PDF - Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh

IN PRAISE OF
This past summer, the Steel City transformed into Gotham City for the filming
of The Dark Knight Rises, the final chapter
of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy.
Among the Bat-thrills: thousands of
Pittsburghers piled into Heinz Field, cast
as fans during a bitter match-up between
the Gotham Rogues and their celluloid
rivals, the Rapid City Monuments.
Inside theaters, in Pittsburgh and
around the world, costumed-crusaders and
perfectly-chiseled muscle men dominated
the big screen: first came Thor and X Men:
First Class, tailed by the release of Green
Lantern, Captain America: The First
Avenger, and Conan the Barbarian.
This showcase of superhero stamina is
the perfect primer for Heroes & Villains:
The Comic Book Art of Alex Ross, opening
October 2 at The Andy Warhol Museum,
and curated by The Warhol’s director of
exhibitions, Jesse Kowalski. Long before
Hollywood began regularly pumping
super-sized budgets and over-the-top special effects into some of America’s most
beloved characters, comic book artist Alex
Ross was making a name for himself by
making the unreal real.
“It very much relates to the world we’re
in now, where just about every fantastic
concept that’s been applied to the worlds
of fantasy characters over the past 75 years
is being brought to life in vivid detail in
movies, in video games, and with actors
in complicated costumes,” says Ross, the
preeminent painter of comics.
(continued)
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THE SUPERHERO
The Warhol shines a
spotlight on Alex Ross,
one of the great comic
book artists of his
generation, and the
making of a superhero
obsession. BY JULIE HANNON
Alex Ross, Absolute Kingdom Come, Collection of the artist, All characters are ™ & © DC Comics.
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“I was trying to hit that in print form
before the reality would support it in other
media,” he adds, “because 20 years ago, it
seemed the only films we’d ever get about
superheroes would be Superman or Batman,
and nothing else would ever make their way
into cinema.”
In a business fueled by distortion, exaggeration, and larger-than-life storylines, Ross, at
age 19, introduced his signature brand of
photorealism with crushing success.
“His style was like nothing I’d ever seen,”
says Jeff Yandora, owner of Phantom of the
Attic Comics in Oakland, recalling the first
time he saw Ross’ work in 1994.
Yandora was in Marvel Comics’ offices in
New York City when he was given a sneak
peek of Ross’ rendering of the Human Torch
for the four-issue limited series, Marvels. It
examined the history of the Marvel universe
as seen through the eyes of Phil Sheldon, a
press photographer—and it turned out to be
Ross’ big break.
“I remember immediately being taken
back because it was something totally different,” recalls Yandora. “His work is very
photographic; he’s able to make the characters
look real, not flat on a page. He was an
instant standout then and his work continues
to carry a huge impact.”
Above: Alex Ross, Marvels #1 cover, 1994, Collection of the artist.
Spider-Man and all other Marvel characters, TM and © Marvel
Entertainment, LLC, all rights reserved. Used with permission.
Ross’ 1994 rendering of the Human Torch made
him an instant standout. At right, Captain Marvel
has long been a favorite muse, drawn by the artist
at age 4, 15, and 31.
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A super, lifelong obsession
Ross describes comics as “the stepchild” of art
forms. “Our business has always been overlooked,” he explains. “Even though the things
created from our hands aren’t read by that
many people in the whole, they do have an
enormous effect. Whether it’s merchandise,
toys, cartoons, movies, you name it—it has a
real and lasting impact.”
Ross, now 41, should know. Like a lot of
kids, it was television shows like Super Friends
and the Electric Company—which featured a
live-action Spider-Man—and later the film
Flash Gordon that turned him on to the magical world of superheroes. Not long after he
could grip a crayon, he started drawing three
of his favorites—Superman, Captain Marvel,
and Plastic Man—and over the next three
decades he would revisit those same characters time and again.
Ross’ mother worked as a successful freelance fashion illustrator in 1950s Chicago
before quitting to start a family. Lynette Ross
played into her young son’s obsession by
crafting her own fashion-conscious versions
of Batgirl and the Incredible Hulk.
When Ross was 8, the family moved from
Portland, Oregon, to Lubbock, Texas, where
his minister-father would lead a new church
and his parents would continue to instill in
him a moral code of right and wrong that fit
squarely with his superhero mythologies. As
his peers started to drift away from the wonderful world of fantasy, Ross turned to superheroes for companionship.
By his own admission, Ross didn’t have a
lot of friends as a teen, and spent most of his
time alone, drawing. “He copied the style of
comic artists like George Perez, who was a big
influence,” says curator Jesse Kowalski. “At
13, he was scripting and drawing original
comic books.”
Kowalski is particularly thrilled to introduce museum-goers to the evolution of some
of the artist’s favorite characters.
“With Captain Marvel, for example, we
have the crayon version he created at age 4, a
colored pencil version he did at 15, and a spectacular painting he created not all that long
ago, when he was 31,” says Kowalski, noting
this is Ross’ first museum exhibition. “They’re
just really fun to see next to each other.”
Another must see: a set of seven construction-paper figures of the Justice League, a
“good guys” band of superheroes from DC
Comics (exhibition sponsor), crafted by Ross
at the age of 11.
Ross admits he was a little reticent to
showcase these earlier works.
“I’ve been told that it lends a sense of
inspiration for people to see the progression,”
he says. “I of course want the impact of my
Left to right: J.C. Leyendecker, Dancing Couple, 1923; Alex Ross, Tango with Evil source photograph, 2003, Collection of the artist; Alex Ross, Tango with Evil, 2003, Collection of the artist. The Joker & Harley Quinn are ™ & © DC Comics.
Ross’ painting of the Joker and Harley Quinn (far right) is based on J.C. Leyendecker’s Dancing Couple from 1923 (left).
Ross and a friend posed for the source photograph (center).
work to crush people. So if they see something I did as a teenager, I want them to
think ‘I could never do that.’ I want to crush
spirits!” he says, laughing.
“The thing about the construction-paper
dolls is I made them with an eye for trying
to make them seem comical and child-like,”
he adds. ”My actual draftsmanship at the
time was better than what those represent, so
there’s part of me feeling like, ‘Geez, people
will judge me because they’re not as good as
they could have been.’ But that’s ridiculous,
because no one is keeping track!”
More than just pretty pictures
Ross began his professional journey as a
storyboard artist at an ad agency, where he
worked for three years before earning his first
commercial comic assignment from Now
Comics in 1989. The result, Terminator:
The Burning Earth, based on the hit Arnold
Schwarzenegger movie, caught the eye of
editors at Marvel Comics.
When his Marvels comic book made a
huge splash five years later, fully painted
comics were nothing new. Neither was
hyperrealism. But applying the combination
to superheroes—blurring the line between
fantasy and reality—turned out to be its
own kind of superpower.
Ross went on to win the Comic Buyer’s
Guide Award for Favorite Painter so many
times the award was retired. Cooler yet: His
success gave him the freedom to construct
an entire series around his Dad interacting in
a world filled by his most prized superheroes.
Cue Ross’ sophomore project Kingdom
Come, a futuristic story for DC Comics
about a minister who intercedes in a civil war
between traditional good guys—Superman,
Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern among
them—and a growing gang of irresponsible
new vigilantes. Conceived in part by Ross
when he was just a teenager and written by
Ross and Mark Waid for publication in
1996, the instant hit was a visual feast that
featured a 40-something Superman and a
main character based on Ross’ father, Clark.
It was also Ross’ grown-up way of
embracing characters that have long been
beacons of light and hope—attributes that
first attracted him to his livelihood—for a
new generation being bombarded by a darker
and more violent modern superhero set like
Wolverine, the Watchmen, and Lady Death.
“[Kingdom Come] was a project that
would remain something that fans would
talk to me about for the decades that followed, saying how much it influenced
them,” says Ross. “It had a life beyond an
initial release period. Most things only hit
one time and don’t change anyone’s life.”
Ross doesn’t downplay the training
behind all the glitz, glamour, and bulging
muscles. It’s hard work making superheroes
stand out.
(continued)
Kingdom Come’s main character, Norman McCay,
pictured at top right, is based on Ross’ father, Clark.
Alex Ross, Kingdom Come page (origins), Collection of the artist.
© DC Comics. All rights reserved
Opposite page:
Alex Ross, Captain Marvel, 1974
Alex Ross, Captain Marvel, 1985
Alex Ross, Captain Marvel, 2001, All DC Comics characters and
logos are ™ & © DC Comics.
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Ross’ controversial Uncle Sam.
United Nations, a charcoal study Normal Rockwell
intended to be the basis for a 10-foot-long mural
to be hung in the United Nations building, inspired
the stylistic composition and lighting of Ross’
paintings for the Justice series.
Alex Ross, Uncle Sam, 1997, Collection of the artist
Alex Ross, Justice Vol. 1 collection, 2006, Collection of the artist,
All characters are ™ & © DC Comics.
Norman Rockwell, United Nations, 1953, Collection of The
Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust
Art school had a huge impact on his technique, he says. Ross studied at Chicago’s
American Academy of Art, his mother’s alma
mater, where he mastered drawing the
human figure.
“Prior to that, I thought if you were looking
at any form of reference, it would somehow be
cheating,” recalls Ross. “But when I had the
experience of working from a live model every
day in art school, it had a fundamental change
on my ability. I discovered that you learn by
looking, not just trying to remember. That was
a big evolution step for me.”
Since then, he’s used his friends, family
(including his wife, who he met in Metropolis,
Illinois, at a Superman convention), even himself—often dressed in full superhero costume—as live models. He photographs them
in his own small photo studio, making sure to
capture small but crucial details like hand
placement and natural facial expressions. He
then uses the photographs as reference to put
pencil to paper. Only after an artwork is fully
executed in black and white does Ross apply
his signature gauche watercolor. It’s a laborious
process, part of the reason Ross now mostly
concentrates on cover work.
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He knows that not everyone agrees with
that process, or enjoys the result.
“Many feel that at its very essence,
comic book art is cartooning, so, therefore,
if you ever step outside of drawing what’s
in your head, you’re cheating,” Ross says.
“They look at a style like mine and say it
might as well be traced over photographs or
a photo collage because it steals from it a
sense of the fantastic.”
Still, even detractors are quick to say Ross
sets himself apart when it comes to his technical chops.
“What I tend to like about Ross’ work,
when I like it, is much less the sense of,
‘Wow, it’s like my retinas are at the right
place at the right time,’ than his design sense
and color sense, which are strange and wonderful and out of this world,” says comic art
critic Douglas Wolk. “He has a way of using
color effect that you don’t really see from a
lot of other comics.
“He has unmatched skill when it comes
to what he does,” adds Wolk. “His work is
no doubt impressive. It’s visually stunning
and incredibly time-consuming. No one can
match him on his narrowly-defined turf.”
A superhero in the making
Ross’ well-tuned process will be on display
in its full glory in Heroes & Villains, which
draws from Ross’ lifetime of work, including
Marvels, Kingdom Come, Uncle Sam (which
Ross calls an effort toward progression and
relevance), Justice, Astro City, and Crisis on
Infinite Earths (by far the project Ross has
spent the most time on). A few of his sculptures and just a tiny sliver of his giant stash
of superhero collectibles, some of which
he designed himself, will also be on view.
(Superman figures, in every form—including a life-size wax replica—fill his suburban
Chicago home.)
He created a new painting—Andy
Warhol flying through the clouds—especially
for the show, which graces the cover of the
exhibition catalogue-turned-comic-book and
will be sold as a poster exclusively in The
Warhol Store.
“Some of the work is coming directly
from the walls of Alex’s home,” notes
Kowalski, who was introduced to the artist’s
work just two years ago, when he returned
to comics after a decade-long hiatus.
“I was into comic books as a kid and even a
little in college,” recounts Kowalski. “Then I
starting working at The Warhol, got married—
in essence, grew up—and dropped out of the
world of comic books.”
In 2009, during the run of The Vader
Project at The Warhol, Kowalski took a few of
the displays to a local comic convention in
hopes of drawing fans to the museum. Comic
books were selling 10 for a $1, so he bought a
bunch. A lot of them had Ross covers.
“Around the same time, my wife got sick,”
recalls Kowalski. “She’s better now, but while
sitting in waiting rooms, I read a lot of the
Justice books. I was really blown away by
Alex’s paintings. They were unlike anything
else I saw in those stacks or remembered from
my childhood.”
Also knowing that Warhol was a big comic
book collector (many of which will be on
view), Kowalski’s interest was piqued. Soon he
discovered that Ross drew inspiration from a
diverse sampling of popular culture, making
him a perfect fit for The Warhol.
Case in point: The cover of the rock band
Queen’s second album, Queen II (1974), was
inspiration for Ross’ The Original Seven. “My
favorite band, and my favorite album cover
ever,” says Ross. “I stole the lighting technique
and the figure placement to make what is
probably the most popular group shot of the
Justice League I’ve done yet.”
He’s been referred to as the Norman
Rockwell of comic book painting so many
times, he no longer shies away from the enormous compliment. So it’s no surprise that,
on view in Heroes & Villains, are numerous
examples of how Rockwell’s signature group
portraits form the basis for Ross covers by
influencing lighting and textural effects.
The exhibition inherently pays homage to
the great comic book artists who came before
him: Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Romita,
Neal Adams, and George Perez, among others.
As a stylist, however, Ross was also heavily
influenced by preeminent American illustrator
J.C. Leyendecker and lesser-known Andrew
Loomis, whose work graced the pages of
national magazines in the 1940s and who
penned art instruction books, and whose work
is also on display in the exhibition.
“What a show like this does is celebrate the
medium that gave birth to all of these icons of
colorful costumed characters and show that it’s
still a vital, living thing,” says Ross. “It reminds
consumers that we’re still trying to improve
upon our medium, to chart new adventures to
build a better comic book and to reach out to
an audience that may never have tried comics.
Or to people like Jesse [Kowalski], who left
comics when they’re young and now have an
opportunity to have a rewarding experience as
an adult.” ■
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