Today in Comics History, January 13: Happy birthday, Jerry Acerno!

Born on this day: comics writer, artist and inker Jerry Acerno (sometimes spelled as "Gerry")! Happy birthday, Jerry!

Jerry got his big break in comics with an inking review in "The New Talent Department" feature of an early issue of Marvel Age!


from Marvel Age #17 (Marvel, August 1984)




Compare and contrast his inking against Sal Buscema's pencils:

(Click picture to Strange Tales-size)

I made myself a promise that whenever I do show off an artist's work from "The New Talent Department," I also include some examples of later work, because it's not entirely fair to represent only the very beginning of their professional career. So here's a cover and a couple pages of Shadow Lady, a loving pastiche of Phantom Lady and Acerno's own creation, in the fun, retro pages of Big Bang Comics:




from Big Bang Comics (1996 series) #21 (Image, June 1998); script, pencils, inks and letters by Jerry Acerno, cover colors by Tom Luth
A very happy birthday to you, Jerry Acerno!


from Big Bang Comics #17 (Image, February 1988)