Born August 29, 1929, Marie Severin was encouraged to embrace art by her father Jack, a trained artist and designer for Elizabeth Arden; her mother Peg, a homemaker and talented seamstress; and her older brother John, a beloved cartoonist who would eventually help Severin secure her first work coloring for EC Comics. Eventually, Severin would have a hand in coloring nearly everything in the EC line, creating vibrant covers and setting the moody tone for the popular horror and sci-fi comics released by the publisher.
Unfortunately, Severin was one of the many artists who fell victim to the Comics Code of 1954, which effectively disemboweled EC Comics and put many cartoonists out of work. In the late 1950s, she found a home in the Marvel Comics bullpen, where she worked in production, as a colorist, and as a penciller. Doctor Strange, Sub-Mariner, Iron Man, Conan the Barbarian, Kull the Conqueror, and Incredible Hulk are among the characters she worked on during her tenure at Marvel. Severin’s particular talent for caricature and comedy shone through in her work for Marvel’s satirical magazines Not Brand Echh, Crazy, Spoof, and What the --?!.
Severin served as Marvel’s head colorist until the early 1970s, when she began to focus on penciling. In late 1976, she co-created Spider-Woman with Archie Goodwin, establishing the iconic look of the character. In the 1980s, Severin joined the Special Projects Division at Marvel, working on toy, film, and television licensing and illustrating kids comics such as Fraggle Rock and Muppet Babies. She continued making contributions to comics well into the 2000s.
Severin’s talent for humor garnered her a Shazam Award in 1974, and she earned an Inkpot Award in 1988. Severin was inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame in 2001, one of the first women to be added to the roster. In 2017, Comic-Con International awarded Severin the Icon Award for her enduring contributions to the artform.
