The respected artist turns 68…
Paul Smith — born Sept. 4, 1953 — is one of those comics artists who wasn’t wildly prolific like many of his contemporaries. That said, what he did create is a body of work that today remains highly respected and influential.
Among his most notable titles was Uncanny X-Men in the early ’80s; he was the artist who devised Storm’s punk look, which debuted in 1983’s Issue #173:
Pencils by Smith, inks by Bob Wiacek, script by Chris Claremont
So with Smith’s birthday upon us, it’s time for a 13 COVERS salute — featuring his Uncanny X-Men fronts, as well as a few from X-Factor of the late ’80s.
Dig it.
—
MORE
— INSIDE LOOK: Dave Cockrum’s X-MEN Artifact Edition. Click here.
— INSIDE LOOK: John Byrne’s X-MEN Artifact Edition. Click here.
September 4, 2021
No mention or covers from Dr. Strange? His work there certainly looked better than those X-Factors covers. This post needs an edit
September 4, 2021
OK
September 4, 2021
C’mon, where’s the Leave it To Chance love? Or Nexus? Or The Golden Age, or any of his covers at DC? Or any of his indie stuff at Valiant & elsewhere? Or even his other Marvel work like the aforementioned Dr Strange? My man Smitty was a LOT more versatile (&, frankly, interesting) than his X-Men work…
September 5, 2021
Thanks for stopping by Steven! You’re probably not that familiar with the site, so welcome! 13 COVERS is a regular feature and generally speaking each installment is just a snapshot of a creator’s production. Unless we explicitly set out to do so, we couldn’t possibly boil someone’s work down to just 13, so for birthdays we always pick a theme and change it up each year. For this year, it was X-books. Next time? Who knows? But you’re 100 percent right — “your man Smitty” has created much more than X-books and I could have clarified that, remembering that not all of our readers are familiar with the feature. Either way, welcome!
September 4, 2021
Wishing a happy birthday to Mr. Smith.
September 8, 2021
Love it! Paul Smith’s artwork was my gateway drug to comics. A friend of mine from school let me borrow X-Men #173 and I was hooked. X-Men #175 might still be my favorite issue of a comic ever!