Russ Heath

Russ Heath
Heath at the Big Apple Con, November 14, 2008.
Born	September 29, 1926 (1926-09-29) New York City, New York
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Penciller
Notable works	Little Annie Fanny, All American Men of War
Awards	1997 Inkpot Award 2009 Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame

Russell Heath, Jr. (born September 29, 1926) is an American artist best known for his comic book work — particularly his DC Comics war stories for several decades and his 1960s art for Playboy magazine's Little Annie Fanny featurettes — and for his commercial art, two pieces of which, depicting Roman and Revolutionary War battle scenes for toy soldier sets, became familiar bits of Americana after gracing the back covers of countless comic books from the early 1960s to early 1970s.

Heath's drawing of a fighter jet being blown up, in DC Comics' All American Men of War #89 (Feb. 1962), was the basis for pop artist Roy Lichtenstein's 1963 oil painting Whaam!.

Heath was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2009.

Early life

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 was one, an artist-writer—I had most of his books. Charlie Russell was my favorite because his work was absolutely authentic, because he drew what he lived..." Largely self-taught, Heath began freelancing for comics during summers while he was in high school, inking the naval feature "Hammerhead Hawley," drawn by penciler Charles Quinlan in Holyoke Publishing' Captain Aero Comics.

One version of Heath's "Roman Soldiers" ad that appeared for years on the backs of 1960s and 1970s comic books

It is unclear if Heath, anxious to fight in World War II, graduated from high school; in a 2004 interview, he recalls going "into the 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." He served stateside for nine months, drawing cartoons for his camp newspaper, but due to a clerical error, he said, he was on neither the military payroll nor any official duty roster for a significant portion of his time. Upon his discharge, he lived at home on a one-year military stipend of $20 a week before working as a lifeguard at a swim club, where he met his future wife.^{[citation needed]}

Career

While spending several weeks arranging appointments with artists for an assistant's job, Heath was hired as an office "gofer" for the large Manhattan advertising agency Benton & Bowles, earning $35 weekly. He continued looking for work as an artist on his lunch hour, and in 1947, landed a $75-a-week staff position at Timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics. Initially working in the Timely offices, Heath, like some of the other staffers, soon found it more efficient to work at home. He and his new wife had been living at his parents' home and continued to do so for two more years, while saving money for their own house. By the mid-1960s, however, they had children and were divorced.

The artist said in 2004 he believed his first work for Timely was a Western story featuring the Two-Gun Kid. Historians have tentatively identified a Kid Colt story in the omnibus series Wild Western #4 (Nov. 1948); the second Two-Gun Kid story in 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 story, "Fate Fixed a Fight," in Captain America Comics #71 (March 1949).

Timely let virtually all of its staff go in 1948 because of an industry downturn. By then, Heath had gone freelance, doing art both for Timely and for advertising agencies.^{[citation needed]}

In 2010, Heath provided covers to Aardvark-Vanaheim's fashion parody comic book, glamourpuss #10 - 12.

The 1950s

Heath's cover of Uncanny Tales #48 (Oct. 1956), with duplicate images and saturated color unusual for the time and medium.

Heath drew a corral-full of Western stories for such Timely comics as Wild Western, All Western Winners, Arizona Kid, Black Rider, Western Outlaws, and Reno Browne, Hollywood's Greatest Cowgirl. As Timely evolved into Marvel's 1950s iteration, known as 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, Journey Into Unknown Worlds, and Men's Adventures); crime drama (Justice); horror stories and covers (Adventures into Terror, Marvel Tales, Menace, Mystic, Spellbound, Strange Tales, Uncanny Tales, the cover of Journey into Mystery #1), satiric humor (Wild, Mad), and war stories.

Heath produced combat stories both for the wide line of Timely war titles and the first issue (Aug. 1951) of EC Comics' celebrated Frontline Combat. He contributed to Mad #14, illustrating Harvey Kurtzman's parody of Plastic Man. Heath later did the first of many decades' worth of war work for DC Comics, with Our Army at War #23 and Star Spangled War Stories #22, both cover-dated June 1954.

Other 1950s work includes an issue of 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), the flagship of Atlas' ill-fated effort to revive superheroes, which had fallen out of fashion in the post-war U.S.

Later career

Heath co-created with writer-editor Robert Kanigher the feature "The Haunted Tank" in G.I. Combat #87 (May 1961). Also with Kanigher, Heath co-created and drew the first issues of DC's Sea Devils, about a team of scuba-diving adventurers. Several of Kanigher's characters were combined into a single feature titled "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.

Original comic book panel from All-American Men of War #89, 1962 (DC Comics)

Heath's drawing of a fighter jet being blown up, in DC Comics' All American Men of War #89 (Feb. 1962), was the basis for pop artist Roy Lichtenstein's 1962 oil paintings Whaam and Blam.

Sometime in the 1960s, Heath drew two pieces of commercial art that became familiar bits of Americana after gracing the back covers of countless comic books through the early 1970s. Advertisements for toy soldier sets, they depicted Roman and Revolutionary War battle scenes. As Heath described in a 2000s interview,

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.

Heath was one of the artists who sometimes assisted Kurtzman and Will Elder on their regular Playboy strip "Little Annie Fanny". Writer Mark Evanier described Heath making the most of one such assignment:

One time when deadlines were nearing meltdown, Harvey Kurtzman called Heath in to assist in a marathon work session at the Playboy Mansion in Chicago. Russ flew in and was given a room there, and spent many days aiding Kurtzman and artist Will Elder in getting one installment done of the strip. When it was completed, Kurtzman and Elder left...but Heath just stayed. And stayed. And stayed some more. He had a free room as well as free meals whenever he wanted them from Hef's 24-hour kitchen. He also had access to whatever young ladies were lounging about...so he thought, 'Why leave?' He decided to live there until someone told him to get out...and for months, no one did. Everyone just kind of assumed he belonged there. It took quite a while before someone realized he didn't and threw him and his drawing table out.

Heath has provided cover art for comic-book publisher Aardvark-Vanaheim's glamourpuss #11-13 (Jan.-May 2010).

Awards

Russ Heath was among the recipients of Comic-Con International's Inkpot Award in 1997. He was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2009.

References

• "Russ Heath interview" (online excerpts), Comic Book Artist Special Edition #1, December 1999. Archive.org archive.
• Welcome to the World of Comic Book Toy Soldiers! (includes interview with Heath) (dead link as of at least September 20, 2010)