Happy 75th Birthday, Jim Steranko!

Since James Steranko is one of the of the Fathers of the Groovy Age, there's no way Ol' Groove could let his 75th birthday pass without a little bit of huzzah! Jim's comicbook art (you can see many samples if you just click his name over in the Stream of Comicbook Consciousness) helped create and then define the Groovy Age. His use of advertising and pop-art motifs in our four color fantasy worlds turned the whole comicbook industry on its ear and inspired--inspires--new generations of artists to this day. Young Groove grabbed every  comic with the name "Steranko" he could get his paws on, so, naturally, when Steranko's powerhouse paintings started appearing on the paperback racks, yers trooly hadda procure those for his own as well. While I never outgrew comics (as my teachers had hoped), I did "grow" enough to actually read "real" books like tons of Shadow reprints and the whole Weird Heroes series before high-school ended. Thank you, Mr. Steranko! You inspired me as a kid, and you continue to inspire me today in so many ways!!