The first STERANKO ARTIST'S EDITION by IDW contains the art scanned from most of the original pages from the first twelve stories done by Steranko during his first tenure at Marvel Comics. For fans, popular culture scholars, and art students, it is the chance to see the production work of the original pages at their original size. It is especially refreshing to see the pages from Final Encounter: many of those pages were printed in Strange Tales with over saturated colors, resulting in line artwork being obscured. For the comic art student, it is instructive seeing Steranko's art and storytelling develop as the SHIELD series progressed.
A bonus for this volume is the recent contributions from Steranko for the production of the IDW volume: he designed the cover, endpapers, credits, index, and chapter dividers.
The chapter dividers are especially striking in their design using tones of red and black, with the judicious use of white as negative space. Red and black is a favorite combination for Steranko. It can be seen as early as on the cover of SHIELD #3. Take a look at the cover for GRAPHIC PRINCE OF DARKNESS. Also, the dust jacket for the first NORGIL volume from Mysterious Press. There is also the theatrical poster for MURDER AT LAKE ELSINORE
The chapter dividers feature supporting devices and themes. Many of the chapter dividers incorporate images from panels of the original stories. Each design is unique for the particular chapter.
There are striking examples such as the one for DEATH TRAP, which uses imagery and design not found in the original story. The CRISIS chapter's interesting in that the circuit board machinery reveals itself to be a Death's Head design. The SPY SCHOOL chapter includes the classic gun and rose motif seen in disparate sources such as the original FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE Richard Chopping dustjacket to GUNS & ROSES album covers. The SECOND DOOM chapter's title and design could easily be seen as a dustjacket cover. SO EVIL, THE NIGHT incorporates the upper portion of a Yellow Claw into a new design.
Steranko has before designed, illustrated, and painted covers for book series such as The Shadow, Leigh Brackett's Stark series, and a Cornell Woolrich series. It is fitting that he revisits his first series with a design for each chapter.
STERANKO: NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. IDW Artist's Edition Second Printing can be ordered from:
