]Alex Ross

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For other people named Alex Ross, see Alex Ross (disambiguation).
Alex Ross
Alexross comicstore 2003.jpg
Ross in 2003
Born Nelson Alexander Ross
January 22, 1970 (age 47)
Portland, Oregon
Nationality American
Area(s) Painter and illustrator
Notable works
JLA Liberty and Justice
JLA Secret Origins
Kingdom Come
Marvels
Awards Will Eisner Award (1997)
National Cartoonists Society Comic Book Award (1998)
http://www.alexrossart.com

Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross (/r??s/; born January 22, 1970)[1] is an American
comic book writer/artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers, and
design work. He first became known with the 1994 miniseries Marvels, on which he
collaborated with writer Kurt Busiek for Marvel Comics. He has since done a variety
of projects for both Marvel and DC Comics, such as the 1996 miniseries Kingdom
Come, which Ross co-wrote. Since then he has done covers and character designs for
Busiek's series Astro City, and various projects for Dynamite Entertainment. His
feature film work includes concept and narrative art for Spider-Man and Spider-Man
2, and DVD packaging art for the M. Night Shyamalan film Unbreakable. He has done
covers for TV Guide, promotional artwork for the Academy Awards, posters and
packaging design for video games, and his renditions of superheroes have been
merchandised as action figures.

Ross' style has been said to exhibit "a Norman-Rockwell-meets-George-Prez vibe",

[2] and has been praised for its realistic, human depictions of classic comic book
characters.[3] His rendering style, his attention to detail, and the perceived
tendency of his characters to be depicted staring off into the distance in cover
images has been satirized in Mad magazine.[4] Because of the time it takes Ross to
produce his art, he primarily serves as a plotter and/or cover artist. Comics
Buyer's Guide Senior Editor Maggie Thompson, commenting on that publication's
retirement of the Favorite Painter award from their CBG Fan Awards due to Ross'
domination of that category, stated in 2010, "Ross may simply be the field's
Favorite Painter, period. That's despite the fact that many outstanding painters
are at work in today's comic books."[5]

Contents

1 Early life
2 Career
2.1 1990s
2.2 2000s
2.3 2010s
3 Toys
4 Awards
5 Bibliography
5.1 Interior work
5.1.1 DC Comics
5.1.2 Dynamite Entertainment
5.1.3 Eclipse Comics
 5.1.4 Image Comics
5.1.5 Marvel Comics
5.1.6 Now Comics
5.2 Cover work
5.2.1 DC Comics
5.2.1.1 America's Best Comics
5.2.2 Dynamite Entertainment
5.2.3 Marvel Comics
5.2.4 Other publishers
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links

Early life

Alex Ross was born in Portland, Oregon, and raised in Lubbock, Texas,[6][7] by his
minister father, Clark, and his mother, Lynette, a commercial artist[6] from whom
he would learn many of the trademarks of his artistic style.[2] Ross first began
drawing at age three, and was first influenced by superheroes when he discovered
Spider-Man on an episode of the children's TV series The Electric Company.[6][8]

He would later be influenced by comics artists such as John Romita Sr., Neal Adams,
[9] George Prez and Bernie Wrightson, and attempted to imitate Prez' style when
he did superhero work, and Wrightson's when he did what he calls "serious" work. By
age 16, Ross discovered the realistic work of illustrators such as Andrew Loomis
and Norman Rockwell, and envisioned one day seeing such styles applied to comic
book art.[6]

At age 17, Ross began studying painting at the American Academy of Art in Chicago,
[6][10] where his mother had studied. During his years there, Ross discovered the
work of other artists like J. C. Leyendecker and Salvador Dal, whose "hyper-
realistic quality", Ross saw, was not that far removed from that of comics. It was
during this time that he formed the idea to paint his own comic books. Ross
graduated after three years.[6]
Career
1990s

After graduating, Ross took a job at an advertising agency[6] as a storyboard

artist.[10] Ross' first published comic book work was the 1990 five-issue
miniseries, Terminator: The Burning Earth, written by Ron Fortier and published by
NOW Comics.[11] Ross created all of the art, from pencils through coloring for the
series. He performed similar work on a variety of titles over the next few years.
His first work for Marvel Comics was to have been printed in the science-fiction
anthology series Open Space #5 but the title was cancelled with issue #4 (August
1990). Ross' story was printed in 1999 as a special supplement to Wizard's Alex
Ross Special.[12] In 1993, he completed his first painted superhero assignment, the
cover of a Superman novel, Superman: Doomsday & Beyond.
Ross' rendition of the Justice League.

During this time, Ross met writer Kurt Busiek, and the two began submitting
proposals for series that would feature paintings as their internal art. Marvel
agreed to a project that would tell much of the history of the Marvel Universe from
the perspective of an ordinary person. That limited series, Marvels, was released
in 1994,[13] and chronicled the life of a photojournalist, as he reacted to living
in a world of superheroes and villains.

Busiek, Ross, and penciller Brent Anderson created Astro City, first published by
Image Comics in 1995 and later by WildStorm Comics. The series features an original
superhero world and continues the theme of Marvels, exploring how ordinary people,
superheroes and villains react to a world where the fantastic is commonplace. Ross
paints the covers and helps set the costumes and the general look and feel for the
series, which has been published sporadically in recent years.[11]

In 1996, Ross worked with writer Mark Waid on the DC Comics limited series Kingdom
Come,[14] which presents a possible future for the DC Universe, in which Superman
and several other classic superheroes return from retirement to tame a generation
of brutal anti-heroes. The work featured Ross' redesigned versions of many DC
characters, as well as a new generation of characters. Ross co-created the original
character Magog, patterning his appearance and costume on Cable and Shatterstar,
two characters created by Rob Liefeld.[15][16] DC Comics writer and executive Paul
Levitz observed that "Waid's deep knowledge of the heroes' pasts served them well,
and Ross' unique painted art style made a powerful statement about the reality of
the world they built."[17]

Ross followed Kingdom Come with Uncle Sam,[11] a non-superhero work for DC's
Vertigo line, an experimental work that examined the dark side of American history.
Ross drew the lenticular covers for Superman: Forever #1 (June 1998)[18] and
Batman: No Man's Land #1 (March 1999).[19] Between 1998 and 2003, writer Paul Dini
and Ross produced annual tabloid-sized editions[20] celebrating the 60th
anniversaries of DC Comics' Superman (Peace on Earth),[21] Batman (War on Crime),
[22] Shazam (Power of Hope), and Wonder Woman (Spirit of Truth), as well as two
specials featuring the Justice League, Secret Origins and Liberty and Justice.[11]
2000s

In the early 2000s, with writer Jim Krueger, Ross plotted and designed characters
for a trilogy of Marvel limited series, Earth X,[23] Universe X, and Paradise X,
which combined dozens of Marvel characters from various time periods.[11]

When M. Night Shyamalan's film, Unbreakable was released to video in 2001, the DVD
included an insert with Ross' original art, as well as a commentary by Ross,
regarding superheroes, in the movie's special features.[24]

In 2001, Ross won acclaim for his work on special comic books benefiting the
families of those killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks, including his portraits
of paramedics, police and firefighters. He has designed DC merchandise, including
posters, dinner plates, and statues. In late 2001, Ross painted four covers to the
December 8, 2001 TV Guide, which depicted Tom Welling, Kristin Kreuk and Michael
Rosenbaum of the TV series Smallville, and Superman.[8]

Ross designed a series of costumes for the 2002 film Spider-Man,[25] though they
were not used in the film. In the film's video game tie-in, as an Easter egg, it is
possible to unlock a playable version of Ross' Spider-Man design. When using this,
the Green Goblin will feature one of Ross' unused character outfits. Ross' design
was featured as an unlockable costume and available in a white version in the
PlayStation game Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro.

In early 2002, Ross designed the promotional poster for the 2002 Academy Awards,
[10] which depicted Oscar perched atop the First National Building. The Academy
loaned Ross an actual Oscar statuette for a week for him to use as reference for
the painting. Ross stated that he photographed members of his family as if they
were receiving it.[3][8] That same year, he was one of four artists who depicted
Spider-Man on one of the covers to the April 27, 2002 issue of TV Guide as a
promotional tie-in to the feature film Spider-Man.[8]
Ross' poster for the 74th Academy Awards.

Ross illustrated the cover art on the Anthrax albums We've Come for You All (2003),
Music of Mass Destruction (2004), Worship Music (2011), and For All Kings (2016).
In 2003, Pantheon Books published the coffee table book Mythology: The DC Comics
Art of Alex Ross, written and designed by Chip Kidd,[26] and featuring a foreword
written by M. Night Shyamalan. In late 2005, a paperback version of the book was
published to include new artwork by Ross, including sketches for his Justice mini-
series. Also in 2004, Ross designed 15 paintings for the opening credits of the
film Spider-Man 2.[10][24][27][28] The paintings presented key elements from the
first film. Ross later donated the paintings to be auctioned off on eBay to benefit
the United Cancer Front.[28]

In 2005, Ross designed the DVD illustration covers for the re-release of Gatchaman
by ADV Films.[29] He appeared in a featurette discussing his involvement of
Gatchaman in his career.

In August 2005, Ross worked again with writer Jim Krueger and penciller Doug
Braithwaite on 12-issue, bi-monthly limited series Justice for DC Comics.[11][30]
The series focuses on the enemies of the Justice League of America banding together
to in an effort to defeat them.

The cover of the "Savior of the Universe Edition" DVD of the 1980 film Flash
Gordon, released on August 7, 2007, features a cover painted by Ross. An avid fan
of the film, he starred in a featurette on the DVD where he discussed the movie,
which he names as his favorite movie of all time.[31]

In 2008, Ross embarked on projects focusing on Golden Age characters: Project

Superpowers with Jim Krueger for Dynamite Entertainment.[32] That same year, Ross
wrote and illustrated Avengers/Invaders. It features Marvel characters but was
published by Dynamite Entertainment. The story pits World War II versions of
Captain America, Namor, and other classic war characters against the modern
Avengers groups.[33][34][35] Late 2008 saw the release of two Ross prints that were
made into T-shirts: one, "Bush Sucking Democracy Dry", featuring George W. Bush as
a vampire sucking the blood from Lady Liberty, and the other, "Time for a Change",
featuring Barack Obama as a superhero.[36] The latter was made into a T-shirt, with
which Obama was seen posing at a public event.[37] Ross painted the "Kollectors
Edition" cover for the console game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. The artwork was
released on October 9, 2008, as was a video chronicling Ross' process of painting
it.[38] Ross is featured in his own segment on the Blu-ray/DVD included in the
package.

Dynamite Entertainment announced that Ross would illustrate covers for the Fighting
American series.[39]
2010s

Other Ross projects for Dynamite include acting as the creative director on The
Phantom comic book series.[40] and teaming with Kurt Busiek on Kirby: Genesis, an
eight-issue miniseries which debuted in 2011. The series was their first full
collaboration since Marvels 17 years previous, and features a large group of Jack
Kirby's creator-owned characters, the rights to which were acquired by Dynamite,
such as Silver Star, Captain Victory, Galaxy Green, Tiger 21 and the Ninth Men.
Ross handled the series' co-plotting, designs, and covers, apart from overseeing
the book overall with Busiek, who was the writer.[41][42]

Since 2011, Ross has been painting covers for several Dynamite titles such as The
Green Hornet, Silver Star, Captain Victory, The Bionic Man, Lord of the Jungle, The
Spider, among others.[11]

In 2012 Ross drew promotional artwork of Ratonhnhak:ton, the main character of the
video game Assassin's Creed III, used on the cover of the April 2012 issue of Game
Informer and the collectible steelbook case provided with certain editions of the
game.[24][43][44] that same year, Ross returned to interior painted art with Masks,
a story in which the Shadow, the Spider, the Green Hornet, Zorro and others join
forces to combat a mutual threat.[45]

In 2013 Ross created an exclusive GameStop pre-order poster for the video game
Watch Dogs, which was scheduled for debut November 19 of that year, but has since
been delayed to 2014. The game is set in Ross' home of Chicago, which Ross
emphasized in the image by placing the Willis Tower and the elevated train tracks
in the background.[24]

With Marvel's "All-New, All-Different Marvel" relaunch, Ross did a variety of

covers for the main comics in the relaunch such as the cover for The Amazing
Spider-Man and Squadron Supreme.
Toys

DC Direct, the collectibles division of DC Comics, has produced three sets of

action figures from the comic book Kingdom Come based on Alex Ross' artwork. The
first set of figures included Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Hawkman.
The second set included Batman, Red Robin, Captain Marvel, and Kid Flash. The last
set included Magog, Flash, Armored Wonder Woman, and Deadman. An exclusive figure
of Red Arrow was released through ToyFare magazine. DC Direct also released several
other Ross-designed characters through their Elseworlds toylines. These figures
included the Spectre, Norman McCay, Jade, Nightstar, Aquaman, and Blue Beetle. Ross
designed the costume the current incarnation of Batwoman wears; this character has
been released in action-figure form by DC Direct as part of its "52" line of toys.

DC Direct has released a line of action figures for the comic book Justice based on
Alex Ross' artwork:

Series 1: Bizarro, Sinestro, Cheetah, Flash, Superman, Superman (variant)

Series 2: Aquaman, Batman, Black Canary, Black Manta, Parasite
Series 3: Green Lantern, the Joker, Plastic Man, Poison Ivy, Wonder Woman
Series 4: Black Adam, Hawkman, Shazam!, Solomon Grundy, Zatanna
Series 5: Brainiac, Green Arrow, Lex Luthor, Martian Manhunter, Martian
Manhunter (Translucent), Red Tornado.
Series 6: Batman Armored, Green Lantern Armored, Hawkgirl, Scarecrow.
Series 7: Aquaman Armored, Gorilla Grodd, Green Lantern John Stewart, Superman
Armored
Series 8: Batgirl, Captain Cold, Supergirl, Toyman

Awards
National Cartoonists Society Comic Book Award

1998 National Cartoonists Society Comic Book Award for Superman: Peace on
Earth.

Eisner Awards

1994 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards - Nominee - Best Cover Artist: (for
Marvels [Marvel])
1994 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards - Winner - Best Painter/Multimedia
Artist: (Marvels (Marvel))
1996 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards - Winner - Best Cover Artist: (for Kurt
Busiek\'s Astro City [Jukebox Productions/Image])
1997 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards - Winner - Best Cover Artist: (for
Kingdom Come [DC] and Kurt Busiek\'s Astro City [Jukebox Productions/Homage])
1997 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards - Winner - Best Painter/Multimedia
Artist: (Kingdom Come (DC Comics))
1998 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards - Winner - Best Cover Artist: (for Kurt
Busiek\'s Astro City [Jukebox Productions/Image] and Uncle Sam [DC/Vertigo])
 1998 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards - Winner - Best Painter/Multimedia
Artist: (Uncle Sam (DC Comics/Vertigo))
1999 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards - Winner - Best Painter/Multimedia
Artist: (Superman: Peace on Earth (DC Comics))
2000 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards - Winner - Best Cover Artist: (for
Batman: No Man\'s Land, Batman: Harley Quinn, and Batman: War on Crime [DC]; and
Kurt Busiek\'s Astro City [Homage/DC/Wildstorm]; and America\'s Best Comics
alternate #1 [Wildstorm/DC])
2000 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards - Winner - Best Painter/Multimedia
Artist: (Batman: War on Crime (DC Comics))
2003 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards - Winner - Bob Clampett Humanitarian
2010 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards - Nominee - Best Cover Artist: (Astro
City: The Dark Age (DC Comics/WildStorm); Project Superpowers (Dynamite))

Harvey Awards

1994 Harvey Awards Best Artist or Penciller Alex Ross, for Marvels (Marvel
Comics)
1997 Harvey Awards Best Artist or Penciller Alex Ross for Kingdom Come (DC)
1996 Harvey Awards Best Cover Artist Alex Ross, for Kurt Busiek's Astro City #1
(Image)
1997 Harvey Awards Best Cover Artist Alex Ross, for Kingdom Come #1 (DC)
1998 Harvey Awards Best Cover Artist Alex Ross, for Kurt Busiek's Astro City
(Image/Homage), Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #100 (DC), Squadron Supreme
(Marvel Comics)
1999 Harvey Awards Best Cover Artist Alex Ross, for Kurt Busiek's Astro City
(Image/Homage), Superman Forever (DC), Superman: Peace on Earth (DC)
1994 Harvey Awards Best Continuing or Limited Series Marvels, by Kurt Busiek
and Alex Ross; edited by Marcus McLaurin (Marvel Comics)
1995 Harvey Awards Best Single Issue or Story Marvels #4, by Kurt Busiek and
Alex Ross; edited by Marcus McLaurin (Marvel Comics)
2000 Harvey Awards Best Graphic Album of Original Work Batman: War on Crime by
Paul Dini and Alex Ross, edited by Ch