Stephen "Steve" Epting is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
comics artist
A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...
. He is best known for his work on ''
The Avengers'' and ''
Captain America
Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...
'' for
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...
.
Early life
Epting's influences include
Alex Raymond
Alexander Gillespie Raymond Jr. (October 2, 1909 – September 6, 1956) was an American cartoonist who was best known for creating the ''Flash Gordon'' comic strip for King Features Syndicate in 1934. The strip was subsequently adapted into many ...
,
Stan Drake,
Jim Holdaway,
Joe Kubert,
,
Al Williamson, and
José Luis García-López
José Luis García-López (born March 26, 1948) is a Spanish-Argentine comics artist who works in the United States, particularly in a long-running relationship with DC Comics. In addition to his storytelling art, he has been responsible for prod ...
.
Epting received a
BFA in
graphic design
Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscip ...
from the
University of South Carolina.
Career
In 1989, Epting read of a contest being conducted by independent comic book publisher
First Comics, 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 is a joint Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection-operated Trusted Traveler and expedited border control program designed for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. Members of the program can avoid waits at border ...
'', guest-artist duties on ''
Dreadstar'' and ''
Whisper
Whispering is an unvoiced mode of phonation in which the vocal cords are abducted so that they do not vibrate; air passes between the arytenoid cartilages to create audible turbulence during speech. Supralaryngeal articulation remains the ...
'', and two miniseries starring ''Nexus'' supporting character
Judah Maccabee
Judah Maccabee (or Judas Maccabeus, also spelled Machabeus, or Maccabæus, Hebrew: יהודה המכבי, ''Yehudah HaMakabi'') was a Jewish priest (''kohen'') and a son of the priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleuci ...
: ''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. He found work at
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...
. Originally assigned to draw half the issues in a six–part biweekly ''
The Avengers'' story arc, Epting drew five of the six issues (#335–339). Shortly thereafter, he became the full-time penciler on the series with issue #341 (Nov. 1991).
Working closely with writer
Bob Harras and
inker
The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production.
The penciller creates a drawing, the inker outlines, interprets, finalizes, retraces this drawing by using a pencil ...
/
colorist Tom Palmer, Epting crafted several ''Avengers'' adventures. The creative team introduced a new version of the
Swordsman character in issue #343 and worked on the "
Operation: Galactic Storm" crossover storyline. His stint on ''The Avengers'' ended with issue #375 (June 1994).
After leaving ''The Avengers'' in 1994, Epting spent the next few years working on Marvel's franchise of
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...
titles including the "
Age of Apocalypse" crossover and ''
Factor-X'', the alternate timeline counterparts of ''X-Factor''. He had a run on the ''X-Factor'' ongoing series, but mostly concentrated on annuals, specials, and mini-series. These included ''X-Men '97'', ''Bishop: X.S.E.'', and the Marvel Comics/
Image Comics
Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-o ...
cross-over ''
Team X/
Team 7
''Team 7'' is a comic book superhero team that appeared in titles published by Wildstorm Productions. The team has appeared in 3 self-titled miniseries: ''Team 7'', ''Team 7: Objective Hell'' and ''Team 7: Dead Reckoning''. The first 5-issue Ge ...
''. In 1998, Epting collaborated with writer
Roger Stern on a story starring Marvel's
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
heroes,
The Invaders. It was serialized in the first three issues of the ''Marvel Universe'' anthology title and was inked by
Al Williamson.
In 1999, Epting moved to
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...
. He was the main artist on the ''
Superman
Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...
'' series as well as on ''
Aquaman'', where he was teamed up with writer
Dan Jurgens. Their work on ''Aquaman'' began with issue #63 and ran until issue #75.
In 2001, Epting returned to Marvel's ''Avengers'' for two issues (#36 and #37), which had been relaunched three years earlier with writer
Kurt Busiek
Kurt Busiek ( ) (born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer. His work includes the ''Marvels'' limited series, his own series titled '' Astro City'', a four-year run on '' The Avengers, Thunderbolts'' and '' Superman.''
Early life ...
. Most of his work during the early 2000s was for the independent comics publisher,
CrossGen. Epting drew issues #1–25 of ''
Crux
Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin f ...
'', a fantasy-adventure book co-created with writer
Mark Waid. Epting's next CrossGen project, ''
El Cazador'', was an historical adventure centering on a female pirate, it was cancelled after only six issues.
In 2004, Epting returned to Marvel as one of the artists on the ''
Ultimate Nightmare
The ''Ultimate Galactus Trilogy'' is a collection of three comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics. All three series are set in the Ultimate Marvel universe and are written by Warren Ellis. The series showcase the arrival of the plane ...
'' limited series. In January 2005, Epting teamed with writer
Ed Brubaker to relaunch ''
Captain America
Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...
''. Brubaker and Epting produced the storyline in which Captain America was assassinated and replaced by his former sidekick
Bucky Barnes. The creative team later collaborated on ''
The Marvels Project'' an eight issue limited series.
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 was the artist on the Marvel Comics series, ''
FF''.
Epting and Ed Brubaker launched ''Velvet'', an espionage series, for
Image Comics
Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-o ...
in October 2013. Epting collaborated with writer
Marguerite Bennett
Marguerite Bennett (born 1988) is an American comic book writer. She has worked on '' Bombshells'', ''Angela'', ''Josie and the Pussycats'', and her creator-owned books ''InSeXts'' and ''Animosity''. Her work has been recognised for her depictio ...
on a new ''
Batwoman
Batwoman is a name used by several characters of DC Comics, both in mainstream continuity and Elseworlds. The best known Batwomen are Kathy Kane and Kate Kane.
History
* The first Batwoman, Kathy Kane, debuted during the Silver Age of Comics ...
'' series for DC Comics in 2017. He drew the ''
Year of the Villain
''Year of the Villain'' is a crossover comic book event published by DC Comics. Since May 2019, the event narrates the aftermath of '' Dark Nights: Metal'' and the prelude to '' Batman/Superman vs. The Secret Six'' and '' Dark Nights: Death Metal ...
: Hell Arisen'' limited series which included an early appearance of the
Punchline character in issue #3 (April 2020).
Bibliography
CrossGen
* ''
Crux
Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin f ...
'' #1–10, 12–16, 18–20, 22–25 (2001–2003)
* ''
El Cazador'' #1–6 (2003–2004)
DC Comics
* ''
Action Comics'' #1007–1011 (2019)
* ''
The Adventures of Superman'' #573 (1999)
* ''
Aquaman'' vol. 4 #63–65, 67–69, 71–75 (2000–2001)
* ''
Batwoman
Batwoman is a name used by several characters of DC Comics, both in mainstream continuity and Elseworlds. The best known Batwomen are Kathy Kane and Kate Kane.
History
* The first Batwoman, Kathy Kane, debuted during the Silver Age of Comics ...
'' vol. 2 #1–4 (2017)
* ''Batwoman:
Rebirth'' #1 (2017)
* ''DC Holiday Special 2017'' #1 (2017)
* ''
Detective Comics
''Detective Comics'' is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is best known for introducing the superhero Batman i ...
'' #1000 (2019)
* ''
Secret Files & Origins Guide to the DC Universe 2000'' #1 (one page) (2000)
* ''Secret Origins Featuring the JLA'' #1 (one page) (1999)
* ''
Superman
Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...
'' vol. 2 #143–145, 148, 150 (1999)
* ''Superman Secret Files and Origins'' #2 (1999)
* ''
Year of the Villain
''Year of the Villain'' is a crossover comic book event published by DC Comics. Since May 2019, the event narrates the aftermath of '' Dark Nights: Metal'' and the prelude to '' Batman/Superman vs. The Secret Six'' and '' Dark Nights: Death Metal ...
: Hell Arisen'' #1–4 (2020)
First Comics
* ''
Badger Goes Berserk'' #1 (1989)
* ''
Dreadstar'' #58–59 (1990)
* ''Hammer of God'' #1–4 (1990)
* ''Hammer of God: Sword of Justice'' #1–2 (1991)
* ''
Nexus
NEXUS is a joint Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection-operated Trusted Traveler and expedited border control program designed for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. Members of the program can avoid waits at border ...
'' #62, 74, 76–77 (1989–1991)
* ''
Whisper
Whispering is an unvoiced mode of phonation in which the vocal cords are abducted so that they do not vibrate; air passes between the arytenoid cartilages to create audible turbulence during speech. Supralaryngeal articulation remains the ...
'' #29–31 (1989)
Image Comics
* ''
Velvet'' #1–15 (2013–2016)
Marvel Comics
* ''
The Avengers'' #335–339, 341–347, 349–350, 355–361, 363–366, 368–369, 372–375 (1991–1994)
* ''The Avengers'' vol. 3 #36–37 (2001)
* ''
Bishop: XSE'' #1—3 (1998)
* ''
Captain America
Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...
'' vol. 5 #1–4, 6, 8, 11–14, 18–21, 25–35, 37–38, 40–42, 46 (2005–2009)
* ''Captain America'' vol. 6 #19 (2012)
* ''
Factor X'' #1–4 (1995)
* ''
Fantastic Four'' #583–587, 600–601, 604 (2010–2012)
* ''
FF'' #1–3, 8–9 (2011)
* ''
The Marvels Project'' #1–8 (2009–2010)
* ''Marvel Universe'' #1–3 (1998)
* ''
The New Avengers'' vol. 2 #1–6 (2013)
* ''Tales from the Age of Apocalypse: Sinister Bloodlines'' #1 (1997)
* ''
The Mighty Thor'' (vol. 2) #13–14 (2017)
* ''
Thunderbolts
A thunderbolt or lightning bolt is a symbolic representation of lightning when accompanied by a loud thunderclap. In Indo-European mythology, the thunderbolt was identified with the 'Sky Father'; this association is also found in later Hell ...
'' #-1 (1997)
* ''Ultimate Nightmare'' #3 (2004)
* ''
Uncanny X-Men'' #319 (1994)
* ''
X-Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003) ...
'' #114–117, 119, 121 (1995–1996)
* ''
X-Men '97'' #1 (1997)
* ''X-Men: Alpha'' #1 (1995)
* ''
X-Men Unlimited
''X-Men Unlimited'' was the title of three comic book series published by Marvel Comics.
The purpose of this title was to run stories that fit between the main X-Men comics. The stories included all characters (heroes and villains) from the X-t ...
'' #11–12 (1996)
TKO Studios
* ''Sara'' #1-6 (2018)
References
External links
Steve Epting's blog*
Steve Epting on Marvel.comSteve Eptingat Mike's Amazing World of Comics
at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
{{DEFAULTSORT:Epting, Steve
20th-century American artists
21st-century American artists
American comics artists
DC Comics people
Living people
Marvel Comics people
University of South Carolina alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
Place of birth missing (living people)