Jim Steranko

Cincinnati doesn't get many luminaries these days. Sure Charlaine Harris, Jimmy Buffet, some worn out heavy metal bands - but no Cormac McCarthyies, no Wozniacs, no Doc Horrors….
The Cincinnati Comic Expo will be in town this weekend, and although their big guest of honor isn't a comic guy at all but a film producer, Michael E. Uslan, they are also bringing in Jim Steranko. Maybe that should be Jim fucking Steranko
This dude fairly revolutionized comics around 1970. He's not a genius or anything, he's probably more akin to a god.
This is what comics looked like before Steranko (BS)

This is what they looked like after Steranko (AS)

Steranko brought a cinematic quality to comics which kinda makes sense since comic books are essentially storyboards. That is, all movies are made from comic books. He introduced graphic elements to a graphic medium that previously ignored it's graphicness and surrealism to a medium that's pretty surreal to begin with. He introduced multimedia collage psychedelics & got creative with moiré patterns with Zip-a-Tone screens.He also brought a mature noireness. The mature part certainly got him in trouble a couple times.
This page was controversial. Not only were there no word balloons or bam pow sound effects, it was too racy

Check out the last and next to last panel. They had to be changed to meet the Comics Code.
Original

Published

Steranko's time in comic book production didn't last long, he's done a lot of covers over the years and been involved with other areas of the comic book industry as well as film and animation work.


More on Steranko here at The Drawing of Jim Steranko, including "wallpaper".

Steranko's website which appears to just be a placeholder.

Fishwrap story about the convention.