Happy 76th birthday Jim Steranko!

What can one say about Jim Steranko (born on November 5, 1938) that hasn't already been said? He is one of the greatest comics creators that has ever lived.

Here Jim Steranko is in front of many of the amazing covers he did in his short career making comics.

Though he was only in the comics business for a few short years, his influence on the medium has been profound.

Jim Steranko's Nick Fury Agent of S.H.E.I.L.D.

Jim Steranko was a phenomenon. He exploded onto the comics scene in the mid 60's doing the triple threat of writer, penciler AND inker and all better than anyone. In the few years that he worked in the field he revolutionized the industry.

Strange Tales #167, April 1968 is a great example of one of the many stunning covers that Steranko produced in his brief time spent in the comic book industry.

Highly Contrasting artists; Steranko; Miller; Sales; Snejbjerg; Risso

My mind has the habit of putting order and classifying everything that it sees.This is true of comic artists and comic styles as well. One style I've recently been thinking about is the high contrast style.

It can be argued that Steranko started this whole style off with his later Film Noir style that he used in his book, Red Tide.

Jim Steranko from Chandler: Red Tide (1976)

Hey! A Jim Steranko effect! The hallucinatory effect on comics!

"Hey! A Jim Steranko effect!" Neal Adams formed the words using the mist lines radiating from the pit in his Deadman series.

I'm not sure what Adams was referring to because I don't remember Steranko ever spelling things out using visual effects, but he did do some pretty crazy/cool stuff in his day!