Comic-book artist Michael Kaluta, perhaps best known for his work on The Shadow, turns 61 today. Kaluta is also known for forming—along with Jeff Jones, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Bernie Wrightson—an artistic collective called The Studio in the late ’70s.

In 1971, Kaluta won the Shazam Award, given by the Academy of Comic Book Arts, for Outstanding New Talent, and the following year, at Phil Seuling’s July 4th, 1972 weekend comic-book convention, he drew the image you see above right for an annoying kid named Scott Edelman who’d thrust his sketchpad at him.

Six year further on, after I’d left my staff job at Marvel Comics and was freelancing for both Marvel and DC, he drew the cover below for an issue of Doorway to Nightmare I’d scripted. That was (gulp!) 30 years ago.

Happy birthday, Mike! Even though it’s your birthday, for some reason I’m feeling older!