| Steve Epting | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Stephen Epting 1963 (age 61–62) |
| Area | Penciller |
Stephen "Steve"Epting (born 1963) is an Americancomics artist. He is best known for his work onThe Avengers andCaptain America forMarvel Comics.
Epting's influences includeAlex Raymond,Stan Drake,Jim Holdaway,Joe Kubert,John Buscema,Al Williamson, andJosé Luis García-López.[1]
Epting received aBFA ingraphic design from theUniversity of South Carolina.[2]
In 1989, Epting read of a contest being conducted by independent comic book publisherFirst 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.[3] His assignments for First included backup stories forNexus, guest-artist duties onDreadstar andWhisper, and two miniseries starringNexus supporting characterJudah Maccabee:Hammer of God andHammer of God: Sword of Justice.[4]
By early 1991, First Comics had gone out of business, and Epting was sending submissions to other comics publishers. He found work atMarvel Comics. Originally assigned to draw half the issues in a six–part biweeklyThe Avengersstory arc, Epting drew five of the six issues (#335–339). Shortly thereafter, he became the full-timepenciler on the series with issue #341 (Nov. 1991).[4] Working closely with writerBob Harras andinker/coloristTom Palmer, Epting crafted severalAvengers adventures. The creative team introduced a new version of theSwordsman character in issue #343[5] and worked on the "Operation: Galactic Storm" crossover storyline. His stint onThe Avengers ended with issue #375 (June 1994).[4]
After leavingThe Avengers in 1994, Epting spent the next few years working on Marvel's franchise ofX-Men titles including the "Age of Apocalypse" crossover[6] andFactor-X, the alternate timeline counterparts ofX-Factor.[7] He had a run on theX-Factorongoing series, but mostly concentrated on annuals, specials, and mini-series. These includedX-Men '97,Bishop: X.S.E., and the Marvel Comics/Image Comics cross-overTeam X/Team 7. In 1998, Epting collaborated with writerRoger Stern on a story starring Marvel'sWorld War II heroes,The Invaders. It was serialized in the first three issues of theMarvel Universe anthology title and was inked byAl Williamson.[4]
In 1999, Epting moved toDC Comics. He was the main artist on theSuperman series as well as onAquaman, where he was teamed up with writerDan Jurgens. Their work onAquaman began with issue #63 and ran until issue #75.[4]
In 2001, Epting returned to Marvel'sAvengers for two issues (#36 and #37), which had been relaunched three years earlier with writerKurt Busiek. Most of his work during the early 2000s was for the independent comics publisher,CrossGen. Epting drew issues #1–25 ofCrux, a fantasy-adventure book co-created with writerMark Waid. Epting's next CrossGen project,El Cazador, was an historical adventure centering on a female pirate, it was cancelled after only six issues.[4]
In 2004, Epting returned to Marvel as one of the artists on theUltimate Nightmare limited series.[8] In January 2005, Epting teamed with writerEd Brubaker to relaunchCaptain America.[9] Brubaker and Epting produced the storyline in which Captain America was assassinated[10] and replaced by his former sidekickBucky Barnes.[11] The creative team later collaborated onThe Marvels Project an eight issue limited series.[4]
In November 2010, Epting began as the artist on Marvel Comics' flagship title,Fantastic Four. Beginning in issue #583 through #587, Epting illustrated writerJonathan Hickman's story "Three", in whichJohnny Storm died. Epting was the artist on the Marvel Comics series,FF.[12][13][14][15]
Epting and Ed Brubaker launchedVelvet, an espionage series, forImage Comics in October 2013.[16][17] Epting collaborated with writerMarguerite Bennett on a newBatwoman series for DC Comics in 2017.[18] He drew theYear of the Villain: Hell Arisen limited series[19] which included an early appearance of thePunchline character in issue #3 (April 2020).[20]
Written by Bob Harras with pencils by Steve Epting, the Avengers faced the menace of a mysterious man calling himself the Swordsman, the second one to do so.
DC Entertainment is launching a new monthly series starring Kate Kane (Batwoman) from writer Marguerite Bennett and artist Steve Epting.
| Preceded by | The Avengers penciller 1991–1994 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by n/a | Captain America vol. 5 penciller 2005–2009 | Succeeded by |
