Samuel E. Grainger was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 artist

Artist

An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...

  best known as a Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

 inker

Inker

The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book or graphic novel. After a pencilled drawing is given to the inker, the inker uses black ink to produce refined outlines over the pencil lines...

 during the 1960s and 1970s periods fans and historians call, respectively, the Silver Age

Silver Age of Comic Books

The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...

 and the Bronze Age of Comic Books

Bronze Age of Comic Books

The Bronze Age of Comic Books is an informal name for a period in the history of mainstream American comic books usually said to run from 1970 to 1985. It follows the Silver Age of Comic Books....

. Series on which he worked include The Avengers

Avengers (comics)

The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...

, The Incredible Hulk and X-Men

X-Men

The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...

.

Early career

Sam Grainger's first known credited comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 work was at the Derby

Derby, Connecticut

Derby is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 12,391 at the 2000 census. With of land area, Derby is Connecticut's smallest municipality.The city has a Metro-North railroad station called Derby – Shelton.-History:...

, Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

-based publisher Charlton Comics

Charlton Comics

Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1946 to 1985, having begun under a different name in 1944. It was based in Derby, Connecticut...

. His seven-page backup story, " Behold...The Sentinels", which he both penciled and inked

Inker

The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book or graphic novel. After a pencilled drawing is given to the inker, the inker uses black ink to produce refined outlines over the pencil lines...

 in Peter Cannon... Thunderbolt #54 (Oct. 1966), also marked the first superhero

Superhero

A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...

 story by prominent 1960s comic-book writer Gary Friedrich

Gary Friedrich

Gary Friedrich . is an American comic book writer best known for his Silver Age stories for Marvel Comics' Sgt...

. Grainger continued on the "Sentinels" feature through issue #59 (Sept. 1967).
Afterward, he drew the cover and writer Howard Keltner's eight-page story "The Adder", starring the superhero Astral Man, in the fanzine

Fanzine

A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...

 Star-Studded Comics #14 (Dec. 1968). Another issue's adaptation of the Gardner Fox

Gardner Fox

Gardner Francis Cooper Fox was an American writer best known for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. Comic-book historians estimate that he wrote over 4,000 comics stories....

 novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 Warrior of Llarn by writer Roy Thomas

Roy Thomas

Roy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...

 and artist Grainger was reprinted in the book The Best of Star-Studded Comics (Hamster Press, 2005). Grainger additionally drew and colored some covers for 1969 issues of the Edgar Rice Burroughs

Edgar Rice Burroughs

Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...

 fanzine ERB-dom

ERB-dom

ERB-dom began as a mimeographed science-fiction fanzine created by Al Guillory, Jr. and Camille Cazedessus Jr. in May 1960.Guillory was killed in a car-train collision, but Cazedessus continued publishing ERB-dom until 1976....

, and interior art beginning 1965.

Marvel Comics

Grainger made his Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

 debut inking a backup story in X-Men

X-Men

The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...

#55 (April 1969), over penciler Werner Roth

Werner Roth (comics)

Werner Roth was an American comic book artist, perhaps best known for immediately succeeding Jack Kirby on Marvel Comics' X-Men....

. He went on to ink further X-Men backups as well as covers and interior stories in The Avengers

Avengers (comics)

The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...

(over John Buscema

John Buscema

John Buscema, born Giovanni Natale Buscema , was an American comic-book artist and one of the mainstays of Marvel Comics during its 1960s and 1970s ascendancy into an industry leader and its subsequent expansion to a major pop culture conglomerate...

, Sal Buscema

Sal Buscema

Silvio "Sal" Buscema is an American comic book artist, primarily for Marvel Comics, where he enjoyed a ten-year run as artist of The Incredible Hulk...

, and Gene Colan

Gene Colan

Eugene Jules "Gene" Colan was an American comic book artist best known for his work for Marvel Comics, where his signature titles include the superhero series, Daredevil, the cult-hit satiric series Howard the Duck, and The Tomb of Dracula, considered one of comics' classic horror series...

); the satirical

Satire

Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...

 comic Not Brand Echh

Not Brand Echh

Not Brand Echh was a satiric comic book series published by Marvel Comics that parodied its own superhero stories as well as those of other comics publishers. Running for 13 issues , it included among its contributors such notable writers and artists as Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Gene Colan, Bill...

; The Incredible Hulk and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Nick Fury

Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury is a fictional World War II army hero and present-day super-spy in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, Fury first appeared in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 , a World War II combat series that portrayed the...

(both over Herb Trimpe

Herb Trimpe

Herbert W. "Herb" Trimpe Herbert W. "Herb" Trimpe Herbert W. "Herb" Trimpe (b. May 26, 1939, is an American comic book artist and occasional writer, best known for his work on The Incredible Hulk and as the first artist to draw for publication the character Wolverine, who later became a breakout...

); and the feature "Ka-Zar

Ka-Zar

Ka-Zar is the name of two jungle-dwelling comics fictional characters published in the United States. The first appeared in pulp magazines of the 1930s, and was adapted for his second iteration, as a comic book character for Timely Comics, the 1930s and 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics...

" in Astonishing Tales

Astonishing Tales

Astonishing Tales is an American anthology comic book series published by Marvel Comics originally from 1970-1976. Its sister publication was Amazing Adventures vol. 2...

, over industry legend Jack Kirby

Jack Kirby

Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....

.

Among his considerable amount of 1970s work, Grainger inked penciler Dave Cockrum

Dave Cockrum

David Emmett Cockrum was an American comic book artist known for his co-creation of the new X-Men characters Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus...

 on several issues of X-Men, a title whose mid-1970s revival led to its becoming one of comics' most popular series.

Later career

In the 1970s, Grainger inked for both Marvel and DC Comics

DC Comics

DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

, including on the latter's Ghosts, Unknown Soldier and House of Mystery

House of Mystery

The House of Mystery is the name of several horror-mystery-suspense anthology comic book series. It had a companion series, House of Secrets.-Genesis:...

. He also inked two issues of the independent comics series Southern Knights, from publisher The Guild, and various issues of and backup stories in Grimjack

GrimJack

Grimjack is the main character of a comic book originally published by First Comics. John Ostrander and Timothy Truman are credited as co-creators of the character, although Ostrander had been developing Grimjack with artist Lenin Delsol before Truman's arrival on the project...

and Dreadstar

Dreadstar

Dreadstar was the first comic series published by American publisher Epic Comics, an imprint of Marvel Comics, in 1982. It was centered on Vanth Dreadstar, sole survivor of the entire Milky Way galaxy, and an ensemble cast of crewmates, including cyborg sorcerer Syzygy Darklock, and their struggle...

, from First Comics

First Comics

First Comics was an American comic-book publisher that was active from 1983–1991, known for titles like American Flagg!, Grimjack, Nexus, Badger, Dreadstar, and Jon Sable...

.

Grainger moved to Charlotte

Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...

, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, sometime before spring 1969. There he freelanced for the role-playing game

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

s company TSR, Inc.

TSR, Inc.

Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....

; his work there includes interior art for the "Endless Quest

Endless Quest

The Endless Quest books were two series of gamebooks released by TSR. These books were the result of an Educational department established by TSR to develop curriculum programs for reading, math, history, and problem solving....

" series of gamebooks, including the Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

 book Under Dragon's Wing (Feb. 1984), the Hyborian Age

Hyborian Age

The Hyborian Age is a fictional period within the artificial mythology created by Robert E. Howard, in which the sword and sorcery tales of Conan the Barbarian are set....

 book Conan and the Prophecy

Conan (comics)

Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard was first adapted into comics published Marvel Comics beginning with the series Conan the Barbarian in 1970...

(June 1984), the Star Frontiers

Star Frontiers

Star Frontiers is a science fiction role-playing game produced by TSR beginning in 1982. The game offered a space-opera action-adventure setting.- Setting :...

 book Captive Planet (July 1984), and, with Jim Holloway

Jim Holloway

----Jim Holloway , an American, was one of the first of a new generation of boulderers for whom the sport was a lifestyle rather than a recreation. He began bouldering in the early 1970s in Boulder, Colorado, and in 1973 established his first notable route, Just Right...

, the Dungeons & Dragons book Knight of Illusion (June 1986).

Fantasy artist Clyde Caldwell

Clyde Caldwell

Clyde Caldwell is an American artist. Self described as a fantasy illustrator, he is best known for his portrayals of strong, sexy female characters.-Early life:...

 described Grainger's later career, and his mentorship:
Grainger made guest appearances at the Charlotte comic book convention Heroes Convention. Before he succumbed to diabetes-related medical issues, Heroes Con in 1987 held a benefit auction for his medical expenses. Grainger's last work was penciling and inking the posthumously published, eight-page Volstagg

Volstagg

Volstagg is a fictional character, a charter member of the Warriors Three, a trio of Asgardian adventurers and supporting cast of Thor in the . He is not taken from mythology but an original creation, modeled on Shakespeare's Falstaff in character and name....

 story "The Thief of Asgard" in Marvel Comics Presents

Marvel Comics Presents

Marvel Comics Presents was an American comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics originally from 1988 to 1995; it returned for a second volume in 2007-2008.-Volume 1:The first volume was released on a biweekly basis and lasted for 175 issues...

#66 (1990).