Steve Epting
Encyclopedia
Stephen "Steve" Epting is an American
comic book
penciller
.
, Stan Drake
, Jim Holdaway
, Joe Kubert
, John Buscema
, Al Williamson
and José Luis García-López
.
Epting received a BFA
in graphic design
from the University of South Carolina
.
, with the winner's story to be published by the company. Although the contest did not actually exist, First declared Epting one of the "winners" and he began drawing for the company. His assignments for First included backup stories for Nexus
, guest-artist duties on Dreadstar
and Whisper, and two miniseries starring Nexus
supporting character Judah Maccabee: Hammer of God and Hammer of God: Sword of Justice.
By early 1991, First Comics had gone out of business, and Epting was sending submissions to other comics publishers. Soon, he found work at Marvel Comics
. Originally assigned to draw half the issues in a six-part bi-weekly The Avengers
story arc, Epting ended up drawing five of the six issues (#335-339.) Shortly thereafter, Epting became the full-time penciler on Avengers.
Working closely with writer
Bob Harras
and inker
/colorist
Tom Palmer
, Epting helped craft several epic Avengers adventures, beginning with issue #343 and ending with issue #375. Epting's art was generally well-received, but the stories themselves were controversial due to their dark tone and their deviation from the Avengers status quo
.
After leaving Avengers in 1994, Epting spent the next few years working on Marvel's franchise of X-Men
books. He had a brief run on the ongoing X-Factor
series, but mostly concentrated on annuals, specials, and mini-series. These included X-Men '97, Bishop: X.S.E., the Marvel Comics/Image Comics
cross-over Team X
/Team 7, and Factor-X
, the Age of Apocalypse
timeline counterparts of X-Factor.
During this time, Epting also collaborated with writer Roger Stern
on a story starring Marvel's World War II
heroes, The Invaders
. It was serialized in the first three issues of Marvel's short-lived anthology title Marvel Universe. This Invaders story was inked by one of Epting's heroes, Al Williamson
.
Towards the end of the 90s, Epting moved from Marvel to DC Comics
. Most of his work for DC was on Aquaman
, where he was teamed up with writer Dan Jurgens
. Their Aquaman run began with issue #63, but sales of Aquaman had been declining for a long time, and the Jurgens/Epting team was unable to save the book from cancellation. Their final issue of Aquaman was #75. He also had a stint as the main artist on the popular Superman comic book.
In 2000, Epting returned briefly to Marvel's Avengers, which had been relaunched three years earlier with writer Kurt Busiek
. Epting drew issues #36 and #37, though most of his work during this time was done for the independent comics publisher, CrossGen
.
Epting drew issues #1-25 of Crux
, a fantasy-adventure book he co-created with writer Mark Waid
. But Epting's next CrossGen project, El Cazador, looked like it might be his first masterpiece. A meticulously researched historical adventure centering around a female pirate, it is considered a high point in the careers of both Epting and writer/co-creator Chuck Dixon
. Unfortunately, El Cazador was launched just as CrossGen was on its last legs, and it was cancelled after only six issues.
In 2004, Epting returned to Marvel with Captain America
, written by Ed Brubaker
with whom he would continue to work on The Marvels Project
.
In November 2010, Epting began as the artist on Marvel Comics' flagship title, Fantastic Four. Beginning in issue #583 through #587, Epting illustrated writer Jonathan Hickman's story "Three", in which Johnny Storm died. Epting currently is the artist on the Marvel Comics series, FF
.
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...
penciller
Penciller
A penciller is an artist who works in the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms.The penciller is the first step in rendering the story in visual form and may require several steps of feedback with the writer. These artists are concerned with layout to showcase...
.
Early life
Epting's influences include Alex RaymondAlex Raymond
Alexander Gillespie "Alex" Raymond was an American cartoonist, best known for creating Flash Gordon for King Features in 1934...
, Stan Drake
Stan Drake
Stanley Albert Drake was an American cartoonist best known as the founding artist of the comic strip The Heart of Juliet Jones....
, Jim Holdaway
Jim Holdaway
Jim Holdaway was a British illustrator, who was famous for his illustrations of numerous comic strips. His most famous contributions was to the Modesty Blaise comics written by Peter O'Donnell.-Art career:...
, Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert is an American comic book artist who went on to found The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Sgt. Rock and Hawkman...
, 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...
, Al Williamson
Al Williamson
Alfonso "Al" Williamson was an American cartoonist, comic book artist and illustrator specializing in adventure, Western and science-fiction/fantasy...
and José Luis García-López
José Luis García-López
José Luis García-López is a Spanish comic book artist who works in the United States of America, mostly for DC Comics. He has most recently penciled an arc in Batman Confidential, the Metal Men storyline in the 2009 Wednesday Comics weekly anthology, and, in 2011, one of the stories in The Spirit...
.
Epting received a BFA
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
in graphic design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
from the University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
.
Career
In 1989, Epting read of a contest being conducted by independent comic book publisher First ComicsFirst 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...
, with the winner's story to be published by the company. Although the contest did not actually exist, First declared Epting one of the "winners" and he began drawing for the company. His assignments for First included backup stories for Nexus
Nexus (comics)
Nexus is an American comic book series created by writer Mike Baron and penciler Steve Rude in 1981. The series is a combination of the superhero and science fiction genres, set 500 years in the future.-Publication history:...
, guest-artist duties on 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...
and Whisper, and two miniseries starring Nexus
Nexus (comics)
Nexus is an American comic book series created by writer Mike Baron and penciler Steve Rude in 1981. The series is a combination of the superhero and science fiction genres, set 500 years in the future.-Publication history:...
supporting character Judah Maccabee: Hammer of God and Hammer of God: Sword of Justice.
By early 1991, First Comics had gone out of business, and Epting was sending submissions to other comics publishers. Soon, he found work at 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...
. Originally assigned to draw half the issues in a six-part bi-weekly 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...
story arc, Epting ended up drawing five of the six issues (#335-339.) Shortly thereafter, Epting became the full-time penciler on Avengers.
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
Bob Harras
Bob Harras
Robert "Bob" Harras is an American comics writer and editor, who was editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics from 1995 to 2000 and currently serves as editor-in-chief of DC Comics.-Career:...
and 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...
/colorist
Colorist
In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates...
Tom Palmer
Tom Palmer (comics)
-Biography:Although Palmer has done a small amount of pencilling work , the vast majority of his artistic output since the 1960s has been as a comic book inker...
, Epting helped craft several epic Avengers adventures, beginning with issue #343 and ending with issue #375. Epting's art was generally well-received, but the stories themselves were controversial due to their dark tone and their deviation from the Avengers status quo
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...
.
After leaving Avengers in 1994, Epting spent the next few years working on Marvel's franchise of 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...
books. He had a brief run on the ongoing X-Factor
X-Factor (comics)
X-Factor is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It is a spin-off of the popular X-Men franchise, featuring characters from X-Men stories. The series has been relaunched several times with different team rosters, most recently as X-Factor Investigations.X-Factor launched in...
series, but mostly concentrated on annuals, specials, and mini-series. These included X-Men '97, Bishop: X.S.E., the Marvel Comics/Image Comics
Image Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
cross-over Team X
Team X
Team 10, just as often referred to as "Team X", was a group of architects and other invited participants who assembled starting in July 1953 at the 9th Congress of C.I.A.M...
/Team 7, and Factor-X
X-Factor (comics)
X-Factor is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It is a spin-off of the popular X-Men franchise, featuring characters from X-Men stories. The series has been relaunched several times with different team rosters, most recently as X-Factor Investigations.X-Factor launched in...
, the Age of Apocalypse
Age of Apocalypse
"Age of Apocalypse" is a 1995 - 1996 comic book crossover storyline published in the X-Men franchise of books by Marvel Comics. The Age of Apocalypse briefly replaced the universe of Earth-616, although it was later retconned as having occurred in the alternate universe of Earth-295, it had...
timeline counterparts of X-Factor.
During this time, Epting also collaborated with writer Roger Stern
Roger Stern
Roger Stern is an American comic book author and novelist.-Early career:In the early 1970s, Stern and Bob Layton published the fanzine CPL , one of the first platforms for the work of John Byrne...
on a story starring Marvel's World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
heroes, The Invaders
Invaders (comics)
The Invaders is the name of two fictional superhero teams in the . The original team was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Sal Buscema in The Avengers #71 . A present-day incarnation was introduced by writer Chuck Austen and artist Scott Kolins in The Avengers vol...
. It was serialized in the first three issues of Marvel's short-lived anthology title Marvel Universe. This Invaders story was inked by one of Epting's heroes, Al Williamson
Al Williamson
Alfonso "Al" Williamson was an American cartoonist, comic book artist and illustrator specializing in adventure, Western and science-fiction/fantasy...
.
Towards the end of the 90s, Epting moved from Marvel to 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...
. Most of his work for DC was on Aquaman
Aquaman
Aquaman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in More Fun Comics #73 . Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles, Aquaman later starred in several volumes of a solo title...
, where he was teamed up with writer Dan Jurgens
Dan Jurgens
Dan Jurgens is an American comic book writer and artist. He is best known for creating the superhero Booster Gold, and for his lengthy runs on the Superman titles Adventures of Superman and Superman , particularly during The Death of Superman storyline...
. Their Aquaman run began with issue #63, but sales of Aquaman had been declining for a long time, and the Jurgens/Epting team was unable to save the book from cancellation. Their final issue of Aquaman was #75. He also had a stint as the main artist on the popular Superman comic book.
In 2000, Epting returned briefly to Marvel's Avengers, which had been relaunched three years earlier with writer Kurt Busiek
Kurt Busiek
Kurt Busiek is an American comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.-Early life:...
. Epting drew issues #36 and #37, though most of his work during this time was done for the independent comics publisher, CrossGen
CrossGen
Cross Generation Entertainment, or CrossGen, was an American comic book publisher that operated from 1998 to 2004.CrossGen Comics, Inc. was founded in 1998, by Tampa, Florida-based entrepreneur Mark Alessi who sought to create a comic book universe that was uniquely varied but also connected by a...
.
Epting drew issues #1-25 of Crux
Crux (comics)
Crux is an American comic book published by CrossGen Entertainment from May 2001 to February 2004. It was cancelled due to bankruptcy in 2004. Crux was one of the later titles that came first in a sort of second wave of Crossgen titles which included Sojourn and Brath...
, a fantasy-adventure book he co-created with writer Mark Waid
Mark Waid
Mark Waid is an American comic book writer. He is well known for his eight-year run as writer of the DC Comics' title The Flash, as well as his scripting of the limited series Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright, and his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America...
. But Epting's next CrossGen project, El Cazador, looked like it might be his first masterpiece. A meticulously researched historical adventure centering around a female pirate, it is considered a high point in the careers of both Epting and writer/co-creator Chuck Dixon
Chuck Dixon
Charles "Chuck" Dixon is an American comic book writer, best known for long runs on Batman titles in the 1990s.-Biography:Dixon grew up in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area, reading comics of all genres...
. Unfortunately, El Cazador was launched just as CrossGen was on its last legs, and it was cancelled after only six issues.
In 2004, Epting returned to Marvel with Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
, written by Ed Brubaker
Ed Brubaker
Ed Brubaker is an Eisner Award-winning comic book writer and cartoonist. Brubaker first early comics work was primarily in the crime fiction genre with works such as Lowlife, The Fall, Sandman Presents: Dead Boy Detectives and Scene of the Crime...
with whom he would continue to work on The Marvels Project
The Marvels Project
The Marvels Project is a 2009-2010 eight-issue comic book limited series written by Ed Brubaker with art by Steve Epting and published by Marvel Comics. It details the origins of Timely Comics-era superheroes in the Marvel Universe such as Captain America, Namor, the Human Torch and the Angel....
.
In November 2010, Epting began as the artist on Marvel Comics' flagship title, Fantastic Four. Beginning in issue #583 through #587, Epting illustrated writer Jonathan Hickman's story "Three", in which Johnny Storm died. Epting currently is the artist on the Marvel Comics series, FF
Future Foundation
Future Foundation is a fictional organization appearing in comics published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Jonathan Hickman, the team first appeared in Fantastic Four #579 and stars in the series FF, written by Hickman and illustrated by Steve Epting...
.