A BIRTHDAY SALUTE…
Keith Pollard is one of those workhorse artists who could do just about anything but never reached the upper echelons of stardom. It’s too bad because the comics industry is built on the backs of guys like this.
It’s Pollard’s 76th birthday, so for this 13 COVERS salute, we bring you a run of his fab covers starring Spider-Man, from the late ’70s.
Right on.
Jim Mooney inks
Terry Austin inks
Al Milgrom inks
Frank Giacoia inks
Bob McLeod inks
McLeod inks
McLeod inks
Giacoia inks
Bruce Patterson inks
Pablo Marcos inks
Milgrom inks
McLeod inks
Milgrom inks
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MORE
— KEITH POLLARD, NEAL ADAMS and the Project That Died on the Vine. Click here.
— 13 Underrated SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN Covers. Click here.
January 20, 2026
Thanks for this birthday tribute and thank you Keith Pollard for your work on Spidey and so many other titles including your Fantastic Four which was a highlight for me. ASM #s 187 And 196 plus annual 13 and PPSM 25 are the books that hooked me on Spidey so many years ago. And Keith’s FFs like 201 and later with Steve Englehart as in FF 319 drew me in on Marvel’s first family and kept me entertained with great story-telling and powerful characters.
January 20, 2026
Happy Birthday, Mr. Pollard! You can’t imagine how happy this teenaged spider-fan was in the summer of 1978 when I discovered you had replaced Ross Andru as the artist on ASM. Your run with Marv Wolfman on that title was a blast—thanks!
January 20, 2026
At the time, I didn’t appreciate Keith’s work. He took over both the Amazing Spider-Man and Fantastic Four titles after other great artists who I loved left. It was slightly jarring to me back then. However, over time a funny thing happened. I realized how great Keith’s art really is. I wish Frank Giacoia had become his regular inker on ASM the way Sinnott was on the FF. Giacoia’s inks just look right on Spider-Man with his somewhat Romita-esque style (very clean and bold, but also very detailed). Even so, Pollard’s run on ASM was great even if some of us who had grown up on John Romita and Ross Andru found his style to be a less than perfect fit at the time. Time, however, has been very kind to Keith Pollard, as his work holds up amazingly well. A great artist. When I read the issues with his work they seem so fresh and vibrant to me now.
January 20, 2026
I enjoyed his work from the first time I saw it (Master of Kung Fu Annual #1). If I saw his name in the credits, I usually bought it. Happy Birthday, Sir!
January 20, 2026
I love that cover with the Scorpion! So good! Happy Birthday!
January 22, 2026
That one and the Doc Octopus annual are my favorites. Some classic Bronze Age there.
Happy birthday!
January 20, 2026
One of the few commissioned pieces I have is by Pollard. I had him do Deathlock at a con in Detroit in the 80’s. He wondered why I wanted him to do Deathlock given all the other work he was known for. My answer was Deathlock was by Detroit creators, and his work over Buckler’s layouts were the epitome of Deathlock. Still have that amazing piece right from his sketch pad
January 20, 2026
I remember buying Spider-Man #187, mainly because both Spider-Man and Captain America were in the comic together. At the time I was too young to really know and recognize one artist over another. But I knew I really liked the way Captain America was presented in this comic. Big, muscular, commanding and quite the bad-a**. I can’t tell you the number of times I re-read that issue.
January 20, 2026
As much as I liked Ross Andru’s Spider-Man, I liked Keith Pollard’s Spider-Man even more! I wish we had gotten more of it. I still don’t know how he pulled off drawing ASM, FF, and Thor seemingly simultaneously! Also, I loved that issue of World’s Finest he did, inked by Mike DeCarlo.
January 21, 2026
Some great covers. Enjoyed Keith’s work back in the day. He followed Perez on FF, even though I was a big fan of G.P. and was disappointed to see him go, I couldn’t complain about his replacement, who turned out to be just fine. Same with following big John on Thor, but Keith pulled it off.