Jim Steranko Biographical Interview by Alex Grand

Alex Grand interviewed American graphic artist, comic book writer/artist, film production illustrator, Jim Steranko in 2018, discussing his life from when he was born in 1938, through his childhood comic book and strip fascinations, his teenage Magician and Rock and Roll years with Billy Haley, where he created the first Go Go dancer, his Advertising career in his early 20s, his 1965 stint with Harvey (with Joe Simon) and Tower Comics (with Wally Wood), a meeting with Ralph Bakshi, eventually landing at Marvel Comics with Stan Lee in 1966, when he finished out his term at Marvel Comics with Stan Lee 1970, creating the fanzine, FOOM, writing his 2 Volume History of Comics, starting his SuperGraphics publication company, his magazine series from Comixscene to Mediascene to Prevue, his 1975 Graphic Novel
Red Tide, his 1981 Outland adaptation for Heavy Metal, his visual creator design of Indiana Jones for Lucas and Spielberg, his piece in the 1984 Superman 400 anniversary issue for Julius Schwartz, his ollaboration with Francis Ford Coppola for 1992 Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the end of Prevue Magazine in 1996 and beyond into his present projects.

#Steranko #Marvel #JimSteranko #StanLee #JackKirby #MarvelComics #ComicBooks #superheroes #superhero #NickFury #AgentsOfShield #GoGoDancers #Fanzine

📜 Video chapters
00:00:00 Start
00:00:18 Comics in Jim Steranko’s childhood
00:07:08 Tarbell Course In Magic course
00:10:45 I invented Go-Go Girl on stage dance
00:17:53 Bill Haley & His Comets
00:20:16 Rock and Roll story, Danny Cedrone
00:21:20 Designing flyers and advertisements
00:23:34 Frank Robbins, The roots of comic book style
00:25:06 Entering the advertising business
00:29:29 From a printing press to advertising agency
00:35:00 Heart of Comics: Storytelling
00:39:04 Julius Schwartz
00:42:48 Harvey Thriller Comics, Gladiator, Magic Master(Sorcerer)
00:51:56 Wally Wood, Harry Shorten, Samm Schwartz, Super Agent X
00:57:47 John Goldwater-Archie comics, Murray Boltinoff-DC
00:59:40 Ralph Bakshi-Paramount Animation Studios, Shamus Culhane
01:01:27 Marvel Comic Group
01:06:09 Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD-Strange Tales
01:10:43 Growing as a comic artist
01:15:04 My childhood heroes
01:17:08 Marvel pay for words on paper, not for ideas
01:18:16 Steranko: Graphic Narrative-Winnipeg Art Gallery
01:20:30 Steranko: The Self Created Man-James Romberger
01:22:36 The Yellow Claw
01:28:53 Reasons for leaving Marvel, Tower of Shadows
01:33:31 Dante’s Inferno- suspense thriller
01:34:59 Super Graphics Publications
01:36:31 Friends of Old Marvel
01:40:19 Chandler: Red Tide-The First American Graphic Novel
01:43:25 Byron Preiss, Norman Goldfine
01:48:46 Comixscene to Preview magazine
01:51:33 Stepping into Hollywood
01:52:41 Indiana Jones
01:56:53 Superman #400
01:59:43 Bram Stoker’s Dracula 1992 | Francis Ford Coppola
02:05:57 End of Preview, 1996
02:07:12 What’s your feeling about the modern comics industry?

#JimSteranko #ComicBookHistorians #MarvelComics #GraphicNovels
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Photos of his early years are lost so photos shown generally are meant as visual examples of his descriptions. Newspaper clippings and photos from various phases of his life were either found by Alex or publicly shared by fans and historians online, special thanks to Jackie Estrada, Mike DeLisa, Doc Michael Vassallo, Ray Cuthbert, Ken Quattro and John A. Mozzer. Music – Standard License. Images used in artwork and video ©Their Respective Copyright holders, CBH Podcast ©Comic Book Historians. Interview ©Alex Grand

2020. Artwork ©Comic Book Historians. Thanks to Steranko associate J. David Spurlock for making the introductions.

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Use of images are not intended to infringe on copyright, but merely used for academic purpose.