The artist Steve Ditko collaborated with writer Stan Lee to forge a unique style for Spider-Man that the film director Sam Raimi has reinterpreted for the screen.
Although Stan Lee created the character and wrote the origin story, Steve Ditko felt restricted by Lee’s editorship and asked if he could plot the Spiderman stories. Lee eventually [...]

The late Jack Kirby is an artist and writer who  has been associated with some of the best comics in the superhero genre, primarily with Marvel.
He was a loyal, and more importantly prolific, lieutenant to Marvel’s editor Stan Lee. Sometimes his artistic quality slipped when he was simply drawing too many comics, but he was always [...]

The Silver Surfer had religious overtones when it was first published. The alien Norrin Radd had offered himself as a sacrifice to save his planet Zenn-La from Galactus – ‘the devourer of worlds’.
Galactus needed to consume living planets in order to survive.  However he transformed Norrin Radd into the Silver Surfer to become his herald, finding suitable alternative planets throughout the [...]

I have sold the majority of my childhood comic collection, but have regained pleasure from comics by painting some of my favorite covers.
I used to draw and paint entirely by eye, which involved a lot of rubbing out. However I don’t see the point of this now, when I can easily trace the image I [...]

Jonathon Ross is a big comics fan and he produced a documentary for the BBC on his favourite artist Steve Ditko.
Ditko wasn’t my favourite, but I thought he was a great visual story teller, and I was impressed enough to paint one of his characters called ‘The Creeper’ which he created for DC Comics.
Ditko was [...]

It wasn’t just the Marvel stories that captivated me as a teenager, it was also the artwork. Marvel has a very talented crop of artists but my all-time favourite is Jim Steranko.
I first came across him in Strange Tales when he started illustrating Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. The artwork just seemed to be on a [...]

The Silver Surfer (Oil on Canvas)

Most male artists have a beautiful woman as their inspiration, but my muse was Marvel Comics and especially the Silver Surfer. In my teenage years when I wasn’t planning to be the next Lennon & McCartney, I decided to become a great artist. I hadn’t a clue how to paint, [...]

I have invested in shares, property, pensions and foreign currencies, my best investment however was in American Comics.
I started reading and collecting ‘Super Hero’ comics in 1966, buying the monthly issues from local newsagents. I always wanted the best condition comics, so I quickly eliminated newsagents who didn’t have proper racks to keep them. Saturdays [...]

Mention 1966 to any English person and it means just one thing – winning the World Cup. As a 12 year old schoolboy I was on holiday in a Welsh caravan park, excitedly watching each qualifying match on the TV. In-between football matches there was not a lot to do, but staving off boredom introduced [...]