The Super-Girls Wall Calendar was released by artist Jim Steranko in USA in 1973.
Jim Steranko was born in 1938 and is one of the most famous figures in pop culture, with dozens of successful careers to his credit. He has had huge success as an illustrator, author, magician, designer, musician, escape artist, and historian. He is ‘cited’ as one of the prime architects of Marvel Comics. Wizard magazine credited Steranko as the ‘5th Most Influential Artist in Comics’ History’.
He has painted a multitude of movie posters, record albums, and book covers and in 1975, created Red Tide, the first modern graphic novel. As the editor-publisher of the international newsstand entertainment magazine ‘Prevue’, he conducted hundreds of superstar interviews and penned more than three million words.
Steranko is perhaps most celebrated for his work at Marvel on Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Captain America, and the X-Men, as well as a string of eye-catching covers. His two volumes of ‘The History of Comics’ have sold more than 100,000 copies each. As a filmmaker, he collaborated with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas (for whom he created the look of Indiana Jones) and Francis Ford Coppola on some of their most popular films.
In 1973, Jim Steranko was inspired to create his first wall calendar, with risqué illustrations of Super-Girls. The print run for the Calendar are not exactly known, however Steranko himself has stated, “not many”.
The list of comic book characters featured in the 1973 calendar are as follows:
- Jan – Femme Yellow Jacket
- Feb – Femme Black Cat
- March – Femme Green Arrow
- Apr – Femme Lady Punisher
- May – Femme Green Hornet
- June – Femme Phantom Lady
- July – Femme Captain America
- Aug – Femme Lady Liberty
- Sept – Femme Sheena
- Oct – Femme Batwoman
- Nov – Femme Girl Phantom
- Dec – Femme Supergirl
We see Girl Phantom in November.
In 2014, Jim Steranko was a special guest at the San Diego Comic Con. Available for purchase at his booth were just a few 11” x 17” original calendars, a limited number of 11” x 17” posters/prints that did not contain the calendar dates, plus a limited edition full gloss booklet that contained reworked images of the poster prints.
A full set of the posters/prints (minus calendar dates) can be seen below.
The Girl Phantom image found within the limited edition booklet can be seen below.
Thank you Christopher Smith for assisting with images and information.
The Phantom 