Jim Valentino

by Charles Brownstein

Jim Valentino is one of the most interesting figures in alternative comics. A comic book factotum, or jack of all trades, Valentine began his career working on mini-comics in the early eighties. These stories, many of them later collected in the book Vignettes were mostly autobiography inspired by underground masters R. Crumb and Vaughn Bode. He changed directions a few years later when he signed on to do his fondly remembered superhero parody normalman for Aardvark-Vanaheim. With a growing family and an opportunity to do superhero comics. Valentino began working for Marvel in the late eighties and early nineties on books like What If? and Guardians of the Galaxy.

It has been said that Valentino "was carrying a virus that should never have been allowed into mainstream comics." That virus was the "DIY," or Do It Yourself ethic of the alternative cartoonist. The purest expression of this virus is found in a Clay Geerdes quote, Valentino can frequently be heard paraphrasing: "You don't need permission. You don't need a company. You only need yourself." It is widely speculated that Valentino on some level put that bug into the ears of the artists who would walk out of Terry Stewart's office to form Image.

As one of those artists, Jim has been involved with Image from the start. He put out a small line of superhero books through the company including his own ShadowHawk as well as the notorious Alan Moore headed 1963. Five years later Valentino has come to reevaluate his creative interests and seems to be returning to his alternative roots with his new comic A Touch of Silver and his "non-line" of alternative comics.

Check out the Interview with Jim Valentino on his project called A touch of Silver.