Russ Heath: Difference between revisions

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 20182021}}

| caption = Heath at the November 2008<br>[[Big Apple Comic Con]],<br>November 14, 2008

| birth_name = Russell Heath, Jr.

| birth_place = New York City, U.S.

| death_place = [[Long Beach, California]], U.S.

| notable works = "[[Little Annie Fanny]]", ''[[Men of War (comics)#All-American Men of War|All-American Men of War]]''

| awards = 1997 [[Inkpot Award]]<br />2009 [[List of Eisner Award winners#The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame|Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame]]<br />2018 [[Inkwell Awards#Award Winnerswinners|Inkwell Awards]] Stacy Aragon Special Recognition Award

'''Russell Heath, Jr.'''<ref name=bails>{{cite web|author-link=Jerry Bails|lastlast1=Bails|firstfirst1=Jerry |first2=Hames|last2=Ware |url= http://www.bailsprojects.com/bio.aspx?Name=HEATH%2c+RUSS|work=Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999| title=Heath, Russ|accessdateaccess-date=March 10, 2012 |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219161943/http://www.bailsprojects.com/(S(yzyupz4544pwc555m1lxq245qgecmd45ncsd1uzk1e3mhk55))/bio.aspx?Name=SEULING%2cHEATH,+PHILRUSS|archivedatearchive-date=MayFebruary 1119, 2007 2012|url-status=livebot: unknown|df= mdy-all}}</ref> (September 29, 1926 – August 23, 2018),<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.lambiek.net/artists/h/heath_russ.htm|title= Russ Heath|date= August 18, 2014|publisher= [[Lambiek]] Comiclopedia|archiveurlarchive-url= https://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/6W0mpFNUo?url=web/20140718031809/http://www.lambiek.net/artists/h/heath_russ.htm|archivedatearchive-date= FebruaryJuly 118, 20152014|url-status= live|df= mdy-all}}</ref> was an American artist best known for his [[comic book]] work, particularly his [[DC Comics]] war stories and his 1960s art for ''[[Playboy]]'' magazine's "[[Little Annie Fanny]]" feature. He has also produced [[commercial art]], two pieces of which, depicting [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] and [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] battle scenes for [[toy soldier]] sets, became familiar pieces of [[Americana (culture)|Americana]] after gracing the back covers of countless comic books from the early 1960s to early 1970s.

Raised in [[New Jersey]] as an only child, Russ Heath at an early age became interested in drawing. "My father used to be a cowboy, so as a little kid I was influenced by Western artists of the time. [[Will James (artist)|Will James]] was one, an artist-writer—I had most of his books. [[C.M. Russell|Charlie Russell]] was my favorite because his work was absolutely authentic, because he drew what he lived ..."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=003713|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511132245/http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=003713|archivedatearchive-date=May 11, 2008|title=Comic Giants: The Russ Heath Interview|publisher="The Pulse" (section), ComicCon.com|date=April 27, 2005|url-status=dead}}</ref> Largely self-taught, Heath began freelancing for comics during summers while he was in high school, and both [[penciler|penciled]] and [[inker|inked]] at least two installments of the naval feature "Hammerhead Hawley" in [[Holyoke Publishing]]'s ''Captain Aero Comics'' vol. 2, #2 (Sept. 1942) and vol. 3, #12 (April 1944).<ref name=gcd />

Heath was in [[Montclair, New Jersey]]'s [[Montclair High School (New Jersey)|Montclair High School]] class of 1945.<ref name=montclairtimes>{{cite news | title= Montclair Man's Life as Colorful as the Comics He Draws | first= Chuck | last= O'Donnell | work= The Montclair Times | location= [[Montclair, New Jersey]] | url= http://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/136076078_A_life_as_colorful_as_the_comics_.html?page=all | date= December 22, 2011 | accessdateaccess-date= September 8, 2012 | archiveurlarchive-url= https://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/6AX7rcuuu?url=web/20160307024653/http://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/136076078_A_life_as_colorful_as_the_comics_.html?page=all | archivedatearchive-date= SeptemberMarch 87, 20122016 | url-status= live | df= mdy-all }}</ref> It is unclear if Heath, anxious to fight in [[World War II]], graduated; in a 2004 interview, he recalls going "into the [[United States Army Air Forces|Air Force]] in my senior year of high school, in 1945," after having been "put in an accelerated class so I could get through with high school. I almost made it, but then the Air Force called me and in I went."<ref name=aev3n40p3>{{cite news | author = Russ Heath interview |title= I Was So Interested in Drawing That I Didn't Want to Do Anything Else!| work= [[Alter Ego (magazine)|Alter Ego]] | volume= 3 | number = 40 |date = September 2004 | page= 3 | publisher= [[TwoMorrows Publishing]]|location= Raleigh, North Carolina}}</ref> He served stateside for nine months, drawing cartoons for his camp newspaper, but due to a clerical error, he said,<ref name="aev3n40p3" /> he was on neither the military payroll nor any official duty roster for a significant portion of his time. A 2011 article in his hometown newspaper said that, "After a short stint in the military, Heath came back to Montclair, graduated from high school, got married and started a family."<ref name=montclairtimes />

The artist said in 2004 he believed his first work for Timely was a [[Western comics|Western]] story featuring the [[Two-Gun Kid]].<ref name=aev3n40p23 /> Historians have tentatively identified his first work as either a [[Kid Colt]] story in the omnibus series ''[[Wild Western]]'' #4 (Nov. 1948); the second Two-Gun Kid story in ''[[Two Gun Kid (comic book)|Two-Gun Kid]]'' #5 (Dec. 1948), "Guns Blast in Thunder Pass;" and the Two-Gun Kid story in ''Wild Western'' #5 (Dec. 1948), while confirming Heath art on the Kid Colt story that same issue. Heath's first [[superhero]] story is tentatively identified as the seven-page [[Witness (comics)|Witness story]], "Fate Fixed a Fight," in ''[[Captain America]] Comics]]'' #71 (March 1949).<ref name=gcd>{{gcdb|type=credit|search= Russ+Heath|title= Russ Heath}}</ref>

Heath drew several Western stories for such Timely comics as ''Wild Western,'' ''All Western Winners,'' ''Arizona Kid,'' ''[[Black Rider (comics)|Black Rider]],'' ''Western Outlaws,'' and ''Reno Browne, Hollywood's Greatest Cowgirl.'' As Timely evolved into Marvel's 1950s iteration, known as [[Atlas Comics (1950s)|Atlas Comics]], Heath expanded into other genres. He drew the December 1950 premiere of the two-issue superhero series ''[[Marvel Boy]],'' as well as scattered science fiction anthology stories (in ''[[Venus (comic book)|Venus]],'' ''[[Journey into Unknown Worlds]]'', and ''Men's Adventures''); [[Crime comics|crime drama]] (''Justice''); [[Horror comics|horror]] stories and covers (''Adventures into Terror'', ''[[Marvel Tales (1949–1957)|Marvel Tales]]'', ''[[Menace (Atlas Comics)|Menace]]'', ''[[Mystic (Atlas Comics)|Mystic]]'', ''Spellbound'', ''[[Strange Tales]]'', ''[[Uncanny Tales (comics)|Uncanny Tales]]'', the cover of ''[[Journey into Mystery]]'' #1), [[satire|satiric humor]] (''Wild'', ''[[Mad (magazine)|Mad]]''), and [[war comics|war stories]].<ref name=gcd />

Other 1950s work includes an issue of ''[[Stereoscopy|3-D]] Comics'' from [[St. John Publications]] and "The Return of the Human Torch" (minus the opening page, drawn by character-creator [[Carl Burgos]]) in ''Young Men'' #24 (Dec. 1953),<ref name=gcd /><ref>{{cite book|lastlast1 = Brevoort|firstfirst1 = Tom|author-link = Tom Brevoort|last2= Gilbert|first2= Laura, ed.|chapter= 1950s|title = Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History|publisher = [[Dorling Kindersley]]|year = 2008|location= London, United Kingdom|page = 58|isbn =978-0756641238|quote= After an initial outing by Russ Heath, the Human Torch strip was illustrated by either the Torch's creator Carl Burgos or up-and-coming young artist Dick Ayers.}}</ref> the flagship of Atlas' ill-fated effort to revive superheroes, which had fallen out of fashion in the post-war U.S.

Heath co-created with writer-editor [[Robert Kanigher]] the feature "The [[Haunted Tank]]" in ''[[G.I. Combat]]'' #87 (May 1961).<ref>{{cite book|lastauthor=McAvennie|first=, Michael|last2=; Dolan|first2=Hannah, ed.Hannah (Ed)|chapter= 1960s|title = DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle|publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]] |year=2010|location= London, United Kingdom|isbn= 978-0-7566-6742-9 |page= 103 |quote = ''G.I. Combat'' #87 saw Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart guide Lt. Jeb Stuart and the Haunted Tank on their first adventure by scribe Robert Kanigher and artist Russ Heath.}}</ref> Heath stated in a 1999 interview that "I didn't like "The Haunted Tank" [in ''G.I. Combat''] as much ... I liked less because there was always the same four characters – J.E.B. Stuart plus his three buddies – virtually the same story every issue: He'd be talking to this ghost, over and over again. I couldn't believe kids kept wanting to look at it."<ref>{{cite journal|last= Cooke|first= Jon B.|url= http://www.twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/spheath.html|title= Russ Heath of Easy Co.: Interview with the Artist on His DC War Comics Duty|journal= [[Comic Book Artist]] Special Edition|issue= 1|publisher= TwoMorrows Publishing|date= December 1999|location= Raleigh, North Carolina|archiveurlarchive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080612173732/http://www.twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/spheath.html|archivedatearchive-date= June 12, 2008|url-status= live|df= mdy-all}}</ref> Also with Kanigher, Heath co-created and drew the first issues of DC's ''[[Sea Devils (comics)|Sea Devils]]'', about a team of scuba-diving adventurers.<ref name=gcd /><ref>McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 101: "''Showcase'' #27 in August [1960] saw Dane Dorrance, Biff Bailey, Judy Walton, and Nicky Walton dive into underwater adventures as the Sea Devils, by writer Robert Kanigher and illustrator Russ Heath."</ref> DC Comics writer and executive [[Paul Levitz]] described Heath in 2010 as "[A] master of texture and lighting and meticulous levels of detail. Given the chance he'd draw every barnacle on a sunken pirate ship."<ref>{{cite book|author-link= Paul Levitz|last=Levitz|first= Paul|chapter= The Silver Age 1956–1970|title= 75 Years of DC Comics The Art of Modern Mythmaking|publisher= [[Taschen]]|year=2010|location= Cologne, Germany|ISBNisbn= 9783836519816|page= 434}}</ref> Several of Kanigher's characters were combined into a single feature titled "[[The Losers (comics)|The Losers]]". Their first appearance as a group was with the Haunted Tank crew in ''G.I. Combat'' #138 (Oct.–Nov. 1969) drawn by Heath.<ref>McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 135: "Scribe Robert Kanigher and artist Russ Heath turned these self-described Losers – including "Navajo Ace" Johnny Cloud of the U.S. Army Air Force, Marines Gunner Mackey and Sarge Clay, and Captain William Storm, a PT boat commander with a prosthetic leg – into a fighting force that meshed as one."</ref>

Various Heath drawings of fighter jets in [[DC Comics]]' ''[[Men of War (comics)#All-American Men of War|All-American Men of War]]'' were the uncredited and uncompensated basis for [[pop art]]ist [[Roy Lichtenstein]]'s oil paintings ''[[Whaam!]]'', [[Blam (Roy Lichtenstein)|''Blam'']], ''[[Okay Hot-Shot, Okay!]]'', and ''[[Brattata]]''.<ref name=io9/><ref name=VillageVoice/><ref name=Pisano2003/><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.image-duplicator.com/main.php?work_id=0070&year=1962&decade=60# |title= ''Blam''| publisher = Roy Lichtenstein Foundation Image Duplicator|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713012920/http://www.image-duplicator.com/main.php?work_id=0070&year=1962&decade=60 |archivedatearchive-date=July 13, 2011|url-status=live|df= mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=David|last=Barsalou|year=2000|url=http://hans.presto.tripod.com/scan/davidbarsalou.html|title=BLAM by Russ Heath from the comic book: ''All American Men of War'' #89|publisher=Deconstructing Roy Lichtenstein|archiveurlarchive-url=https://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/664JINIFf?url=web/20120308121033/http://hans.presto.tripod.com/scan/davidbarsalou.html|archivedatearchive-date=March 108, 2012|url-status=live}} Additional {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221043254/http://hans.presto.tripod.com/scan/davidbarsalou.html |date=December 21, 2007|df= mdy-all}}.</ref><ref>{{Citecite newsjournal|urljstor=https://io9.gizmodo.com/victim-of-lichtensteins-copying-draws-a-comic-about-his-16579639414381129|title=VictimHigh of& Lichtenstein'sLow: CopyingModern DrawsArt A& ComicPopular AboutCulture: HisSearching ExperienceHigh and Low|lastauthor=Davis Armstrong, Matthew|firstjournal=LaurenMoma|workvolume=io92|issue=6|date=Autumn November1990|publisher=[[Museum 12of Modern Art]]|pages=4–8, 201416–17}}</ref><ref name="ID 1200">{{cite web|archiveurlurl= http://image-duplicator.com/main.php?work_id=1200&year=1963&decade=60|title= Okay Hot-Shot, Okay!|access-date= June 23, 2013|publisher= LichtensteinFoundation.org|archive-url= https://archive.istoday/ZIpzl20200810212154/https://www.imageduplicator.com/main.php?work_id=1200&year=1963&decade=60|archivedatearchive-date= August 10, 2020|url-status= live|df= mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="ID0075">{{cite journalweb|jstorurl=4381129|title=High & Lowhttp: Modern Art //image-duplicator.com/main.php?work_id=0075&year=1962&decade=60#|title= Popular Culture: Searching High and LowBrattata|authoraccess-date= ArmstrongJune 24, Matthew2013|volumepublisher=2 LichtensteinFoundation.org|issuearchive-url=6 https://archive.today/20200810212427/https://www.imageduplicator.com/main.php?work_id=0075&year=1962&decade=60%23|archive-date=Autumn 1990August 10, 2020|publisherurl-status=[[Museum of Modern Art]]live|pagesdf=4–8, 16–17mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="Baker 2011-04-06">

Heath became known for the authenticity of his military comics. The artist would buy uniforms, helmets and radios andat [[Army surplus store]]s to use as reference, which peer [[Joe Kubert]] said

{{quoteblockquote|... set him apart. He could illustrate mechanical things like rifles and tanks in a realistic way that few other artists could. He would build models of the things he would draw prior to drawing them and his stuff would come out right on the button. Other artists used to keep what they called a swipe file – pictures of things they may have to draw someday that they could use for reference. Russ' work was so good, other artists used it as reference.<ref name=montclairtimes />}}

Sometime in the 1960s, Heath drew two pieces of [[commercial art]] that became familiar bits of [[Americana (culture)|Americana]] after gracing the back covers of countless [[comic books]] through the early 1970s: advertisements for [[toy soldier]] sets, depicting [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] and [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] battle scenes.<ref name=bails /> As Heath described in a 2000s interview,

{{quoteblockquote|I got fifty bucks for those two separate pages. ... A lot of people didn't know I did them because [the client] didn't want them signed. I did have a small "RH" on the lower left-hand corner of the Revolutionary soldiers and I don't remember about the Roman soldiers. Then [customers] would blame me [when the actual toys were not as depicted]; I'd never seen the damned things, because they're like a [[bas relief]] or whatever they call it. They're not fully formed, not three dimensional. It would be flat things that were shaped a little and the kids felt gypped and they figured that it was my fault.<ref name=tribute>{{cite web | editor-first= Bryan, ed. | editor-last= Stroud | url= http://www.wtv-zone.com/silverager/interviews/heath_2.shtml | title= Russ Heath | publisher= Interview, part 2, at A Tribute to the Silver Age of DC Comics | date= May 12, 2008 | archiveurlarchive-url= https://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/5rQUH5EkF?url=web/20100709051213/http://www.wtv-zone.com/silverager/interviews/heath_2.shtml | archivedatearchive-date= July 239, 2010 | url-status= live | df= mdy-all }}</ref>}}

Heath was one of the artists who sometimes assisted Kurtzman and [[Will Elder]] on their regular ''[[Playboy]]'' strip "[[Little Annie Fanny]]".<ref name=AnnieFanny>{{cite web|author-link=Mark Evanier|last=Evanier|first= Mark|url= http://www.newsfromme.com/2010/09/14/honoring-russ/|title=Honoring Russ|publisher= P.O.V. Online (column)|date= September 14, 2010|archiveurlarchive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150201075406/http://www.newsfromme.com/2010/09/14/honoring-russ/|archivedatearchive-date= February 1, 2015|url-status=live|df= mdy-all}}</ref> Writer [[Mark Evanier]] described Heath making the most of one such assignment:

Heath recalled in 2001 that as an adult he lived "seven years in Manhattan, seven years in Chicago and seven years in Connecticut", in the town of [[Westport, Connecticut|Westport]], before moving to California in 1978.<ref name=warrencompanion>{{cite book| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4Ofd-XudNAcC&pg=PA184&lpg=PA184&dqq=%22Russ+Heath%22#v=onepage&qpg=%22Russ%20Heath%22&f=falsePA184 | title= The Warren Companion | chapter = The Horrors of Ruth Heath | publisher = TwoMorrows Publishing|location = Raleigh, North Carolina| year = 2001 | page= 185 | isbn = 978-1893905085 | accessdateaccess-date = September 8, 2012}}</ref> There he worked as an animator for [[Saturday-morning cartoon|Saturday-morning TV cartoons]] and later did commissioned art for comics fans. A rare example of Heath working on super-hero material was his inking [[Michael Golden (comics)|Michael Golden]]'s penciled artwork on ''[[Mister Miracle]]'' #24 and 25.<ref>{{cite book|last = Nolen-Weathington|first = Eric|title = Modern Masters Volume 12: Michael Golden|publisher = TwoMorrows Publishing|year = 2007|location= Raleigh, North Carolina|pages = 14–15|isbn = 978-1893905740}}</ref> Heath and writer [[Cary Bates]] launched ''[[Lone Ranger#Comic strip|The Lone Ranger]]'' comic strip on September 13, 1981.<ref>{{cite journal|title = Bates and Heath Premiere ''Lone Ranger'' – NY Times Syndicate Revives Classic Comic Strip|journal = Comics Feature|issue = 12/13<!--this was a double issue hence the unusual numbering-->|page = 21|publisher = [[New Media/Irjax|New Media Publishing]]|date = September–October 1981}}</ref> His last comic-book story was penciling and inking the four-page [[flashback (narrative)|flashback]] sequence of the 22-page story "The Mortal Iron Fist, Conclusion", in [[Marvel Comics]]' ''The Immortal [[Iron Fist (comics)|Iron Fist]]'' #20 (Jan. 2009)<ref name=gcd /><ref name=newsarama-legend /> He went on to provide cover art for publisher [[Aardvark-Vanaheim]]'s satiric comic book ''glamourpuss'' #11–13 (Jan.–May 2010), with his last known published comics work the one-page illustration "That Russ Heath Girl #4", appearing in issue #19 (May 2011).<ref>{{gcdb series|id= 30695|title= ''glamourpuss''}}</ref> He lived in [[Van Nuys, California]], where in his 80s he had knee surgery after [[The Hero Initiative]] and the Comic Art Professional Society of Los Angeles raised money to help pay for an operation.<ref name=montclairtimes /><ref name=newsarama-legend>{{cite news | title = Legend Faces Adversity | url = http://www.newsarama.com/comics/russ-heaths-new-knee-110314.html | first= Jim | last= McLauchlin | date = March 14, 2011 | work = [[Newsarama]] | archiveurlarchive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110501075141/http://www.newsarama.com/comics/russ-heaths-new-knee-110314.html | archivedatearchive-date= May 1, 2011 | url-status= live|df= mdy-all}}</ref>

Heath received an [[Inkpot Award]] in 1997<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot|title= Inkpot Awards|year= 2014|publisher= [[San Diego Comic-Con International]]|archiveurlarchive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141010085142/http://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot|archivedatearchive-date= October 10, 2014|url-status= live|df= mdy-all}}</ref> and was inducted into the [[List of Eisner Award winners#The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame|Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame]] in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.comic-con.org/awards/2000s|title= 2000s Eisner Award Recipients|date= December 2, 2012|publisher= San Diego Comic-Con International|archiveurlarchive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141006153947/http://www.comic-con.org/awards/2000s|archivedatearchive-date= October 6, 2014|url-status= live|df= mdy-all}}</ref> Heath received the Sergio Award from the [[Comic Art Professional Society Sergio Award]] in 2010<ref name=AnnieFanny/> and the [[National Cartoonists Society]]'s Milton Caniff Award in 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2014/01/russ-heath-to-receive-ncss-milton-caniff-award/|title= Russ Heath to receive NCS's Milton Caniff Award|first= Kevin|last= Melrose|date= January 15, 2014|website= [[Comic Book Resources]]|archiveurlarchive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140415181517/http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2014/01/russ-heath-to-receive-ncss-milton-caniff-award/|archivedatearchive-date= April 15, 2014|url-status= live|df= mdy-all}}</ref> In 2018, Heath was awarded the [[Inkwell Awards]] Stacy Aragon Special Recognition Award for his lifetime achievement as comic book inker.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.inkwellawards.com/?page_id=6537|title= Inkwell Awards 2018 Winners|first= Rhys|last= Evans|date= July 22, 2018|publisher= [[Inkwell Awards]]|archiveurlarchive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180902012206/http://www.inkwellawards.com/?page_id=6537|archivedatearchive-date= September 2, 2018|url-status= live|df= mdy-all}}</ref>

{{reflist|30em}}

* {{cite web|title=Welcome to the World of Comic Book Toy Soldiers!|url=http://home.att.net/~1.elliott/comicbooktoysoldiersintro.html|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061225135945/http://home.att.net/~1.elliott/comicbooktoysoldiersintro.html|archivedatearchive-date=December 25, 2006|df= mdy-all}} <small>Fan site that includes claimed interview with Heath: "With the help of Jeff Wyman and Alan Barnard, we were able to reach renowned comic book artist, Russ Heath (of DC fame among much other work.) We spoke to Russ directly on 1/8/04 to talk about his classic Comic Book Ads."</small>