The Four Color Media Monitor

The Youngstown Vindicator reported veteran Steranko attended an art exhibition in Ohio, at the Butler Institute:

Steranko is best known for his three-year stint at Marvel Comics. He did what many believe is revolutionary stylistic work with Nick Fury, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Captain America, the Hulk and the X-Men comics.

Much of his work was seen as realistic, yet stylistic, of his depiction of human figures. Steranko’s layouts were, at t =”At one point, I was one of the most hated guys in comics,” Steranko said. “It was amatter of sheer envy. I was a kid who came in and rose to the top almost immediately.”

Steranko described himself as a person who always tells the truth.

“I’m very candid,” he said. “Don’t ask me unless you really want to know.”

Something the MSM may not want you to know is that Steranko has indicated he's a right-wing patriot, at least by modern standards, and that's surely what he means when he tries to be truthful and candid. Today, he's surely hated for that among the less admiring of past veterans in the industry proper. Also note that in his time, realism didn't come at the expense of the fantasy elements. That's one of the reasons why artists with a similar style like Neal Adams (and possibly Curt Swan?) hold up a lot better than today's watered down embarrassments. And it's also why the veterans' approach is very stylistic, as they say, in a way that serves the art excellently.

The exhibition at the Butler is the first in an American museum to focus solely on his paintings, and the three rooms of paintings are not just for diehard comic book fans.

In his mind, Steranko said there were three artists who were at the top pantheon of comic book artists: Jack “King” Kirby, Wally Wood and Joe Kubert.

“All three of them were like family to me,” Steranko said. “I knew them for much of my life. That was a really special group of people. They were the top. They were all really, really good people.”

Which likely isn't something you could expect today's social justice obsessed to care about or appreciate. Steranko also met one of Superman's co-creators at the Marvel offices:

Steranko described meeting original Superman artist Jerry Seigel in the mid-1960s while in the offices of Marvel Comics.

“I saw this guy on the other side of the office shuffling along emptying ash trays from desks into the waste baskets,” Steranko said. “I went over to him and said, ‘you’re Jerry Seigel.'”

He said yes.

“What the hell are you doing,” Steranko said. “Everyone in comics — certainly everyone in Marvel — should have owed him a debt of gratitude. They owed him their careers.”

“That broke my heart,” Steranko said. “One of the first drawings I drew was Superman. I would not be where I’m today, if not for him.”

He noted he testified on Seigel’s behalf when he filed suit against DC Comics.

He described Jack Kirby and his wife as very generous people who welcomed him in their family.

“They were very loyal people, especially if they liked you,” Steranko said.

Defending Siegel and Shuster was another excellent deed Steranko could do. But it's not something you could expect the modern PC crowd to do, if at all. Even if their careers are owed to Siegel/Shuster's famous innovations. Or even Kirby, Kubert and Wood. Why, just look at how Kal-El as we know him, not to mention Lois Lane, are being kicked to the curb or worse in favor of a PC-laced character like Jon Kent, written to be either bisexual or almost exclusively homosexual, and whose main interests under a writer as horrible as Tom Taylor consist mainly of "climate change". And is paired with a boyfriend depicted as a fanfiction-ish near-immortal. And the worst part being that so far, this may have been done so DC won't have to pay any more residuals to Siegel/Shuster's heirs, as though their contempt couldn't get bad enough.

Steranko's a fine example of a veteran himself. But if he could show the guts to take issue with modern PC and how it's impacting the legacies of his other fellow veterans, that'd be even better.

Labels: dc comics, exhibitions, good artists, history, marvel comics, museums, Nick Fury