Alex Saviuk

American comics artist (born 1952)
Alex Saviuk
Saviuk at the November 2008 Big Apple Comic Con in Manhattan.
Born (1952-08-17) August 17, 1952 (age 71)
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Penciller, Inker
Notable works
The Amazing Spider-Man (newspaper comic strip)
Web of Spider-Man

Alex Saviuk (/ˈsævɪk/;[1] born August 17, 1952)[2] is an American comics artist primarily known for his work on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man.

Early life

Alex Saviuk grew up on Long Island, New York, graduating from Floral Park Memorial High School in 1970.[3] He attended the School of Visual Arts, where he studied with (among others) Will Eisner,[4][5] graduating in 1974 with a degree in Illustration.[3] Saviuk also studied biology at Hofstra University and York College.[6]

Career

Saviuk's professional career began in 1977 at DC Comics, where he illustrated such titles as Green Lantern, The Flash, and Superman.[7] Saviuk's first work for DC was a one-page story titled "The Victim!" in House of Mystery #255 (Nov.-Dec. 1977).[8] His first full work for the company, Green Lantern #100 (Jan. 1978), introduced an updated version of the Air Wave character.[9] Saviuk drew The Flash #275 (July 1979) wherein the title character's wife, Iris West Allen was killed.[10]

In the early 1980s, Saviuk was the regular backup feature artist on Action Comics, where he drew the exploits of Air Wave, Aquaman, and the Atom in collaboration with writer Bob Rozakis. Rozakis stated in a 2014 interview that "I don't recall how we ended up with the three of them. It may have simply been that all three had names that began with 'A' and it was a backup in Action Comics".[11] Saviuk frequently drew the "Whatever Happened to...?" backup feature in DC Comics Presents.[12] He and writer E. Nelson Bridwell introduced the Global Guardians in DC Comics Presents #46 (June 1982).[13]

The Amazing Spider-Man Sunday strip from 2004. Pencils by Saviuk, inks by Joe Sinnott.

In 1986, Saviuk moved to Marvel Comics, where he eventually established himself as a key Spider-Man artist with a seven-year run on Web of Spider-Man (issues #35–116). It was the longest run of a single artist on that series.[5] In 1989, he drew The Amazing Spider-Man: Parallel Lives graphic novel.[14] From 1994 to 1997, Saviuk worked on the series Spider-Man Adventures (later retitled The Adventures of Spider-Man).[15] Beginning in 1997, Saviuk drew The Amazing Spider-Man Sunday newspaper comic strip,[15] written by Stan Lee and inked by Joe Sinnott. Starting in 2003, he inked the daily Spider-Man strip, pencilled by Lee's brother Larry Lieber.[4][16] After Lieber retired from the daily strip in September 2018, Saviuk took over as penciller as well[17] and stayed on until the cancellation of the strip in March 2019.[18] He created variant covers for Symbiote Spider-Man #1–5 (2019).

In 1997–1998, he spent a one-year stint at Topps Comics drawing The X-Files until the end of its run.[15] For writer and filmmaker Robert Tinnell, Saviuk (alternating with Ed Piskor) did the artwork for the comic strip Feast of the Seven Fishes, first published online and, in 2005, as a collected print edition which has been nominated for an Eisner Award as "Best Graphic Album - Reprint" in 2006.[19] In 2018, Tinnell adapted it for an eponymous movie.

In 2004, Alex Saviuk returned to The Phantom, a character he had already drawn in Defenders of the Earth in 1987, this time for European publisher Egmont. He has drawn numerous Fantomen (The Phantom) comics since then. From 2018 to 2019, he pencilled and inked the first and fourth issue of the new anthology series The Phantom Strikes.[20]

Some of the characters Saviuk has co-created include Arkiss Chummuck and Malet Dasim of the Green Lantern Corps (with Bob Toomey), Sunburst (with Paul Kupperberg), Olympian (with E. Nelson Bridwell), Tombstone (with Gerry Conway), Nightwatch and the New Enforcers (both with Terry Kavanagh).

In addition to comics, Saviuk does storyboards for advertising agencies and, occasionally, film and animation studios.[15] Among the films he storyboarded are Hoot and Never Back Down.[21]

Saviuk lives in Florida[3] with his wife.[22] They have two children.[16]

Bibliography

DC Comics

  • Action Comics #487–489, 511, 515–516, 521–540, 548–549, 559–560, 563–564, 567, 571, 573, 582 (1978–1986)
  • Batman and the Outsiders Annual #1 (1984)
  • Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #2 (1978)
  • DC Comics Presents #29–33, 37–40, 46, 51, 55, 57, 63–64, 70, 72, 74, 89, 93 (1981–1986)
  • DC Special Series #11 (1978)
  • Detective Comics #489–491 (1980)
  • The Flash #265–267, 273–279, 325 (1978–1983)
  • Green Lantern #100–105, 107, 111–116, 118–119, 130–132 (1978–1980)
  • House of Mystery #255, 279, 287 (1977–1980)
  • New Adventures of Superboy #28, 45–47 (1982–1983)
  • Secret Origin of Hawkman (minicomic) (1980)
  • Superman #360–361, 364, 368, 398, 403, 405–406 (1981–1985)
  • Superman Annual #12 (1986)
  • The Superman Family #195, 199–205 (1979–1981)
  • Unknown Soldier #216 (1978)
  • Vigilante #16 (1985)
  • Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #1–2, 4, 8, 18, 20 (1985–1986)
  • World's Finest Comics #261, 267–270, 272–275, 277, 279–281 (1980–1982)

Marvel Comics

Other publishers

  • The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist #6 (inker) (2005)
  • Fantomen (Egmont) #19/2004, #11/2005, #21/2006, #2–3/2013, #10–11/2013, #22–23/2013, #6–7/2014, #21/2014, #8/2015, #16/2015, #17/2015, #1/2016, #21/2016, #4/2017, #16/2017, #9/2018, #24/2018
  • Feast of the Seven Fishes: The Collected Comic Strip (2005)
  • The Phantom: Generations #9 (2010)
  • The Phantom Strikes #1, 4 (2018–2019)
  • Stan Lee's Mighty 7 #1–3 (2012)
  • The Wicked West: Abomination and Other Tales (2004)
  • The X-Files #30–41 (1997–1998)

Newspaper comic strips

  • The Amazing Spider-Man (inker) (2003–2018), (penciller/inker) (2018–2019)
  • The Amazing Spider-Man Sunday Page (1997–2019)

References

  1. ^ Alex Saviuk Spider-Man Crawlspace Interview Pt. 1. YouTube. August 21, 2012.
  2. ^ "Bullpen Bulletins," Marvel Comics cover-dated August 1992: "'Where were you in June '62?' . . . [Saviuk]: 'I was nine years old'. . . ."
  3. ^ a b c "Alexander Saviuk". Plaxo. n.d. Archived from the original on May 27, 2011. Retrieved May 17, 2009.
  4. ^ a b "Comic Strips & Panels: Amazing Spider-Man by Stan Lee & Alex Saviuk". Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  5. ^ a b Best, Daniel (December 1, 2006). "Alex Saviuk Speaks". 20th Century Danny Boy. Archived from the original on January 25, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  6. ^ Saviuk, Alex. "About". Facebook. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  7. ^ Bails, Jerry (2006). "Saviuk, Alex". Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999. Archived from the original on February 19, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  8. ^ Alex Saviuk at the Grand Comics Database
  9. ^ McAvennie, Michael; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1970s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. Writer Denny O'Neil and artist Alex Saviuk introduced Hal Jordan, Green Lantern, to another Hal Jordan, son of the elder Hal's late uncle Larry and successor to the mantle of Air Wave. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 182: "Life for the Fastest Man Alive screeched to a halt after writer Cary Bates and artist Alex Saviuk played 'The Last Dance' for the Flash's wife, Iris West Allen."
  11. ^ Trumbull, John (October 2014). "Shrinking Roles and Shorter Features: The Atom in the Bronze Age". Back Issue! (76). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 27–28.
  12. ^ Wells, John (May 2013). "Flashback: Whatever Happened to...?". Back Issue! (64). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 51–61.
  13. ^ Manning, Matthew K. "1980s" in Dolan, p. 197: "The DCU's newest superhero team, the Global Guardians, was formed in this Superman tale by writer E. Nelson Bridwell and penciler Alex Saviuk."
  14. ^ Manning, Matthew K.; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2012). "1980s". Spider-Man Chronicle Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 176. ISBN 978-0756692360. The lives of both Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson were recounted in this graphic novel by writer [Gerry] Conway and penciler Alex Saviuk. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ a b c d Rozakis, Bob (2003). "It's BobRo, the Answer Man: Alex Saviuk, What's it Worth & More". Silver Bullet Comics. Archived from the original on April 25, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
  16. ^ a b "The Amazing Spider-Man About the Cartoonist: Alex Saviuk". King Features. n.d. Archived from the original on June 5, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
  17. ^ Degg, D.D. (September 9, 2018). "Larry Lieber Retires from The Amazing Spider-Man". The Daily Cartoonist. Archived from the original on April 13, 2019.
  18. ^ Douglas, Brad (March 9, 2019). "Spider-Man Newspaper Strip Future Uncertain". Spider Man Crawlspace. Archived from the original on May 5, 2019.
  19. ^ "Chris Ware & Warren Ellis Lead 2006 Eisner Nominations". Comic Book Resources. April 5, 2006. Archived from the original on May 5, 2019.
  20. ^ "The Phantom Strikes! Updated". Chronicle Chamber. October 5, 2018. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019.
  21. ^ Alex Saviuk at IMDb
  22. ^ "Bullpen Bulletins," Marvel Comics cover-dated December 1988.

External links

  • Alex Saviuk at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
  • "DC Profiles #53: Alex Saviuk" at the Grand Comics Database
  • "DC Profiles #77: Jodi Saviuk" at the Grand Comics Database
  • Alex Saviuk at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
  • Alex Saviuk at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
Preceded by Green Lantern artist
1978–1979 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
John Calnan and Rich Buckler
 The Flash artist
1979 		Succeeded by
Don Heck
Preceded by The Amazing Spider-Man artist
1987–1988 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Web of Spider-Man artist
1988–1994 		Succeeded by
Preceded by The X-Files artist
1997–1998 		Succeeded by
n/a
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