Comics Buyer's Guide (ISSN 0745-4570) (CBG), established in 1971, is the longest-running English-language periodical reporting on the American comic book industry. It has also awarded its annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards since 1982.

History[link]

Origins[link]

CBG was founded in 1971 by Alan Light under the title The Buyer's Guide to Comics Fandom (TBG) as a monthly newspaper in a tabloid format. TBG began primarily as an advertising venue — known in comics fandom as an "adzine", i.e. a fanzine devoted to ads. Ron Frantz, in his book Fandom: Confidential, traces the lineage of Light's endeavor to Stan's Weekly Express, (aka WE) a pioneering adzine published from 1969 to 1973, whose bare-bones approach was inspired by an "obscure journal of flower advertising known as Joe's Bulletin."^[1] Frantz also provides background on Light's interaction with the WE Seal of approval program, with which he cooperated in order to help combat mail fraud. Frantz in addition describes the infamous long-running feud between Light and Comics Journal founder Gary Groth.^[2]

TBG's frequency was changed to twice-monthly with issue #18 (August 1, 1972). Besides occasional letter columns, beginning with issue #19 (Aug. 15, 1972), prominent fans Don and Maggie Thompson began a monthly column, "Beautiful Balloons." A news column, "What Now?" by Murray Bishoff, was added later. These provided the editorial content required by the United States Postal Service to qualify for second class mail (along with paid subscriptions being instituted with issue #27, Jan. 1, 1973).^[3]

TBG went weekly with issue #86 in July 1975.

Acquisition by Krause Publications[link]

In February 1983, The Buyer's Guide was purchased by Krause Publications.^[4] Columnists Don and Maggie Thompson were hired as editors. (With issue #482, the publication's title was officially changed to Comics Buyer's Guide upon its purchase by Krause.) At that time Krause instituted the controversial^[5][6][7] CBG Customer Service Award, the display of which signifies an advertiser had a "clean bill of health".

In 1992, the magazine spun off its distributor and retailer news into a separate periodical, Comics & Games Retailer (which ceased publication in 2007).^[8] Co-editor Don Thompson died in 1994.^[9] In 1998, Krause brought on John Jackson Miller as managing editor and Brent Frankenhoff as projects editor, with Maggie Thompson remaining as editor.^[10] Frankenhoff was promoted to CBG Editor in 2006, with Maggie Thompson assuming the title of Senior Editor.

In July 2002, Krause was acquired by F+W Publications.

Switch to monthly frequency[link]

With issue #1595 (June 2004), CBG changed its format from a weekly tabloid to a monthly perfect bound magazine. In addition, in hopes of enhancing newsstand sales, CBG added a price guide for contemporary comics as well as other new features intended to make the magazine more appealing to those with an avid interest in comic books as an investment. This marketing strategy was also tied to the yearly publication of the Standard Catalog of Comic Books, produced in conjunction with Human Computing, the makers of the comic collectors’ software ComicBase.

In July 2005, the magazine began archiving past features at its CBGXtra.com service. In late 2009, CBG's page count was reduced, the perfect binding ended, and some of the features changed, including the removal of the price guide listings.

A complete collection of CBG and its predecessor is held by the Michigan State University Comic Art Collection.^[11][12]

Columnists[link]

CBG has hosted many columns over the years in addition to Don and Maggie Thompson's "Beautiful Balloons". Murray Bishoff continued as "What Now?" columnist until 1979, after which Catherine Yronwode took over the news column, retitled "Fit to Print."^[13] With issue #25 (Nov. 15, 1972) Martin L. Greim, publisher of the fanzine The Comic Crusader, began to contribute an occasional column initially titled "M.L.G. on Comics," that later would be known as "Crusader Comments."^[14] With issue #163 in 1976 Shel Dorf began an occasional series "Shel Dorf and the Fantasy Makers" interviewing creators in comics, television and film. ^[15] Another columnist in the 1970s was David Scroggy.^[16]

In the CBG era, the magazine has been noted for its letter column "Oh, So?", as well as columns by Peter David, Tony Isabella, catherine yronwode, Mark Evanier, John Jackson Miller, Bob Ingersoll, Heidi MacDonald, Chuck Rozanski, Craig Shutt, Beau Smith, Andrew Smith, and others. As part of the June 2004 switch to monthly publication, Maggie Thompson revived the "Beautiful Balloons" column.

Cartoons and strips[link]

Cartoonists who have graced CBG's pages over the years include Chuck Fiala, Jim Engel, Dan Vebber, Fred Hembeck, Mark Engblom, Brian Douglas Ahern, Chris Smigliano, Mark Martin, Batton Lash, Brian Hayes, and others. For some years CBG reprinted installments of The Spirit comic strip by Will Eisner. The panel cartoon "Last Kiss", by John Lustig, is among the longtime fixtures.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Index to The Buyer's Guide For Comic Fandom
• Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards 1982-2005
• Mark Engblom's CBG cartoons
• archive of Chuck Rozanski's "Tales From the Database" column
• Nostalgia Journal #27 (July 1976) interview with Alan Light and Murray Bishoff

Jim Lee
Jim Lee at the CBLDF Drink and Draw at San Diego Comic Con 2007.
Born	(1964-08-11) August 11, 1964 (age 47) Seoul, South Korea
Nationality	Korean-American
Area(s)	Writer, Artist, Publisher
Notable works	All Star Batman and Robin Batman: Hush Superman: For Tomorrow WildC.A.T.s X-Men vol. 2
Awards	Harvey Award, 1990 Inkpot Award, 1992 Wizard Fan Award, 1996, 2002, 2003

Jim Lee (Korean 이용철; born August 11, 1964) is a Korean-American comic book artist, writer, editor and publisher. He first broke into the industry in 1987 as an artist for Marvel Comics, illustrating titles such as Alpha Flight and Punisher War Journal, before gaining a great deal of popularity on The Uncanny X-Men. X-Men #1, the 1991 spinoff series premiere that Lee penciled and co-wrote with Chris Claremont, remains the best-selling comic book of all time, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

In 1992 Lee and several other artists formed their own publishing company, Image Comics, to publish their creator-owned titles, with Lee publishing his titles through his studio, Wildstorm Productions, such as WildC.A.T.s and Gen¹³. Eschewing the role of publisher in order to return to illustration, Lee sold Wildstorm in 1998 to DC Comics, where he continued to run Wildstorm as a DC imprint until DC ended Wildstorm in 2010, as well as illustrating successful books set in DC's main fictional universe, such as the year-long "Batman: Hush" and "Superman: For Tomorrow" storylines. On February 18, 2010, Jim Lee was announced as the new Co-Publisher of DC Comics with Dan DiDio, both replacing Paul Levitz.

He has received a Harvey Award, Inkpot Award and three Wizard Fan Awards in recognition for his work.

Early life[link]

Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea, on August 11, 1964. At the age of four he and his family emigrated to the United States, and grew up in St. Louis, Missouri,^[1][2] where he lived a typical middle-class childhood.^[2] Lee's St. Louis Country Day School classmates predicted in his senior yearbook that he would found his own comic book company.^[1][2] Despite this, Lee seemed resigned to following his father's career in medicine, attending Princeton University to study psychology, with the intention of becoming a medical doctor.^[2][3]

Career[link]

Rise to fame at Marvel Comics[link]

In 1986, as he was preparing to graduate, Lee took an art class that reignited his love of drawing, and led to his rediscovery of comics at a time when seminal works such as Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen spurred a renaissance within the American comics industry.^[2] After obtaining his psychology degree,^[3] he decided to postpone his medical degree, and earned the reluctant blessing of his parents by allotting himself one year to succeed, vowing that he would attend medical school if he did not break into the comic book industry in that time. He submitted samples to various publishers, but did not find success until he met editor Archie Goodwin at a New York comic book convention. Goodwin invited Lee to Marvel Comics, where the aspiring artist received his first assignment by editor Carl Potts, who hired him to pencil the mid-list series Alpha Flight, seguéing from that title in 1989 to Punisher: War Journal.^[2][4] Lee's work on the Punisher: War Journal was inspired by artists like Frank Miller, David Ross, Kevin Nowlan, and Whilce Portacio, as well as Japanese manga.^[4]

In 1989, Lee filled in for regular illustrator Marc Silvestri on Uncanny X-Men #248 and did another guest stint on issues #256 through #258 as part of the "Acts of Vengeance" storyline, eventually becoming the series' ongoing artist with issue #267, following Silvestri's departure. During his stint on Uncanny Lee first worked with inker Scott Williams, who would become a long-time collaborator. During his run on the title, Lee co-created the character Gambit with long-time X-Men writer Chris Claremont.

Lee's artwork quickly gained popularity in the eyes of enthusiastic fans, which allowed him to gain greater creative control of the franchise. In 1991, Lee helped launch a second X-Men series simply called X-Men (volume 2), not only as the artist, but also as co-writer with Claremont. X-Men #1 (vol 2) is still the best-selling comic book of all-time with sales of over 8.1 million copies (and nearly $7 million), according to a public proclamation by the Guinness Book of World Records at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con.^[5][6] The sales figures were generated in part by publishing the issue with five different variant covers, four of which showed different characters from the book that formed a single image when laid side by side, and a fifth, gatefold cover of that combined image, large numbers of which were purchased by retailers, who anticipated fans and speculators who would buy multiple copies in order to acquire a complete collection of the covers.^[7] Lee designed new character uniforms for the series, including those worn by Cyclops, Jean Grey, Rogue, Psylocke and Storm. He also created the villain Omega Red.

Stan Lee interviewed Jim Lee in the documentary series The Comic Book Greats.

Image Comics and WildStorm, return to Marvel[link]

Enticed by the idea of being able to exert more control over his own work, in 1992, Lee accepted the invitation to join six other artists who broke away from Marvel to form Image Comics, which would publish their creator-owned titles.^[3] Lee's group of titles was initially called Aegis Entertainment before being christened Wildstorm Productions, and published Lee's initial title WildC.A.T.s, which Lee pencilled and co-wrote, and other series created by Lee in the same shared universe. The other major series of the initial years of Wildstorm, for which Lee either created characters, co-plotted or provided art for, included Stormwatch, Deathblow and Gen¹³.

In 1993, Lee and his close friend, Valiant Comics publisher Steve Massarsky, arranged a Valiant-Image Comics crossover miniseries called Deathmate, in which the Valiant characters would interact with those of Wildstorm, and of Lee's fellow Image partner, Rob Liefeld. The miniseries would consist of four "center books", (each one denoted by a color rather than an issue number), two each produced by the respective companies, plus a prologue and epilogue book. Wildstorm produced Deathmate Black, with Lee himself contributing to the writing. He also illustrated the covers for that book, the Deathmate Tourbook and the prologue book, as well as contributing to the prologue's interior inks. The assignment was given to Valiant creators against their better judgment, in particular Editor-in-chief Bob Layton, who complained about Image's inability to meet their deadlines. Deathmate Black, in particular, came out a few months after Valiant's Blue and Yellow installments, which had come out on time, and Liefeld's Deathmate Red was so late that Layton flew to California to procure that chapter personally, and ink it himself in an Anaheim hotel room. Layton sees Deathmate's lateness as one of Valiant's "unmitigated disasters", and views that project as the beginning of the speculator collapse of the 1990s.^[8]

Wildstorm would expand its line to include other ongoing titles whose creative work was handled by other writers and artists, some of which were spinoffs of the earlier titles, or properties owned by other creators, such as Whilce Portacio's Wetworks. As publisher, Lee later also expanded his comics line creating two publishing imprints of Wildstorm, Homage and Cliffhanger (that years later merged and were replaced by a single Wildstorm Signature imprint), to publish creator-owned comics by some selected creators of the US comics industry.

Lee and Rob Liefeld, another Marvel-illustrator-turned-Image-founder, returned to Marvel in 1996 to participate in a reboot of several classic characters; the project was known as Heroes Reborn. While Liefeld reworked Captain America and The Avengers, Lee plotted Iron Man and wrote and illustrated The Fantastic Four. Halfway through the project, Lee's studio took over Liefeld's two titles, finishing all four series.

Lee returned to Wildstorm, where he would publish series such as The Authority and Planetary, as well as Alan Moore's imprint, America's Best Comics. Lee himself wrote and illustrated a 12-issue series called Divine Right: The Adventures of Max Faraday, in which an internet slacker inadvertently manages to download the secrets of the universe, and is thrown into a wild fantasy world.

Move to DC Comics[link]

Because he felt his role as publisher interfered with his role as an artist, Lee left Image Comics and sold Wildstorm to DC Comics in late 1998, enabling him to focus once again on art.^[2][3] In 2003 he collaborated on a 12-issue run on Batman with writer Jeph Loeb.^[9] "Hush" became a runaway sales success. He followed this up in 2004 by illustrating "For Tomorrow", a 12-issue story in Superman by writer Brian Azzarello, although this did not replicate the earlier success. In 2005, Lee teamed with Frank Miller on the new series All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder, a series plagued by delays. Lee himself took full responsibility for the delays, explaining that his involvement with the DC Universe Online video game were the cause, and not Miller's scripts, which had been completed for some time.^[10][11][12]

Lee continued to run Wildstorm as Editorial Director, sometimes working on both DC and Wildstorm properties simultaneously. In September 2006, Jim Lee returned to WildC.A.T.s with Grant Morrison as the writer, pencilling both WildC.A.T.s and All Star Batman and Robin, both of which were characterized by publication delays. The gap between All-Star Batman and Robin #4 and #5 was one year, and to date, only one issue of WildC.A.T.s (Vol. 4) has been published. Lee drew alternative cover art for the Infinite Crisis series.

In February 2006 it was announced that Lee would be involved with the concept art for the upcoming DC Comics MMORPG, DC Universe Online.^[3] In 2008, Lee was named the Executive Creative Director of the forthcoming game, which at that time was expected to be released in 2009.^[13]

In 2009 Lee provided artwork for the album booklet for Daughtry's 2009 album Leave This Town.

In February 2010 Lee was named alongside Dan DiDio as Co-Publisher of DC Comics.^[14][15][16] According to Lee, this does not indicate another move away from the creative side of comics, as he will not only have greater creative involvement in the entire DC line, but was to be illustrating a new monthly title, Dark Knight: Boy Wonder, a re-branded conclusion to the story he and Frank Miller began in All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder.^[2][17] He also was to supply the painted art over Giuseppe Camuncoli's layouts in Batman: Europa #1, a 2011 miniseries^[18] inspired by Lee's time living in Italy,^[19] though as of June 2011, neither of these projects have materialized. DC announced they were ending the Wildstorm imprint in September 2010.^[20]

In September 2011, DC Comics instituted a program called The New 52, in which the publisher cancelled all of its superhero titles and relaunched 52 new series with #1 issues, wiping out most of the then-current continuity. Lee and writer Geoff Johns, DC Comics' Chief Creative Officer, are the architects of the relaunch, which was initiated with a new Justice League series, written and illustrated by Johns and Lee, respectively. The series' first story arc was a new origin of the Justice League, which depicted the return of DC's primary superheroes to the team.^[21]

Technique and materials[link]

Lee is known to use F lead for his pencil work.^[22][23] While inking his own pencils on Punisher: War Journal, Lee began using a crowquill nib for the first time.^[4]

In talking about the artist's work ethic, Lee has said, "Sometimes I wonder if we ever really improve as artists or if the nirvana derived from completing a piece blinds us enough to love what we have created and move on to the next piece. If we could see the work as it is, with years of reflection in the here and now, how many images would end up in the trash rather than on the racks?"^[24]

Awards[link]

• 1990 Harvey Award for Best New Talent^[25]
• 1992 Inkpot Award^[26]
• 1996 Wizard Fan Award for Favorite Penciller^[27]
• 2002 Wizard Fan Award for Favorite Penciller (For Batman)^[28]
• 2003 Wizard Fan Award for Favorite Penciller^[29]

Bibliography[link]

Lee at San Diego Comic Con 2009

Comics work (interior pencil art) includes:

DC[link]

• All-Star Batman and Robin #1-10 (2005–08)
• Coup d'état: Sleeper (Authority) (2004)
• Batman #608-619 (2002–03)
• Batman: Gotham Knights (Batman Black and White) #1 (2000)
• Flinch #1 (1999)
• Justice League #1-6, 9- (2011–Present)
• Justice League of America, vol. 4, #0 -one page only- (2006)
• Just Imagine Stan Lee with Jim Lee creating Wonder Woman (2001)
• New 52 (Free Comic Book Day) #1 (among other artists, 2012)
• 100 Bullets #26 (among other artists) (2001)
• Orion (Tales of the New Gods) #12 (2001)
• Robotech #0 (2002)
• Superman, vol. 2, #204–215 (2004–05)
• Superman/Batman #26 (2-pages, among other artists) (2006)
• Weird War Tales, one-shot (2000)

Image[link]

• Darker Image (Deathblow) #1-2 (1993)
• Deathblow (full pencils): #1-3; (along with Trevor Scott): #0 (1993–96)
• Deathmate #Black (among other artists) (1993)
• Divine Right #1–12 (1997–99)
• Gen¹³ #0, 4-7 (1994)
• Grifter/Shi, 2-part miniseries, #1 (along with Travis Charest) (1996)
• Cover to Invincible#51
• Moonlight and Ashes: Fire From Heaven, 2-part miniseries, #2 (1996)
• Savage Dragon #13 (1994)
• StormWatch #47 (1997)
• WildC.A.T.s (full pencils): #1-13; (among other artists): #32, 50 (1992–98)

Marvel[link]

• Alpha Flight #51, 53, 55-62, 64 (1987–88)
• Daredevil Annual #5 (1989)
• Fantastic Four, vol. 2, #1–6 (1996–97)
• Iron Man, vol. 2, #6 (among other artists) (1997)
• Marvel Comics Presents (Namor) #33 (1989)
• Punisher Annual #2 (1989)
• Punisher: War Journal #1–13, 17-19 (1988–89)
• Solo Avengers (Mockingbird) #1 (1987)
• Stryfe's Strike File #1 (among other artists) (1993)
• Uncanny X-Men #248, 256–258, 267–277 (1990–91)
• X-Men, vol. 2, #1–11 (1991–92)

Marvel/Image[link]

• WildC.A.T.s/X-Men: The Silver Age (1997)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jim Lee

• Jim Lee at the Comic Book DB
• Jim Lee on deviantART
• Jim Lee on Myspace
• Jim Lee on Twitter
• Jim Lee's channel on YouTube
• Sun of Gelatometti - A blog of multiple artists, including Jim Lee
• Audio Interview - Comic Geek Speak - April 27, 2007

Alex Ross
Alex Ross, 2008
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)
Influences George Pérez Berni Wrightson Andrew Loomis Norman Rockwell Salvador Dalí J. C. Leyendecker
Official website

Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross is an American comic book writer/artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers and design work. He first rose to fame 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 also co-wrote. Since then he has also done covers and character designs for Kurt 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 also done covers for TV Guide, promotional artwork for the Academy Awards, packaging design for comic book tie-in 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-Pérez vibe",^[1] and has been praised for its realistic, human depictions of classic comic book characters.^[2] 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.^[3] 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."^[4]

Early life[link]

Alex Ross was born in Portland, Oregon, and raised in Lubbock, Texas,^[5][6] by his minister father, Clark, and his mother, a commercial artist^[5] from whom he would learn many of the trademarks of his artistic style.^[1] 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.^[5][7]

He would later be influenced by comics artists such as George Pérez and Berni Wrightson, and attempted to imitate Pérez's 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.^[5]

At age 17, Ross began studying painting at the American Academy of Art in Chicago,^[5][8] where his mother had studied. During his years there, Ross discovered the work of other artists like J. C. Leyendecker and Salvador Dalí, whose "hyper-realistic quality", Ross saw, was not that far removed from that of comics. It was also during this time that he formed the idea to paint his own comic books. Ross graduated after three years.^[5]

Career[link]

After graduating, Ross took a job at an advertising agency^[5] as a storyboard artist.^[8]

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. 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. In 1993, he completed his first painted superhero assignment, the cover of a Superman novel, Superman: Doomsday & Beyond.

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, 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 went on to create 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.

In 1996, Ross worked with writer Mark Waid on the DC Comics limited series Kingdom Come, 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 followed Kingdom Come with Uncle Sam, a non-superhero work for DC's Vertigo line, an experimental work that examined the dark side of American history.

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

Between 1998 and 2003, writer Paul Dini and Ross produced annual tabloid-sized editions celebrating the 60th anniversaries of DC Comics' Superman (Peace on Earth), Batman (War on Crime), 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.

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.

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 also 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, Kristen Kreuk and Michael Rosenbaum of the TV series Smallville, and Superman.^[7]

In early 2002, Ross designed the promotional poster for the 2002 Academy Awards,^[8] 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.^[2][7] 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.^[7]

In 2004, DC compiled the coffee table book Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross, written and designed by Chip Kidd, and featuring a foreword written by M. Night Shaymalan. 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.^[8] 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.^[9]

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. The series focuses on the enemies of the Justice League of America banding together to in an effort to defeat them.

After Justice Ross embarked on projects focusing on Golden Age characters: Project Superpowers with Jim Krueger for Dynamite Entertainment.^[10] In 2008, Ross began work on Avengers/Invaders featuring Marvel characters but 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.^[11][12][13]

Ross indicated at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con that he will illustrate covers for books featuring Fighting American,^[14] and was announced in 2010 as the creative director on The Phantom, both for Dynamite.^[15]

Ross teamed with Kurt Busiek on Dynamite Entertainment's Kirby: Genesis, an eight-issue miniseries debuted in the first quarter of 2011. The series is their first full collaboration since Marvels 17 years previous, 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 took over series' co-plot, handle designs, and covers, apart from overseen the book overall with Busiek, who is the writer.^[16][17]

Other work[link]

• Alex Ross drew the cover picture on the Anthrax albums We've Come for You All, Music of Mass Destruction and Worship Music.
• Ross designed a series of costumes for the 2002 film Spider-Man, but director Sam Raimi instead chose not to use them. 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 also feature one of Ross' unused character outfits. As such, Ross was commissioned to do a series of drawings for the opening credits of Spider-Man 2, which recapped the major events from the first film. Ross' suit was also featured as an unlockable costume and also available in a white version in the PlayStation game Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro.
• Ross painted the Kollectors Edition cover for the console game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. A smaller version of this painting is included on a separate textured card inside the case. He is also featured in his own segment on the Blu-ray/DVD included in the package.
• In 2008 Ross created a print of George W. Bush as a vampire sucking the blood from Lady Liberty entitled "Bush Sucking Democracy Dry" as well as a print of Barack Obama as Superman entitled "Time For A Change".^[18] The latter was made into a T-shirt, which Obama was seen posing in a photo on and Ross' website.^[19]

Bibliography[link]

Covers and interiors[link]

DC Comics[link]

• Batman Black and White #2 (2002)
• Batman: War on Crime (1999)
• JLA: Liberty and Justice (2003)
• JLA: Secret Origins (2002)
• Justice, limited series, #1-12 (painting over Doug Braithwaite pencils, 2005–07)
• Kingdom Come, miniseries, #1-4 (1996)
• JSA Kingdom Come Special: Superman (pencil art, colors by Alex Sinclair) (2009)
• Sandman Mystery Theatre Annual #1 (8 pages, among other artists) (1994)
• Shazam!: Power of Hope (2000)
• Superman: Peace On Earth (1999)
• Superman and Batman: World's Funnest (2 pages, among other artists) (2000)
• U.S. (aka Uncle Sam), miniseries, #1-2 (1997)
• Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth (2001)

Marvel Comics[link]

• Captain America #600 (2-pages only) (2009)
• Clive Barker's Hellraiser #17 (1992)
• Earth X #1-12 (backup text stories) (1999–2000)
• Marvels, miniseries, #0-4 (1994)

Other publishers[link]

• Battle of the Planets #0.5 (pencils only, among other artists) (Image, 2002)
• Kirby Genesis #0-3 (along with Jack Herbert) (Dynamite, 2011)
• Terminator: The Burning Earth, miniseries, #1-5 (Now, 1990)

Covers only[link]

DC Comics[link]

• Action Comics #871 (2009)
• America's Best Comics Special #1 (2001)
• Astro City:
  • Astra Special #1-2 (2009)
  • Arrowsmith (2004)
  • A Visitors Guide (2004)
  • Beauty (2008)
  • Dark Age, Book One #1-4 (2005)
  • Dark Age, Two #1-4 (2007)
  • Dark Age, Book Three #1-4 (2009)
  • Dark Age, Book Four #1-4 (2010)
  • Dark Age 1: Brothers and Other Strangers (2008)
  • Local Heroes #1-5 (2003–04)
  • Samaritan (2006)
  • Silver Agent (2010)
  • Special #1 (2004)
• Batman #676-686 (2008–09); Harley Quinn; No Man's Land (1999)
• Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #100 (1997)
• Black Adam: The Dark Age, miniseries, #1 (2007)
• Captain Atom: Armageddon (2005)
• Countdown to Infinite Crisis #1 (painting over Jim Lee pencils) (2005)
• Crisis on Multiple Earths #1, 3-4 (2002–06)
• DC Comics Presents (Julius Schwartz tribute):
  • Flash (2004)
• Detective Comics #860 (2010)
• Green Lantern, vol. 4 #1 (variant cover)
• The Greatest Stories Ever Told:
  • Batman #1-2 (2005–07)
  • Flash (2007)
  • Green Lantern (2006)
  • JLA (2006)
  • Joker (2008)
  • Shazam! (2008)
  • Superman #1-2 (2004–06)
  • Superman/Batman (2007)
  • Wonder Woman (2007)
• History of the DC Universe (2002)
• Justice League of America (vol. 4) #12; The Lightning Saga (2007–08)
• JSA (vol. 2) #68-69, 72-81; Annual #1 (2005–08)
• JSA Kingdom Come Special: Magog (2009)
• JSA Kingdom Come Special: The Kingdom (2009)
• Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #1-26, Annual #1 (2007–09)
• 9-11: The World's Finest Comic Book Writers & Artists Tell Stories to Remember #2 (2002)
• Space Ghost, miniseries, #1-6 (2005)
• Spectre (vol. 3) #22 (1994)
• Supergirl (vol. 4) #35
• Superman #675-683 (2008)
• Superman vs. Flash (2003)
• Superman: Strength, miniseries, #1-3 (2005)

Dynamite Entertainment[link]

• A Game of Thrones #1-2 (2011)
• Avengers/Invaders, limited series, #1-12; Giant-Size #1 (2008–09) (Marvel/Dyamite)
• Bionic Man #1-5 (2011)
• Black Terror #1-10 (2008–09)
• Buck Rogers #1 (2010)
• Captain Victory #1-4 (2011-12)
• Death-Defying' Devil #1-4 (2008–09)
• Dragonsbane #1 (2012)
• Green Hornet #1-12 (2010-11)
• Kirby Genesis #1-4 (2011)
• Lord of the Jungle #1 (2012)
• Lone Ranger, vol. 2, #1 (2012)
• Silver Star #1-3
• Last Phantom #1-10 (2010-12)
• Masquerade #2-4 (2009)
• Vampirella #1 (2010)
• Voltron #1-2 (2011-12)

Marvel Comics[link]

• The Amazing Spider-Man #568, 600 (2008–09)
• Captain America, vol. 5, #34 (2008)
• Earth X #0 (1999)
• Captain Marvel (vol. 3) #1, 3, 17 (2002–03)
• Daredevil #500 (2009)
• Daredevil/Spider-Man, miniseries, #1-4 (2001)
• 4 (Universe X Special) #1 (2000)
• Incredible Hulk #600 (2009)
• Invaders Now!, miniseries, #1-5 (2010–11)
• Spider-Woman, vol. 2, #1 (2009)
• The Torch, miniseries, #1-8 (2009–10)
• Uncanny X-Men #500 (2008)

Other publishers[link]

• Battle of the Planets #1-12 (2002–03) (Image)
• Battle of the Planets/Thundercats (2003) (DC/Image)
• Battle of the Planets/Witchblade (2003) (Image)

Toys[link]

DC Direct (the exclusive collectibles division of DC Comics) has produced 3 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, 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[link]

Ross' awards include a 1997 Will Eisner Award for the limited series Kingdom Come (with Mark Waid) and a 1998 National Cartoonists Society Comic Book Award for Superman: Peace on Earth.

Ross won the Comics Buyer's Guide's CBG Fan Award for Favorite Painter seven years in a row, resulting in that publication's retirement of that category. Comics Buyer's Guide Senior Editor Maggie Thompson commented in regard to this 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."^[4]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alex Ross

• Official website
• Alex Ross at the Comic Book DB
• Alex Ross at Marvel.com^{[dead link]}
• Alex Ross Covers and Toys Images
• Alex Ross (VII) at the Internet Movie Database
• getting started with Alex Ross books

Interviews[link]

• Interview at Alex Ross Art (1997)
• Interview at The Jack Kirby Collector (1999)
• Interview at FilmForce (2003)
• Around Comics Interview on Around Comics 01/01/08