Writer/editor Stan Lee (1922-2018) made comic-book history together with Jack Kirby in 1961 with Fantastic Four #1. The monumental popularity of its new style inspired Lee to develop similarly themed characters — including the Hulk and X-Men with Kirby, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange with Steve Ditko, and Daredevil with Bill Everett. After shepherding his creations through dozens of issues — in some cases a hundred or more — Lee allowed other writers to take over, but he maintained steady editorial control. Eventually, he helped expand Marvel into a multimedia empire. In recent years, his frequent cameo appearances in Marvel’s films established Lee as one of the world’s most famous faces.
Gerry Conway wrote Daredevil, Incredible Hulk, Iron Man and others. He was instrumental in Marvel’s 1970s horror boom with work on Man-Thing, Tomb of Dracula and Werewolf by Night. His years on Amazing Spider-Man yielded such historic highlights as the groundbreaking death of Gwen Stacy and the debut of the Punisher. He also wrote DC’s Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Legion of Super-Heroes. For TV, he has written and produced episodes of Diagnosis: Murder, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Huntress and Matlock.
John Romita was born in 1930 and drew for Atlas Era Marvel Comics across many genres. By the time Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko were defining the look and feel of the Marvel Age of Comics during the 1960s, Romita had made the move to DC Comics, where he was working exclusively behind the boards of the company’s many romance comics. It wasn’t until 1966 that he returned to Marvel Comics and the super-hero genre, drawing Daredevil before taking over from Ditko on what was fast becoming Marvel’s most important book, Amazing Spider-Man. Romita’s slick, clean craftsmanship would be a hallmark of his tenure, and his years of drawing beautiful women in DC’s romance books paid off with iconic renderings of Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson and the other women in Peter Parker’s life.
The career of the late Gil Kane began in comicdom's Golden Age. Following his role in ushering in the Silver Age of Comics via the re-creations of Green Lantern, the Atom and others, he became Marvel's star cover artist and the regular penciler on Amazing Spider-Man. Kane also helped develop Iron Fist, Morbius the Living Vampire and other Marvel mainstays. In 1971, he published the sword-and-sorcery/science-fiction hybrid Blackmark, often called the first American graphic novel. He was a multiple winner of the National Cartoonist Society Award; in 1997, he was inducted into both the Eisner Award Hall of Fame and the Harvey Award Jack Kirby Hall of Fame.
In 1976, Ross Andru (1927-1993) made comic-book history by penciling the first large-scale intercompany crossover, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man, having spent years illustrating both characters in various titles. He also made Marvel history in Marvel Feature, drawing the Defenders’ first appearance. At DC, he spent nine years collaborating with Bob Kanigher on Wonder Woman. With Marv Wolfman and Mike Esposito, he co-created Vigilante (Adrian Chase).
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