Jim Starlin

Starlin is an American comic book writer and artist, whose career dates back to the early 1970s. Starlin is best known for "cosmic" tales and space opera; for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock; and for creating or co-creating the characters Thanos, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, and Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. After writing and drawing stories for a number of fan publications, Starlin got his break into Marvel Comics in 1972, working for Roy Thomas and John Romita Sr. Brought in by fellow artist Rich Buckler, he was part of the generation of artists and writers who grew up as fans of Silver-Age of comic books. Starlin's first job for Marvel was as a finisher on pages of The Amazing Spider-Man. He then drew three issues of Iron Man, that introduced the characters Thanos and Drax the Destroyer. He was then given the chance to draw an issue of the "cosmic" title Captain Marvel. Starlin took over as plotter the following issue, and began developing an elaborate story arc centered on the villainous Thanos, and spread across a number of Marvel titles. He left Captain Marvel one issue after concluding his Thanos saga. His pseudonym Steve Apollo is taken from a character he created for Star*Reach #1 in the 1970s, while Gemini is a signature used by Jim Starlin and Al Milgrom, primarily on covers.