers for the reprint of The Shadow pulp novels.

Steranko covers for The Shadow. At one point Steranko was considered by DC Comics to draw the comic book revival of the character, but the job finally went to the young Mike Kaluta.

The editorial legacy: Supergraphics and the history of comics

At the same time that he was developing his career as an illustrator, Steranko founded his own self-managed publishing house, Supergraphics, through which he published various projects, such as the magazine Comixscene (Later Mediascene and finally Prevue), in which he covered news and interviews with figures from the world of comics, art, music, film, and whatever interested Steranko that issue.

One of his most notable publications were the two volumes (of an original plan of 6 that did not materialize) of The Steranko History of Comics, a review of the evolution of the medium during the Golden Age that was one of the first histories of comics written in the United States, accompanied by original art by Steranko and others, numerous reproductions of covers, some complete stories, and interviews with creators of the time, quite a rarity in those days.

Double cover of The Steranko History of Comics, in its second edition of 1972.

This facet of Steranko as a historian and researcher of the medium demonstrates his deep commitment to the art of comics. For those interested in the historical evolution of drawing, Are you passionate about comic history? Discover exclusive resources to delve into this fascinating evolution.

Chandler and beyond: innovating in new formats

Parallel to these projects, Steranko continued to aim for new ways of telling stories that would stimulate him creatively. Thus, in 1976 he created Chandler: Red Tide, a precursor to the graphic novel, for the Fiction Illustrated series by his friend Byron Preisse. Moving away from comic conventions such as speech bubbles, and the elaborate layouts he helped popularize, Steranko put together a novel in the best neo-noir style of the time, with fixed panels but without text above, creating a reading rhythm that combined image and word in a novel way, always supported by his exquisite sense of design and narrative.

Chandler did not make a major impact in sales, but its influence on subsequent police comics, such as Frank Miller’s Sin City, is obvious and undeniable. Steranko had again expanded the limits of what was possible in graphic narrative, establishing a format that would be intensely explored in the following decades.

A page from Chandler showing its peculiar narrative. Steranko’s instinct for all things pulp and noir jumps out in every drawing.

Steranko’s work as a cartoonist did not advance much after Chandler, adding some pieces since then, such as a 10-page contribution to Superman #400, a personal favor to his friend Julie Schwartz, and a masterful adaptation of the movie Outland, with Sean Connery, for Heavy Metal magazine in 1981. In both works Steranko used large panoramic double-page panels, always exploring the limits of the medium.

In this page from Outland, as in all the others, Steranko’s ability to compose scenarios of colossal scale and impeccable narrative is on display.

From Marvel to Hollywood: the impact on film and popular culture

During this time Steranko worked on different projects in Hollywood, and his fame as a cartoonist earned him the call from a confessed fan of the medium, George Lucas. Fresh from the success of Star Wars, Lucas began to develop the concept of the character of Indiana Jones with his friend Stephen Spielberg, and asked Steranko to illustrate some conceptual scenes of the story to consolidate the design of the character and sell the concept to the studios.

Steranko expertly captured the pulp vibes that Lucas and Spielberg were looking for, and his paintings defined not only Harrison Ford’s look and costume but the entire atmosphere of the film. This direct influence of Steranko on one of the most important cinematic icons of all time demonstrates the power of his artistic vision and his ability to communicate visual concepts that resonate universally.

The legacy continues: Steranko today

Currently Steranko remains active in his role as a designer, producing beautiful artist editions of his work in the 60s, and cultivates a strong online presence on Twitter, where he likes to tell spectacular stories of unverifiable veracity, but very entertaining. At 85 years old, he still has multiple projects in the pipeline, while touring conventions around the world receiving the adulation of generations of fans.

Steranko’s restless, astute, and quite arrogant but with much talent to back it up spirit continues to shine to this day in all the projects to which he contributed, and the American comic’s debt to his ingenuity and boldness deepens every day. With just a handful of pages, Steranko not only fulfilled his dream of drawing comics, but gave enormous dimensions to the dreams of hundreds of thousands of young people who immersed themselves in the world of super-espionage, panel after panel.

Conclusion: The artist who transformed a medium

Jim Steranko’s influence far transcends the reduced number of pages he drew for Marvel. His innovative approach and artistic vision revolutionized the way we understand graphic narrative and expanded the expressive possibilities of comics. From his experiments with page design to his fusion of disparate influences from fine arts, cinema, and popular culture, Steranko demonstrated that comics could aspire to be a sophisticated and powerful artistic medium.

What makes Steranko’s legacy so relevant even today is his unbreakable commitment to innovation and excellence. He never settled for following established rules or gave in to commercial pressures when these went against his creative vision. For contemporary artists, this example of artistic integrity remains as inspiring as his revolutionary pages of Nick Fury.

His ability to constantly reinvent himself—from escapist to graphic designer, from comic artist to cover illustrator, from historian to concept artist for Hollywood—also teaches us a valuable lesson about versatility and adaptability in the creative world. In a time where specialization is the norm, Steranko reminds us of the value of constant exploration and the daring to venture into unknown territories.

Perhaps Steranko’s greatest triumph was demonstrating that even within the limitations of a commercial industry like superhero comics, there is room for personal expression and radical experimentation. With each page he drew, he challenged preconceived notions about what a comic could be and opened new horizons for generations of artists to come.

If you want to follow in the footsteps of this revolutionary of sequential art, visit our platform to discover how to develop your own unique and revolutionary style.

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The Art of Jim Steranko

By 1966, in the midst of the Silver Age, the American comic industry was going through a curious situation; although it was in a state of full artistic ebullition, driven by the resurgence of superheroes and the consolidation of the style of several masters like Jack Kirby or Joe Kubert, the impact of the panic of the 50’s was still felt, particularly in the age of the creators. An entire generation of illustrators had completely avoided the discredited medium, and the vast majority of comic book artists had been traveling from the Golden Age, at least 10 years back. This was reflected in a high level of technique and professionalism in the comics of the decade, but also in the undeniable stagnation that results from such a standardized and undervalued creative environment. The need for fresh blood was evident wherever you looked.

In that context, Jim Steranko appeared like a lightning bolt that turned the comic book scene upside down. Expert designer and natural showman, adventurer both in front of the page and on the roads, Steranko injected the vibrant attitude of the 60s into Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., making waves throughout the mainstream. And while his creative restlessness and pride in his work meant that his work was relatively brief (only 29 comics for Marvel, and a few more pages for various magazines later), each page still buzzes with the energy of Zap Art. Ladies and gentlemen, the original rockstar of comics… Jim Steranko!

From escapist to graphic revolutionary: the beginnings of a creative genius

Steranko’s life is as colorful and eccentric as the comics for which he would become famous. Jim Steranko was born on November 5, 1938, in Redding, Pennsylvania, into a poor family in the last years of the Great Depression. Having had a brush with tuberculosis in his childhood, and being younger and smaller than his peers, he soon became the target of all kinds of bullying, and his early years were marked by gang fights and family abuse.

Despite these difficult circumstances, young Steranko’s artistic drive was present from very early on, opening and flattening envelopes and wrappers to have paper to draw on. His love for comics began with the newspaper strips of Milton Caniff, Chester Gould, and Frank Robbins, and was later cemented forever with the boxes of comics his uncle gave him. He also went to the movies constantly and learned some magic tricks with his father’s paraphernalia, who worked as a magician and musician in nightclubs. Soon Jim left home and worked in circuses and traveling shows around the country doing magic acts, punctuated by acts of vandalism and juvenile delinquency that earned him more than a brush with the law.

Steranko’s ability to master multiple artistic disciplines demonstrates the versatility that would characterize his entire career. For those looking to develop this same versatility in the art of drawing, exploring different media and techniques can be the first step towards a unique and recognizable style.

As an adult, Steranko worked by day in a printing shop in his native Redding, where he intimately learned all facets of the graphic design and printing process, knowledge that would be vitally useful for the rest of his career. During the nights, he cultivated a parallel career as a magician in nightclubs, specializing in the art of escapism (legend has it that Jack Kirby was inspired by this colorful career to create Mr. Miracle). He also developed a talent for the emerging Rock & Roll music, and had an extensive career as a guitarist for different bands.

Steranko claims for himself the idea of having beautiful girls dancing on stage while he played, which would later become the fashion of Go-Go dancers. This story from his youth shows on the one hand his sharp sense for publicity, and his incessant ability to tell interesting stories, both of his characters and of himself.

The conquest of Marvel: when talent finds its way

In the 60’s Steranko moved to New York with his girlfriend, and quickly got a job for an advertising agency, further refining his design skills in advertisements for the most diverse products. At the same time, he continued with the same passion for comics that had accompanied him since childhood, and although his drawing was still somewhat crude, he was eager for the opportunity to demonstrate what he could do.

His first brush with the industry was a brief period as an inker in Vince Coletta’s studio in 1956, fresh out of high school, but it didn’t lead to anything, and it wasn’t until 1965 that he had a serious opportunity from Joe Simon, Jack Kirby’s former business partner. Simon was editing the Harvey comics line, famous for its Casper and Richie Rich comics, and wanted to try to ride the wave of Silver Age superheroes, so he commissioned Steranko to develop characters and concepts.

While Steranko’s first published work came from this offer, the script and a couple of drawings in Spyman, the collaboration with Simon turned out to be frustrating for the combative and confident Steranko, a warning of things to come, and Harvey’s superhero line did not prosper. A subsequent attempt to enter the industry, producing a comic book for the Tower Comics line, also collapsed due to a fight with his potential editor Samm Schwartz.

Spyman presentation sheet, 1965

Wounded in his pride by that failure, but confident in his abilities, Steranko toured all the comic publishers in New York unsuccessfully seeking the possibility of creating his own work, finally arriving at the Madison Avenue offices of Magazine Management Co., Inc., the home of the Marvel Comics Group – a relatively small publishing operation that, led by artists/writers Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, and editor/writer Stan Lee, had set the comic book world on fire, becoming the creative dynamo of the nascent Silver Age.

Making use of his inexhaustible charisma, Steranko managed to bypass receptionists and editorial staff to put his art in front of Lee himself, who recognized that he had someone with potential in front of him. In a completely unexpected way, Lee pointed to the wall of his office, covered with all the comics that the publisher was producing at that time, and simply said “Choose one.” Steranko, completely surprised by the situation, thought a bit and chose the title that would make him famous.

For emerging artists, Steranko’s persistence and confidence are an invaluable lesson. Want to develop that confidence in your own art? Discover here how to transform your skills step by step.

Nick Fury: The reinvention of spy and superhero comics

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. was Marvel’s attempt to capitalize on the spy fashion of the 60s, with James Bond and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. at the forefront, with the added value of deepening the thriving Marvel universe. The character of Fury was the protagonist of a war comic set in World War II, and the new series brought that character to the modern era, connecting his work in the Army to an eventual career as a secret agent.

Despite the fact that Kirby’s monstrous imagination was well suited to the stylized technology and secret organizations typical of the genre, for some reason the title did not generate much impact on the public. In his first adventures he shared the magazine Strange Tales with Steve Ditko’s Dr. Strange, but after Ditko left Marvel, Strange Tales became one of Marvel’s lowest-circulation magazines. However, Steranko knew how to see the potential of the series, not only to offer the action and spectacle of the spy cinema of the time, but to serve as a basis for the ideas he was eager to apply to the page.

Cover of Steranko’s first published work, Strange Tales #151, December 1966

Steranko’s first works on SHIELD were as an illustrator, over Kirby’s layouts, so he had no influence on the story or how it was told, but already in these first pages Steranko stood out for his skill and particular style. He skillfully handled the deformation of the human figure, essential to the dynamism of Kirby’s style, and his inking was detailed and well balanced. His study of the greats of comics, such as Wally Wood or Will Eisner, was evident, and gave him the support to add a personal touch to his pages even before his narrative ambitions were unleashed.

Page from “Overkill!”, Strange Tales #151. Steranko over Kirby. Note the background of the last panel.

Starting with Strange Tales #154 (March 1967) Steranko took charge of the graphic/narrative aspect of SHIELD, and the following month, in a very unusual move at Marvel at that time, he became not only the artist of SHIELD, but also the writer and colorist, putting his personal touch on all elements of the series (although he still relied on Sam Rosen’s lettering). SHIELD quickly became a roller coaster of graphic experimentation, bold compositions, and constant, frenetic spy action in the Kirby style but passed through a filter of sophistication and modernity that made it the coolest comic at the newsstands.

Central splash of “Who is Scorpio?” Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #1, June 1968

The aesthetic revolution: a new visual language for comics

To begin with, Steranko completely “remixed” the aesthetic concept of the series. Kirby’s Nick Fury, with his permanent beard shadow since 1941 and his cheap cigars, changed his look from Madison Avenue suits to a sleek black jumpsuit, ideal for infiltration missions, and his arsenal of artifacts and vehicles was updated in the best James Bond style but multiplied to superhero level. He also gave him a luxurious apartment in a Manhattan penthouse, with modern furniture and art on the walls, based on his own apartment. Kirby’s famous and imaginative technology was still present, but stylized in new directions, sometimes hyper-detailed, other times more curved and organic, in tune with the design of the time.

Page from Project: Blackout, Strange Tales #160, September 1967. Steranko uses different lines to separate the telecommunicator from the wall, creating the impression that the base is overflowing with cutting-edge technology.

But Fury’s makeover was far from being the most revolutionary aspect of SHIELD. Steranko immediately imprinted his personal mark on the very composition of the comic, reflecting his refined instinct for design. Breaking with Kirby’s classic grid, he employed panels of the most varied shapes and sizes, from cinematic horizontal panels to multi-panel sequences of subtle movements, reminiscent of Harvey Kurtzman’s work for EC Comics.

Page from Death Trap!, Strange Tales #155, April 1967. The influence of EC is noticeable not only in the use of Kurtzman’s techniques but also in the inking, reminiscent of Wally Wood and Johnny Craig.

He even played with the very shape of the panels to communicate narrative elements with great effectiveness. Despite these bold decisions for the conservative American comic industry, his talent for graphic design shines through his compositions, keeping the pages readable and understandable.

Page from “Beware… The Deadly Dreadnought!”, Strange Tales #154, March 1967. The symmetrical composition of the first two panels, combined with the radio emission effect of the gutter, produce the impression of simultaneity in an elegant way.

The experimentation with visual narrative that Steranko did continues to be relevant for contemporary artists. Click here to explore advanced visual storytelling techniques that will transform your illustrations.

The action continued to follow the Kirby mold of explosive dynamism, with figures of obvious inspiration but taking the stylization of anatomy in new directions. Steranko knew well from his days as an advertiser that while his personal goal was to express himself artistically, his objective was to sell magazines, and he kept to Marvel’s basic line, sticking to Kirby’s epic battles and rhythm (and Lee’s irreverent verbosity) but added a whole new range of graphic options that elevated it above mere imitation.

Spectacular page brimming with action from The Second Doom!, Strange Tales #161, October 1967

The Zap Art: merging aesthetic worlds in the Marvel universe

Steranko took inspiration from all kinds of influences both modern and ancient that fascinated him: psychedelia, optical art, Film Noir, Jack Cole’s comics, Andy Warhol’s Pop Art, Salvador Dalí’s surrealism, and an infinity of other things, and combined it in an approach he called “zap art,” an exploration of the potential of comics as Pop art. For this he used all kinds of techniques to achieve the most varied visual effects, from the creative use of patterns and zip-a-tone, to collages and photomontages, similar to what Kirby had been doing for a couple of years, but taking it much further.

Splash page from Project: Blackout. Steranko combines here ink drawing, photography, a copy of a Duoshade drawing, different typographies, and more visual resources that completely transform the reading experience.

As the issues passed, Steranko pushed the visual possibilities of superhero comics to their limits, with increasingly daring compositions. His enormous figures loaded with energy escaped from the edges of the panel to walk over the entire page, and the spectacular splash pages and even double spreads became more and more common, and spectacular, culminating in the unprecedented quadruple spread, an explosion of action worthy of a cinerama screen.

The famous quadruple splash from Armageddon!, Strange Tales #168, April 1968. Stan Lee was strongly opposed to publishing it, until Steranko pointed out to him that readers would have to buy two issues to appreciate it in all its splendor.

His pages were brimming with ideas to involve the reader as much as possible in the story, bringing out his intimate knowledge of printing techniques and layout concepts. This obsession with the reader’s experience transformed the way superhero comics could be approached, opening paths that other artists would follow later.

In this risky page from If death be my destiny!, Strange Tales #166, March 1968, Steranko forces the reader to modify their reading pattern to reproduce Nick Fury’s disorientation in the labyrinth

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The rise and tensions: when creativity clashes with industry

In 1968, SHIELD got its own magazine, and Steranko immediately took advantage of the extra space to deepen his aesthetic and narrative approach, which he would later continue to develop in 3 issues of Captain America that represent the apex of Steranko’s intentions with the superhero genre.

New ways of representing cosmic energy from optical art in Who Is Scorpio?

His surrealist influence and obsession with cinema reached unheard-of limits, filling his stories with psychedelic compositions unimaginable in another mass medium at the time. Each page was a visual manifesto that challenged established conventions and opened new paths for graphic narrative.

Nightmarish and hallucinated sequence from Tomorrow You Live, Tonight I Die!, Captain America #111, March 1969

But by this point, while his experimental enthusiasm remained unscathed, his patience with the industry was rapidly running out. On the one hand, the restless Steranko not only continued working at the advertising agency, but also played 3 or 4 nights a week with his rock band, and drew his pages in the early morning. And despite the effort he put into his work, comics were by far the activity that paid the least.

The splash page of Tomorrow you live, tonight I die!. Steranko used all the colors available in the four-color process, applied to a frenetic montage of scenarios. The result is another fantastic page without precedent until its publication.

He also got tired of having to submit to the censorship of the Comics Code Authority, which constantly resisted his drawings of beautiful women and his more seductive pages, limiting his creative freedom and his artistic vision.

Attractive page from Today Earth Died!, Strange Tales #168, May 1968. When it was originally published, the CCA ordered this page to be corrected, covering the careful contour of the figure of Contessa Valentina, particularly her buttocks. Modern editions reproduce it in its original splendor.

But the biggest headaches were definitely with his own editor. Stan Lee constantly resisted Steranko’s ideas, begging him to make pages more like the Kirby layouts he had copied in his early days. It got to a point where Steranko began to feel that his effort to elevate superhero comics to a new graphic level was not only poorly rewarded but even actively resisted by a company that at the end of the day only cared about selling cheap reading material to the children of America.

This fantastic page from The strange death of Captain America, Captain America #113, May 1969, reflects Steranko at his maximum expression, using limited chromatic palettes to create atmosphere, large-scale scenarios with a modern look, and an effective montage of super close-ups to add emotion and drama to an intentionally cold scene. Steranko had taken the Marvel style to an unrecognizable limit.

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The break and new horizons: reinventing oneself after Marvel

Finally, after Captain America, a couple of issues of X-Men (in which he redesigned their famous logo) and a handful of covers, Steranko got fed up with this treatment and had a tempestuous fight with Lee over At the stroke of midnight, a short horror story for the new Tower of Shadows magazine. Steranko again reinvented his style, with strong inspiration from classic horror cinema and the stories of H.P. Lovecraft, but Lee resisted the style of the art, the script, the cover that Steranko had originally designed, and even the title of the story.

After this incident, Steranko became convinced that if they weren’t going to pay him well, the least they could do was give him the dignity of accepting his work as he presented it to them. Although he soon reconciled with Stan, he decided after only 3 years that his stage as a comic artist had gone as far as the industry would allow him.

All kinds of disturbing panel transitions, always in constant movement, give a hypnotic and chilling rhythm to this page from At the stroke of midnight!, Tower of Shadows #1, September 1969.

The restless Steranko didn’t spend much time lamenting after his departure from Marvel. According to his own words, the same day he went to visit an illustrator friend to find out how that field was handled, who in an hour gave him an intensive course in acrylic painting. Soon, armed with a portfolio of 6 pieces (and again his unbreakable charisma), Steranko entered the offices of Lancer Books, a publisher of mass literature, and came out with a new career as an illustrator of paperback novel covers of all genres, highlighting his series of covers for the reprint of The Shadow pulp novels.

Steranko covers for The Shadow. At one point Steranko was considered by DC Comics to draw the comic book revival of the character, but the job finally went to the young Mike Kaluta.

The editorial legacy: Supergraphics and the history of comics

At the same time that he was developing his career as an illustrator, Steranko founded his own self-managed publishing house, Supergraphics, through which he published various projects, such as the magazine Comixscene (Later Mediascene and finally Prevue), in which he covered news and interviews with figures from the world of comics, art, music, film, and whatever interested Steranko that issue.

One of his most notable publications were the two volumes (of an original plan of 6 that did not materialize) of The Steranko History of Comics, a review of the evolution of the medium during the Golden Age that was one of the first histories of comics written in the United States, accompanied by original art by Steranko and others, numerous reproductions of covers, some complete stories, and interviews with creators of the time, quite a rarity in those days.

Double cover of The Steranko History of Comics, in its second edition of 1972.

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Chandler and beyond: innovating in new formats

Parallel to these projects, Steranko continued to aim for new ways of telling stories that would stimulate him creatively. Thus, in 1976 he created Chandler: Red Tide, a precursor to the graphic novel, for the Fiction Illustrated series by his friend Byron Preisse. Moving away from comic conventions such as speech bubbles, and the elaborate layouts he helped popularize, Steranko put together a novel in the best neo-noir style of the time, with fixed panels but without text above, creating a reading rhythm that combined image and word in a novel way, always supported by his exquisite sense of design and narrative.

Chandler did not make a major impact in sales, but its influence on subsequent police comics, such as Frank Miller’s Sin City, is obvious and undeniable. Steranko had again expanded the limits of what was possible in graphic narrative, establishing a format that would be intensely explored in the following decades.

A page from Chandler showing its peculiar narrative. Steranko’s instinct for all things pulp and noir jumps out in every drawing.

Steranko’s work as a cartoonist did not advance much after Chandler, adding some pieces since then, such as a 10-page contribution to Superman #400, a personal favor to his friend Julie Schwartz, and a masterful adaptation of the movie Outland, with Sean Connery, for Heavy Metal magazine in 1981. In both works Steranko used large panoramic double-page panels, always exploring the limits of the medium.

In this page from Outland, as in all the others, Steranko’s ability to compose scenarios of colossal scale and impeccable narrative is on display.

From Marvel to Hollywood: the impact on film and popular culture

During this time Steranko worked on different projects in Hollywood, and his fame as a cartoonist earned him the call from a confessed fan of the medium, George Lucas. Fresh from the success of Star Wars, Lucas began to develop the concept of the character of Indiana Jones with his friend Stephen Spielberg, and asked Steranko to illustrate some conceptual scenes of the story to consolidate the design of the character and sell the concept to the studios.

Steranko expertly captured the pulp vibes that Lucas and Spielberg were looking for, and his paintings defined not only Harrison Ford’s look and costume but the entire atmosphere of the film. This direct influence of Steranko on one of the most important cinematic icons of all time demonstrates the power of his artistic vision and his ability to communicate visual concepts that resonate universally.

The legacy continues: Steranko today

Currently Steranko remains active in his role as a designer, producing beautiful artist editions of his work in the 60s, and cultivates a strong online presence on Twitter, where he likes to tell spectacular stories of unverifiable veracity, but very entertaining. At 85 years old, he still has multiple projects in the pipeline, while touring conventions around the world receiving the adulation of generations of fans.

Steranko’s restless, astute, and quite arrogant but with much talent to back it up spirit continues to shine to this day in all the projects to which he contributed, and the American comic’s debt to his ingenuity and boldness deepens every day. With just a handful of pages, Steranko not only fulfilled his dream of drawing comics, but gave enormous dimensions to the dreams of hundreds of thousands of young people who immersed themselves in the world of super-espionage, panel after panel.

Conclusion: The artist who transformed a medium

Jim Steranko’s influence far transcends the reduced number of pages he drew for Marvel. His innovative approach and artistic vision revolutionized the way we understand graphic narrative and expanded the expressive possibilities of comics. From his experiments with page design to his fusion of disparate influences from fine arts, cinema, and popular culture, Steranko demonstrated that comics could aspire to be a sophisticated and powerful artistic medium.

What makes Steranko’s legacy so relevant even today is his unbreakable commitment to innovation and excellence. He never settled for following established rules or gave in to commercial pressures when these went against his creative vision. For contemporary artists, this example of artistic integrity remains as inspiring as his revolutionary pages of Nick Fury.

His ability to constantly reinvent himself—from escapist to graphic designer, from comic artist to cover illustrator, from historian to concept artist for Hollywood—also teaches us a valuable lesson about versatility and adaptability in the creative world. In a time where specialization is the norm, Steranko reminds us of the value of constant exploration and the daring to venture into unknown territories.

Perhaps Steranko’s greatest triumph was demonstrating that even within the limitations of a commercial industry like superhero comics, there is room for personal expression and radical experimentation. With each page he drew, he challenged preconceived notions about what a comic could be and opened new horizons for generations of artists to come.

If you want to follow in the footsteps of this revolutionary of sequential art, visit our platform to discover how to develop your own unique and revolutionary style.

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