(Stock Image)
SOLD ON: Monday, 03/19/2018 3:31 PM
This auction has ended.
PUBLISHER: Marvel
COMMENTS: Page 39; Barry Windsor-Smith, Terry Austin inks; image size approximately 10"x15"
Read Description ▼
Page 39; Barry Windsor-Smith, Terry Austin inks; image size approximately 10"x15"From the special double-sized issue, LifeDeath: A Love Story, we have a beautifully rendered interior page featuring a spat between Storm and Forge. With Storm believing she has lost all her powers at the hand of the evil, mutant-hating Henry Gyrich, she awakes to find herself in the care of Forge, but before their romance can even begin, she learns that the Neutralizer that Gyrich used on her was forged by none other than, ulp! Forge! Cue loud organ swell! Often a comic artist's work will project a cinematic quality. Barry Windsor-Smith's talent in layouts and stylings are above extra, the reader can practically hear the rain falling as Storm socks the doting Forge for a loop. Powerful imagery, characteristic of Barry's incredible abilities, draws the reader into the story. His sporadic, but well-received, work with the title throughout the 80s is sure to be held in high praise
by the winning bidder of this lot.
Artists Information
Terry Kevin Austin is an American comic book artist who is best known for his exceptional inking talents. Austin’s inking — especially in the period of the 1970s and early 1980s — is notable for its smooth, precise rendering; and extremely detailed backgrounds, making his embellishing work easily identifiable. His style has been highly influential on a subsequent generation of inkers including Al Gordon, Andy Lanning, Scott Williams and Rob Liefeld.
Austin grew up in Detroit, Michigan and attended Wayne State University. He started inking comics as an assistant to Dick Giordano and Neal Adams, doing “Crusty Bunker” work for Adams’ Continuity Associates. Austin came to prominence in 1976–1977, inking Marshall Rogers’ pencils on a celebrated run of Batman stories for DC Comics’ Detective Comics collaborating with writer Steve Englehart. During this same period, Austin inked Michael Netzer (Nasser) on DC’s Martian Manhunter in Adventure Comics and Green Arrow/Black Canary in World’s Finest Comics, as well as Al Milgrom on Marvel Comics’ Captain Marvel. He later teamed with Rogers again on Marvel’s Doctor Strange.
X-Men
In 1977, Austin and penciler John Byrne became the new art team on Uncanny X-Men. With writer Chris Claremont they produced a series of stories — particularly “The Dark Phoenix Saga” — which elevated the title into the top-selling American comic book.
Post X-Men
Austin left Uncanny X-Men in 1981 and has since worked on a variety of titles for both Marvel & DC, including Doctor Strange (over Paul Smith and Dan Green pencils), Superman vol. 2 (over Byrne), Justice League (over Kevin Maguire) and Green Lantern (over Darryl Banks). Austin contributed to several anniversary issues for DC including Justice League of America #200 (March 1982), Superman #400 (Oct. 1984) and Batman #400 (Oct. 1986). He was the regular inker of DC’s Superman Adventures for nearly six years, from 1996–2002. His inking work since 2002 has included over fifteen years of inking the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series for Archie Comics, which he continued until the series cancellation in 2017.
Smith rose to prominence thanks to his incredibly detailed and beautiful work on Marvels' Conan the Barbarian, which employed an approach that had never been seen in comics before. The artist worked on several titles at Marvel in the Silver Age before launching his own pin-up publishing house Gorblimey Press, which he used to release impressive lithos to his fan base. Working through the decades, Smith became more and more disillusioned about the comic industry and its unfair treatment of artists, so he slowly started to withdraw from the business. Occasionally popping up with the odd series of graphic novel. Smith is commonly recognized as one of the great artists in the history of comics. He once created a fictional comic book for Oliver Stone's movie "The Hand" which was based on Conan, and Michael Caine played the lead, a character that was a comic book artist that bore a striking resemblance to Smith.