Whatever Happened to...

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Whatever Happened to...
Topic Started: Mar 25 2007, 09:40 AM (1,481 Views)
mort bakaprevski	Mar 25 2007, 09:40 AM Post #1
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,429 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	Jim Steranko?? I remember his work for Stan Lee back in the late sixties. Then he did those paintings for the Jove(?) Shadow reprints. Also a coffee-table type book on comics history (which I still may have somewhere in the depths of my basement). I googled for info about him yesterday & see he has a graphic novel. BUT what was he doing in the intervening 30+ years. Anybody know???
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”


riddlerider	Mar 25 2007, 10:21 AM Post #2
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 799 Group: Members Member #68 Joined: November 26, 2005	Jim is still busy. Not long ago he did the cover for a new paperback collection of the old "Domino Lady" pulp stories. In the same vein, he's just completed the cover for a collection of Spider novels being reprinted by Baen Books this summer. I don't know if many of Jim's old fans realize that pulp fiction is one of his major passions. He has a world-class collection and frequently bids on pulps offered for sale on eBay. (He's purchased quite a few from me, in fact.) He regularly attends the two main conventions for pulp collectors, the Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention (held every spring) and Pulpcon (held every summer). In fact, he was last year's Special Guest of Honor at the Windy City show, where he displayed the original paintings to those Shadow paperback covers. He's quite a character. Jim left comics many years ago to concentrate on painting, design work, and storyboarding. He did a lot of "concept sketches" for RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and claims it was his idea to have Indiana Jones wear the battered fedora. (The surviving pre-production sketches bear out this claim.) Jim also supplied concept art for Francis Ford Coppola's version of DRACULA. I believe he's also done concept sketches and storyboards for other Hollywood producers, but at the moment I can't think of the other films with which he's been involved. But he prefers that kind of work to drawing comics, and not just because it's more lucrative. (Although every now and then he accepts some comic publisher's invitation to draw a cover.) I don't believe he's done too much along those lines in recent years -- he's not "hot" anymore -- but he's still pretty active and can afford to be selective with regard to the projects he takes on. For many years he was active in publishing, initially with a tabloid-sized newspaper titled COMIXSCENE. It later evolved into a slick-paper magazine first called MEDIASCENE and finally PREVUE. That was published up through 1994 or thereabouts. Following the business model used successfully by FAMOUS MONSTERS publisher Jim Warren, he used the magazine as a catalog for various products he sold strictly on a mail-order basis. When you're around him it's hard to believe that he'll turn 70 next year. The guy has the energy of someone half his age.



mort bakaprevski	Mar 25 2007, 10:51 AM Post #3
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,429 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	Great info! Thanks, rr!!!
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”


mort bakaprevski	Mar 25 2007, 06:17 PM Post #4
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,429 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	Well, gee, that was so successful, let's try another one. Whatever happened to -- Barry Smith -- I used to love his Mucha-esque illustrations in the original Conan run. Anybody know what he's been doing for the last three decades... or so????
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”


mort bakaprevski	Mar 25 2007, 06:30 PM Post #5
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,429 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	Oooooops! Proving once again: Google first, THEN ask questions. Here's puh-lenty of info on Mr. Smith: http://www.barrywindsor-smith.com/
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”


mort bakaprevski	Mar 25 2007, 08:59 PM Post #6
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,429 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	Hokay, so let's try another. I can't even think of this guy's name. He started out as a fan artist. Then he got a job with Charlton doing The Phantom (and, I thought, quite well). After Charlton folded he went over to either Marvel or DC and then... ??? I think his first name was Don (but don't bank on it)!!!
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”


Rogmeister	Mar 25 2007, 10:49 PM Post #7
Charter Member Posts: 3,743 Group: Members Member #12 Joined: September 3, 2005	I think you may be referring to Don Newton. He had a very interesting style and I think he did some work on a Captain Marvel (the Shazam! version) for a bit. Unfortunately, he died after (I think) suffering a major heart attack. You can probably google him to find more info. Another artist who worked on Charlton's Phantom and had a long tenure at DC was Jim Aparo. He especially worked a lot on Batman, both in regular Batman stories and in his team-ups with various heroes in The Brave and the Bold.



Laughing Gravy	Mar 26 2007, 05:04 AM Post #8
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,062 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	Aparo also did fine work on Aquaman and the Spectre.



mort bakaprevski	Mar 26 2007, 07:44 AM Post #9
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,429 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	Thanks Rog!! Don Newton was the guy. He really had a very unique style!!
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”


Laughing Gravy	Mar 26 2007, 07:50 AM Post #10
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,062 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	Hmmm... I dunno if there is such a thing as "very" unique. L Hey, THANK YOU for reminding me of Don Newton. He provided art for a book I liked very much for the art, Roy Thomas' Infinity, Inc., the follow-up to All-Star Squadron.



The Batman	Mar 26 2007, 06:00 PM Post #11
Charter Member Posts: 5,570 Group: Members Member #17 Joined: September 4, 2005	And, sadly, Jim Aparo passed away July 19, 2005, after a short illness.



mort bakaprevski	Mar 27 2007, 06:33 AM Post #12
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,429 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	Here's one probably no one remembers. Back in the same time period (late sixties, early seventies) there was a fan artist named John Fantuccio (I'm not making that last name up). He contributed a lot of drawings to RBCC & other fanzines. He did a couple of pro stories for Warren and then... I never heard of him again. Any one know what happened to the guy???
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”


riddlerider	Mar 27 2007, 07:03 AM Post #13
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 799 Group: Members Member #68 Joined: November 26, 2005	mort bakaprevski Mar 27 2007, 06:33 AM Here's one probably no one remembers. Back in the same time period (late sixties, early seventies) there was a fan artist named John Fantuccio (I'm not making that last name up). I remember him, Mort. He had a very distinctive style. If memory serves, he was an art teacher, just like Don Newton. I seem to remember reading an obit for him in the not-too-distant past, possibly in ALTER-EGO.



Laughing Gravy	Mar 27 2007, 07:28 AM Post #14
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,062 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	Word is spreading around the Internet of the death of Marshall Rogers. Of the several attempts to "rescue" Batman after the camp craze, I thought he was the best artist to work on the Caped Crusader and I have very fond memories of his work.



Rogmeister	Mar 27 2007, 08:40 AM Post #15
Charter Member Posts: 3,743 Group: Members Member #12 Joined: September 3, 2005	I read about Marshall Rogers' death just before I came over here and I posted about him in The Nostalgia League. I also remember John G. Fantucchio...I think "G" was his middle initial. I first saw his work in a fanzine called Fantastic Fanzine that Gary Groth published in his fan days (before he became editor of The Comics Journal).


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