Wizard Magazine credited Steranko as the 5th Most Influential Artist in Comics' History. He has painted a multitude of movie posters, record albums, and book covers; and in 1975, created Red Tide, the First Modern Graphic Novel. As the editor-publisher of the interna- tional newsstand entertainment magazine Prevue, he conducted hundreds of superstar interviews and penned more than three mil- lion words. His two volumes of The History of Comics have sold more than 100,000 copies each. As a filmmaker, he collaborated with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas—for whom he created the look of Indiana Jones — and Francis Ford Coppola on some of their most popular films. When he first came to work for Stan Lee at MARVEL Comics, Stan gave him the choice of which title he would take over as writer and artist. Rather than choose Spiderman or The Hulk or The Fantastic Four, he chose a title that was floundering at the time - Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Then he turned into such a huge success that Fury is a major part of The Avengers movie franchise, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. All of this, and he's still the best-dressed man in comics. After Jim’s panel, we ended up going down
to his table and listening to more of his great stories. We each ended up with an auto- graphed print of some of his work. Meeting Sternanko was quite a treat. Phoenix Comicon was just a whole lot of
fun, and it’s an event I highly recommend, no matter if you are 15 years old or 57. After all, everyone can use an escape now and then. •
For more information on future events visit
www.phoenixcomicon.com/
Phoenix Rising While the primary reason for my trip to
Arizona was to hang out with my buddy Eric and do Comicon, the trip ended up being huge fun on many other levels. From trying several new restaurants (see Food reviews this issue) to visiting Luke Air Force Base, where I got to see the static displays of old aircraft, many of which were the same planes my father worked on as an Air Force mechanic back in the ‘50’s. Eric works at the Naval Operations Center at Luke, so I got to visit there as well. Lots of fun. One night we visited Alice Cooper’s
Cooperstown Sports Bar, which was cool . I enjoyed seeing all the Coop memoribilia that lines the walls. It was also nice having dinner with my roommate’s son Jared Knights, his wife Lindsey and their little girl Haleigh. Love those kids! I was invited to be guest moderator for a
Paranormal Investigation panel at The As- trology Store in Glendale. The panel was a part of a Hawaiian themed party. Great fun. I really thank Dave Campbell and Ray Watkins for their hospitality. Dave and Ray also joined Eric and I for a rocking concert at Arizona Casino by a killer Van Halen Tribute Band. (See review this issue.) I visited so many great places, I can
barely remember the names of them all. Bookmans was the coolest book, record and collectibles store I have ever seen. Next visit I will be budgeting for a visit there again. Also, Eric’s regular comic book shop, Drawn To Comics was fun. Other than being well over 100 degrees
every day, I had a great time in Phoenix. It’s not something I will soon forget. •
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93