Syd Shores

Syd Shores began drawing in childhood, fascinated by the comic-strip art of Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon and Hal Foster's Prince Valiant.

I studied Mac Raboy for hours on end — he was slow and meticulous about everything, doing maybe only a single panel of artwork a day, but it was truly beautiful work.

[4][5] After the Simon & Kirby team moved on following Captain America Comics #10 (Jan. 1942), Shores and Al Avison became regular pencilers of the hit title, with one generally inking over the other, both working with writer Stan Lee.

"[3] Shores took over as regular penciller on Captain America Comics, inked by Vince Alascia, while Avison did his World War II military service.

"[2] Shores also inked two of Kirby's Golden Age Vision stories, in Marvel Mystery Comics #21-22 (July-Aug. 1941); and the cover and splash page of Young Allies #1 (July 1941).

[3] After four months at a convalescent hospital in Warwick, England, he was reassigned to an engineering outfit and became part of the occupation forces in Germany.

[3] He recalled in 1970 that "after Al [Avison] left, I started pencilling [Captain America stories] from then on until the Army decided it could use my services to help win World War II.

Future Comic Book Hall of Famer Gene Colan, a Marvel mainstay from 1946 on, described Shores during this time as "a very quiet man.

[4] Going freelance in 1948, when virtually all of Timely's staff positions were eliminated, Shores drew for Atlas, Avon, and Orbit Publications.

[4] With Mort Lawrence, who succeeded Bill Everett on The Sub-Mariner, and Norman Steinberg, another Atlas artist, Shores co-founded a comic-art studio[1] in 1952, first in Hempstead, Long Island, and later in nearby Freeport.

[citation needed] But with Steinberg's death in the mid-1950s and Lawrence's decision to leave the field, Shores returned to individual freelancing, adding magazine illustration to his repertoire.

[9] In the 1960s, Shores found a new audience at Marvel Comics, where he again inked Jack Kirby on Captain America when the character once more received a full-length title.

[4] In a rare return to penciling at Marvel, Shores drew and self-inked five anthological horror stories from 1969 to 1971 in Chamber of Darkness, Tower of Shadows, Creatures on the Loose and Monsters on the Prowl, as well as Gerry Conway's adaptation of Harlan Ellison's "Delusions for a Dragon Slayer" in Chamber of Chills #1 (Nov. 1972).

He additionally penciled part of the eight-page story "Voodoo War" for Marvel's black-and-white horror-comics magazine Tales of the Zombie #5 (May 1974)[4] before dying of a heart seizure.

[10] The survey "The 20 Greatest Inkers of American Comic Books" placed Shores at #11, saying he "evidenced a unique and singular inking style, one perhaps only vaguely approximated by the great Bill Everett.