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

Paul Morley (left) with Chris Austin, in rehearsal for Morley's "Yet another example of the porousness of certain objects" at the Royal Academy of Music

Paul Morley (born 26 March 1957 in Stockport, Cheshire, England) is an English journalist, who wrote for the New Musical Express from 1977 to 1983, during one of its most successful periods, and has since written for a wide range of publications. He has also has been a band manager and promoter, as well as a television presenter.

Education[link]

Morley was educated at Stockport Grammar School, a co-educational from 1980 independent school (at the time of his education, a partly fee-paying direct grant grammar school), in the town of Stockport in Greater Manchester (at the time in Cheshire), followed by the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Career[link]

Morley is credited with steering the marketing and promotion of the phenomenal early success of ZTT's biggest act, Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Although it has never been confirmed, it is generally accepted that it was Morley who authored the provocative slogans on the band's T-shirts (e.g. "Frankie Say Arm The Unemployed", "Frankie Say War! Hide Yourself").

For a period of time, Morley produced and managed Manchester punk band The Drones.^[1] However, Morley first came to wider attention with a brief appearance in the video for ABC's "The Look of Love" (in which he mimes the words "what's that?" in a call-and-response routine with singer Martin Fry), but he achieved genuine notoriety as co-founder, with Trevor Horn, of ZTT Records, and electronic group Art of Noise.

He was the first presenter of BBC Two's The Late Show, and has appeared as a music pundit on a number of other programmes. For the short-lived Channel 4 arts strand Without Walls he wrote and presented a documentary on boredom. Morley still regularly appears on BBC 2's Newsnight Review programme.

He was the focus of BBC2's How To Be A Composer, in which he spent a year at the Royal Academy of Music attempting to learn to compose classical music, despite being unable to read music or play an instrument.

Morley is the author of Words and Music: the history of pop in the shape of a city. The book is a journey through the history of pop; it seeks to trace the connection between Alvin Lucier's experimental audio recording, "I am sitting in a room" and Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out Of My Head". A synthetic Kylie features as the central character of the book. The book was later turned into the hour-long epic musical track "Raiding the 20th Century" by DJ Food, which features Morley reading from his book and speculating on the cultural significance of the mashup, amidst the sounds of those very mashups.

His other books include Ask: The Chatter of Pop (a collection of his music journalism) and Nothing, a biographical book reflecting on his father's suicide and that of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, and unhappy parts of his teenage life such as the time he spent at Stockport Grammar School.

Morley has teamed up with The Auteurs' James Banbury to form the band Infantjoy and in 2005 released an album entitled Where The Night Goes on Sony BMG. An album, With, featuring collaborations with Tunng, Isan and Populous amongst others, was released in October 2006 on Morley and Banbury's own label ServiceAV.

Morley is a lifelong fan of the jazz musician John Surman and conducted an interview with the artist for The Guardian newspaper.^[2]

Personal life[link]

Morley was married to Claudia Brücken with whom he has a daughter.

He is the brother of filmmaker Carol Morley.^[3]

Cultural references[link]

The Cure played a version of their song "Grinding Halt", retitled for that performance as "Desperate Journalist In Ongoing Meaningful Review Situation", on the John Peel radio show, with new lyrics parodying Morley's writing style after an unfavourable review of their debut album Three Imaginary Boys.

Bibliography[link]

• Ask: The Chatter of Pop (1986)
• Nothing (2000)
• Words and Music: A History of Pop in the Shape of a City (2004)
• Joy Division: Piece by Piece: Writing About Joy Division 1977-2007 (2007)
• Joy Division: Fragments (with Christel Derenne) (2009)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Morley and Banbury's virtual record label
• Infantjoy official homepage
• Paul Morley on John Peel
• An extended review/meditation on Paul Morley's book 'Nothing'. [1]
• spikemagazine.com on Paul Morley
• Raiding The 20th Century featuring Paul Morley and a cast of thousands
• Zang Tuum Tumb and all that
• Paul Morley Interview 1999

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Naughty Boys (浮気なぼくら, Uwaki na bokura; "Naughty boys"^?) is the sixth album by Yellow Magic Orchestra, recorded from October 1982 to March 1983, and released on May 24, 1983.^[1] It contains the pop-oriented single "Kimi ni Mune Kyun", as well as a "preview" of "You've Got to Help Yourself", which was released in its full version on the companion album Naughty Boys Instrumental, and again with vocals on Service.

Overview[link]

Naughty Boys was their final album to top the Oricon charts. After that, no technopop artist was able to reach No.1 until Perfume's 2008 album Game.^[2] "Kimi ni Mune Kyun" also became the highest charting single by a technopop artist on the Oricon charts, debuting at No. 2; a record the song retained until Perfume's "Love the World" debuted at No. 1 in 2008.^[3][4] "Ongaku" ("Music") was reportedly written by Ryuichi Sakamoto for his then-three-year-old daughter, Miu. Naughty Boys was re-released in 2004 in a double disc package alongside Naughty Boys Instrumental.

Various cover versions of "Kimi ni Mune Kyun" have been produced by later artists, including The Human League ("YMO Versus The Human League" in 1993),^[5] Asako Toki (in 2006),^[6] and Yuko Ando in 2009.^[7] Also in 2009, a cover of "Kimi ni Mune Kyun" was used as the ending theme song for the anime series Maria Holic, sung by Asami Sanada, Marina Inoue, and Yū Kobayashi, the voice actresses of the main characters.

Track listing[link]

Translation notes[link]

As on some other YMO albums, song titles are provided in both Japanese and English, and some have different translations all together:

• "君に、胸キュン。" translates to "My Heart Beats for You."
• Though "Expected Way" and "Expecting Rivers" are the official translations, the Japanese titles translate to "Desired path" and "River of hope", respectively.
• "以心電信" translates to "Telegraph of the Heart".
• "邂逅" translates to "Chance Meeting".

Personnel[link]

• Ryuichi Sakamoto: keyboards, vocals
• Yukihiro Takahashi: drums, vocals
• Haruomi Hosono: Bass, keyboards, vocals
• Takashi Matsumoto: Lyrics for "Kimi ni, mune kyun."
• Peter Barakan: Lyrics for "Focus" and "Opened My Eyes"
• Bill Nelson: Guitar

References[link]