#foster and evanie 1

[oflowtides]

Foster flushed deeply, letting out a very nervous laugh. "Oh - well - that was definitely not what I meant, but thank you for that." Navigating around compliments and flirtations was not exactly Foster's forte, but neither was getting them. "It is fancy, but I promise there's a few affordable items, as long as you're okay not getting duck or lamb." He paused for a moment. "I don't think I've ever had grits."

"well, sugar," the redhead smirked, "we could be sharing a tongue if you wanted to, pretty face like that. you might have to buy me a drink first." there was a freedom to being newly single, to having tossed her engagement ring into a lake and driven to the nearest airport the moment she found her fiancé—ex fiancé—had been playing her like a fiddle for months. "it's pretty darn fancy up there, right? i'm more a grits and gravy kind of girl. maybe i could afford a lettuce leaf up there, a glass of tap water or something."

[dasmuggler]

James F. Steranko (/stəˈræŋkoʊ/; born November 5, 1938) is an American graphic artist, comic book writer/artist, comics historian, magician, publisher and film production illustrator.

Steranko was born in Reading, Pennsylvania and lived his early childhood during the American Great Depression. Steranko had begun drawing while very young, opening and flattening envelopes from the mail to use as sketch paper. Despite his father's denigration of Steranko's artistic talent, and the boy's ambition to become an architect, Steranko paid for his art supplies by collecting discarded soda bottles for the bottle deposit and bundled old newspapers to sell to scrap-paper dealers. He studied the Sunday comic strip art of Milton Caniff, Alex Raymond, Hal Foster, and Chester Gould, as well as the characters of Walt Disney and Superman, provided in "boxes of comics" brought to him by an uncle. Radio programs, Saturday movie matinées and serials, and other popular culture also influenced him.

Up through his early 20s, Steranko performed as an illusionist, escape artist, close-up magician in nightclubs, and musician, having played in drum and bugle corps in his teens before forming his own bands during the early days of rock and roll. By the late 1960s, Steranko was a member of a New York City magicians' group, the Witchdoctor's Club. Comics historian Mark Evanier notes that the influential comic-book creator Jack Kirby, who "based some of his characters ... on people in his life or in the news", was "inspired" to create the escape artist character Mister Miracle "by an earlier career of writer-artist Jim Steranko".

During the day, Steranko made his living as an artist for a printing company in his hometown of Reading, designing and drawing pamphlets and flyers for local dance clubs and the like. He moved on after five years to join an advertising agency, where he designed ads and drew products ranging from "baby carriages to beer cans". He initially entered the comics industry in 1957, not long out of high school, working for a short time inking pencil art by Vince Colletta and Matt Baker in Colletta's New York City studio before returning to Reading. In 1966, he landed assignments at Harvey Comics, under editor Joe Simon. His first published comics art came in Spyman #1 (Sept. 1966), for which he wrote the 20-page story "The Birth of a Hero" and penciled the first page, which included a diagram of a robotic hand that was reprinted as an inset on artist George Tuska's cover.

Steranko also approached Marvel Comics in 1966. He met with editor Stan Lee, who had Steranko ink a two-page Jack Kirby sample of typical art for the superspy feature "Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.". Steranko self-published it in 1970 in the limited-edition "Steranko Portfolio One"; it appeared again 30 years later in slightly altered form in the 2000 trade-paperback collection Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. This led to Lee's assigning him the Nick Fury feature in Strange Tales, a "split book" that shared each issue with another feature. Future Marvel editor-in-chief Roy Thomas, then a staff writer, recalled,

"[H]e came up to the office ... and I was sent out by Sol [Brodsky] to look at his work and basically brush him off. Stan was busy and didn't want to be bothered that day. But when I saw Jim's work, ... on an impulse I took it in to Sol and said, 'I think Stan should see this'. Sol agreed, and took it in to Stan. Stan brought Steranko into his office, and Jim left with the 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' assignment. ... I think Jim's legacy to Marvel was demonstrating that there were ways in which the Kirby style could be mutated, and many artists went off increasingly in their own directions after that."

Lee and Kirby had initiated the 12-page "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." feature in Strange Tales #135 (Aug. 1965), with Kirby supplying such inventive and enduring gadgets and hardware as the Helicarrier – an airborne aircraft carrier – as well as LMDs (Life Model Decoys) and even automobile airbags. Marvel's all-purpose terrorist organization Hydra was introduced here as well.

Steranko began his stint on the feature by penciling and inking "finishes" over Kirby layouts in Strange Tales #151 (Dec. 1966), just as many fellow new Marvel artists did at the time. Two issues later, Steranko took over full penciling and also began drawing the every-other-issue "Nick Fury" cover art. Then, in a rarity for comics artists of the era, he took over the series' writing with #155 (April 1967), following Roy Thomas, who had succeeded Lee. In another break with custom, he himself, rather than a Marvel staff artist, had become the series' uncredited colorist by that issue.

Steranko absorbed, adapted and built upon the groundbreaking work of Jack Kirby, both in the use of photomontage (particularly for cityscapes), and in the use of full- and double-page-spreads. Indeed, in Strange Tales #167 (Jan. 1968), Steranko created comics' first four-page spread, upon which panorama he or editor Lee bombastically noted, "to get the full effect, of course, requires a second ish [copy of the issue] placed side-by-side, but we think you'll find it to be well worth the price to have the wildest action scene ever in the history of comics!" All the while, Steranko spun outlandishly action-filled plots of intrigue, barely sublimated sensuality, and a cool-jazz hi-fi hipness.

Fury's adventures continued in his own series, for which Steranko contributed four 20-page stories: "Who is Scorpio?" (issue #1); "So Shall Ye Reap ... Death" (#2), inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest; "Dark Moon Rise, Hell Hound Kill" (#3), a Hound of the Baskervilles homage, replete with a Peter Cushing manqué; and the spy-fi sequel "What Ever Happened to Scorpio?" (#5). Steranko also had short runs on X-Men (#50–51, Nov.–Dec. 1968), for which he designed a new cover logo, and Captain America (#110–111, 113, Feb.–March, May 1969). Steranko introduced the Madame Hydra character in his brief Captain America run. With no new work immediately forthcoming, a "Marvel Bullpen Bulletins" fan page in spring 1969 announced that, "In case you've been wondering what happened to Jaunty Jim Steranko, ... [he] is working on a brand-new feature, which will shortly be spotlighted in Marvel Super-Heroes. And talk about a secret – he hasn't even told us what it is!" The referred-to project never appeared.

Steranko went on to write and draw a horror story that precipitated a breakup with Marvel. Though that seven-page tale, "At the Stroke of Midnight", published in Tower of Shadows #1 (Sept. 1969), would win a 1969 Alley Award, editor Lee, who had already rejected Steranko's cover for that issue, clashed with Steranko over panel design, dialog, and the story title, initially "The Lurking Fear at Shadow House".

Steranko returned briefly to Marvel, contributing a romance story ("My Heart Broke in Hollywood", Our Love Story #5, Feb. 1970) and becoming the cover artist for 15 comics beginning with Doc Savage #2–3, Shanna the She-Devil #1–2, and Supernatural Thrillers #1–2 (each successively cover-dated Dec. 1972 and Feb. 1973), and ending with the reprint comic Nick Fury and his Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #2 (April 1973).

In 1973, Steranko became founding editor of Marvel's official fan magazine, FOOM, which superseded the two previous official fan clubs, the Merry Marvel Marching Society and Marvelmania. Steranko served as editor and also produced the covers for the magazine's inaugural four issues before being succeeded editorially by Tony Isabella.

Steranko then branched into other areas of publishing, including most notably book-cover illustration. For the movie industry, Steranko has done sketches for movie posters, and was a conceptual artist on Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), doing production designs for the film and designing the character of Indiana Jones. He also served in a similar capacity as "project conceptualist" on Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992).

#marvel #art #artist #jimsteranko #comicbooks #marvelcomics #nickfury #AgentsofSHIELD #shield #popculture #foom #marveluniverse #thehulk #theincrediblehulk #captainamerica #hydra #marvel89 #horror #scifi #xmen #stanlee #jackkirby #roythomas #marvel6189 #indianajones #raidersofthelostark #mcu #Dracula

[oflowtides]

"I'm not knocking it - I mean, it's not to my taste, but good thing we don't share a tongue, right?" Foster wrinkled his nose. "Y'know what, please just forget I ever said that." A soft smile spread over his face at Evanie's question. "I love being a cook. I know it's sort of corny when people say that this was what they were made to do, but I really do feel that way. I work Belle Nourrture, I'm a line cook there." @rufficns

unlike foster, evanie was out there on her own. she was with gilly in london but, if anything, it was her job to support her younger sister—the last thing she wanted was for her little sibling to have to pull her out of the mud again. "don't knock it. it's warming, comforting. makes you feel invincible if you're watching bridget jones." the british classics still had her sides splitting after a glass too many. "where do you work, anyway? do you like being a cook, even if it exhausts you?"

[oflowtides]

"Well, even if it's not not against the rules, you still don't wanna tempt fate - I get that." Foster understood the need for a job, but it was always more about freedom for him - he had his family to fall back on if things got tough. "You mix wine and ice cream? I can't say I've ever tried that combination."

"sometimes i might pour myself a little whiskey for a job well done, but only if my boss isn't here to see it. not like he'd mind, but i also really need this job." maybe if she had stayed at home, at the ranch, or had married rich like she had always planned, she wouldn't need to sneak dregs of jack daniels at the end of the night. instead, she got what she could and let god do the rest. "me and my sister love a glass—or bottle—of some grocery store wine. nothing better after a long day with a whole tub of ice cream and two spoons."

[oflowtides]

"Cheap wine is underrated; like if you're just going to enjoy it yourself at home, why do you need to splurge on something like that? Especially if you like the way it tastes? Price isn't everything, you know." Foster sighed. "At least someone gets me who isn't also my coworkers. I never thought about that before. Do you ever make yourself drinks just before you leave since you're already there?"

"i know the feeling," evanie mused, peeling the casing off of the muffin that awaited her, "people always ask me why i drink cheap wine whenever i'm at home, as though i want to be mixing mojitos for one. the last thing i want to do when i get back after a long shift is do extra work for free,"