A little more than 50 years ago, one of the most notable names in comic book illustration entered the scene: Jim Steranko. Steranko’s first comic book artwork was in Spyman #1 by Harvey Comics; he was responsible for penciling the first page as well as writing the “Birth of a Hero” story.

Spyman only ran for three issues from September ’66 to February ’67. It followed the adventures of Johnny Chance, who was a secret agent with an “electro robot hand” that contained a number of different tools.

Around the same time, in 1966, he started getting in touch with Marvel Comics. By December of that year he was working on penciling and inking over Jack Kirby’s layouts for Strange Tales #151, and soon after that he was responsible for the penciling of the issue, plus cover art. By #155, in an odd move for the time, he took over writing for the series as well.

Though Steranko is still probably best known for Strange Tales and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., he also worked on other books such as X-Men, Captain America, and even Superman.

Hake’s Americana & Collectibles has an excellent example of some of Steranko’s best work in their current auction, which will end on July 11-13, 2017; the lot includes two softcover books, The Steranko History of Comics, that have been signed by the artist himself. The books are both first printings that were published by Supergraphics, Steranko’s company, and cover everything from pulps through the Golden Age of comics. The book comes with Hake’s COA and has aged well.