His most frequent collaborator was comics inker Mike Esposito, with whom he worked on projects over a span of four decades. The two also founded three short-lived comic books companies: Mr. Publications (1951), MikeRoss (1953) and Klevart Enterprises (1970).
Early life and education
Ross Andru was born in Highland Park, Michigan on June 15, 1927, the third of Alexander and Glafire (née Evanoff) Androuchkevitch's three children.[1] Andru grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, raised by Russian émigré parents who came to the US in 1926.
After moving to New York City, Andru graduated from The High School of Music & Art, then in Harlem. One of his classmates and friends was future comics artist Mike Esposito.[3] While students, they collaborated on flip-book animation.[4] Andru joined the US Army in 1945, and was discharged in 1946.
In 1946, Andru worked for an animation studio in Manhattan drawing artwork for Chiclets chewing gum commercials.[5]
In 1948, Andru's first professional work as a comic strip illustrator was drawing layouts for the Tarzan newspaper strip. As his longtime partner Mike Esposito recalled, he and Andru were attending Burne Hogarth's Cartoonists and Illustrators School in 1947 when "Burne took Ross out of the class because he saw the talent he had and asked him, 'Would you like to assist me on Tarzan? (the newspaper strip for the Sunday page of the New York Daily Mirror). He paid Ross by the month... the G.I. Bill gave him a few bucks to live on. Ross would lay it out then Burne would ink it with his approach... actually change everything and it would look really like Burne Hogarth when he got through with it. Ross (Andru) had a great concept for visuals for the layout, for the storytelling. That's what Burne Hogarth saw in Ross and he developed him to pull all that out, the shots and the depth of field. That only lasted a couple of years, because the strip died in about 1950–51... Ross came to me when I started publishing and we more or less teamed up'."[6]
The team's first confirmed collaboration was on the six-page "Wylie's Wild Horses" in Hillman Periodicals' Western Fighters vol. 2, #12 (Nov. 1950), signaling the start of a four-decade collaboration.[8]
They quickly founded their own comics-book company, the name of which is variously rendered as MR Publications,[9] the combined initials of their first names; Mr. Publications,[10] after the company's sole series, the whimsical adventure comic Mister Universe, which ran five issues (July 1951 – April 1952);[11] or the hybrid MR. Publications.[11] The two also co-founded Mikeross Publications in 1953, which through 1954 produced one issue each of the 3Dromance comics3-D Love and 3-D Romance, two issues of the romance comic Heart and Soul, and three issues of the satiric humor comic Get Lost.[12]
Andru and Esposito created early work on Key Publications' Mister Mystery in 1951 and Standard Comics' The Unseen and Joe Yank (the latter credited as "Mikeross").[8]
From 1957 to 1959, Andru and Esposito shared a studio with fellow comics artists Jack Abel, Art Peddy and Bernard Sachslate,[13] generally credited as either Bernard Sachs or Bernie Sachs.
Andru began a nine-year run on Wonder Woman starting with issue #98 (May 1958), where he and writer Robert Kanigher reinvented the character, introducing the Silver Age version and her supporting cast.[14] As well, with writer-editor Robert Kanigher, Andru co-created the robot superheroes called The Metal Men in Showcase #37 (April 1962), going on to draw the first 29 issues of the lighthearted series Metal Men, from 1963 to 1968.[8] Esposito said Kanigher "left the character design up to Ross and myself, under his supervision, of course."[15][16]
Andru and Kanigher had several other notable collaborations. The "Gunner and Sarge" feature introduced in All-American Men of War #67 (March 1959) was one of the first war comics to feature recurring characters.[17] Andru drew an early appearance of Kanigher's Sgt. Rock character in Our Army at War #81 (April 1959)[18] With Kanigher, the Andru-Esposito team introduced the non-superpowered adventurers the Suicide Squad in The Brave and the Bold #25 (Sept. 1959).[19]
Another innovation was the melding of war comics with science-fiction in "The War that Time Forgot", a feature created by Kanigher and Andru in Star Spangled War Stories #90 (May 1960).[20] The title was set in the South Pacific on Dinosaur Island, an island inhabited by giant, living dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. The stories were set in the 1940s during World War II.
In 1967, Andru left Wonder Woman to become the penciler on The Flash, with he and inker Esposito drawing the super-speedster superhero's adventures from issue #175–194 (Dec. 1967 – Feb. 1970).[8] Reuniting with Kanigher, Andru co-created the "Rose & The Thorn" backup feature in Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #105 (Oct. 1970).[21][22]
For the black-and-white comics-magazine publisher Skywald in 1971, Andru and Esposito contributed many stories across the line, including to the horror titles Nightmare and Psycho and the Western titles Wild Western Action, The Bravados and Butch Cassidy. With writer Gary Friedrich, they created Skywald's motorcycle-riding superhero Hell-Rider.[24]
Andru and Esposito formed the publishing company Klevart Enterprises in 1970,[25] which two years later published two issues of a humor magazine cover-titled Up Your Nose (and Out Your Ear).[26] The name, Esposito said, came from an expression used by late-night talk-show host Johnny Carson, "May the bird of paradise fly up your nose, and out your ear."[3] A third issue was written but never printed because of financial problems.[27]
Marvel Comics
The Amazing Spider-Man #176 (Jan. 1978. Cover art by Andru and inker Frank Giacoia.
In the early 1970s, Andru left DC for Marvel Comics. Initially he did short runs on such titles as Marvel Feature where he launched the superhero team the Defenders in issue #1 (Dec. 1971)[28] and Marvel Team-Up, starting in March 1972, where he drew Spider-Manteaming with other Marvel characters.[29] In 1973, he began his five-year stint as regular penciler on The Amazing Spider-Man,[30] which at that point was Marvel's highest-selling monthly comic. Andru and writer Gerry Conway introduced the Punisher,[31] who would become one of Marvel Comics' most popular characters.
In 1976, Andru penciled the first large-scale comic book Intercompany crossover, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man, in a story written by Conway and co-published by Marvel and DC. As one historian wrote, "The tale was written by Gerry Conway and drawn by Ross Andru, both among the few [at that time] to ever have worked on both Superman and Spider-Man ... The result was a defining moment in Bronze Age of Comic Books."[32]
Return to DC Comics
In 1978, Andru returned to DC to work as an editor, a position he held until 1986.[33] During this period his art appeared mostly on the covers of such titles as Action Comics and Superman. Working with writer Marv Wolfman and collaborator Mike Esposito, he co-created the syndicatedcomic stripThe Unexplained in 1979. Throughout the late 1970s and the 1980s, Andru and inker Dick Giordano were DC's primary cover artists, providing cover artwork for the Superman titles as well as covers for many of the other comics in the DC line at that time.[34]
In the 1980s, Andru returned to interior artwork. He and Roy Thomas collaborated on the "Superman and His Incredible Fortress of Solitude" treasury edition published as DC Special Series #26 (Summer 1981).[35]Pandora Pann was a proposed series by Andru and writer Len Wein which was to have been published in 1982. But other commitments prevented Wein from writing it, and the project was cancelled.[36]
In 1981, Andru contributed to the DC Super Heroes Super Healthy Cookbook, illustrating various Justice League characters as they explained food recipes to a 4th to 6th grade audience. Additional artists included Dick Giordano and Leo Durañona.[37]
Andru made a brief return to the Wonder Woman title, drawing six pages in issue #300 (Feb. 1983).[38] The following year, Andru contributed to the 300th issue of World's Finest Comics as well.[39] A New Teen Titans drug awareness comic book sponsored by the American Soft Drink Industry and drawn by Andru was published in cooperation with The President's Drug Awareness Campaign in 1983.[40][41] Andru also pencilled Teen Titans Spotlight #3–6 (1986–1987). He was one of the contributors to the DC Challenge limited series in 1986.[42] Other Andru artwork appeared in Vigilante (1984) and Blue Beetle (1987–1988).
Later life and career
In 1990, Ross Andru contributed a story to Valiant Comics' Captain N:The Game Master #1. The same year, he reunited with writer Gerry Conway and inker Mike Esposito for a story in Web of Spider-Man Annual #6. In 1992, the graphic novel Spider-Man: Fear Itself, pencilled by Andru, inked by Esposito, plotted by Conway and scripted by Stan Lee was published. Andru's last published work was for Archie Comics' Zen, Intergalactic Ninja in 1992, on which he was teamed once again with Esposito.[8]
Prior to his death, Andru was working with Esposito on a new project to be called The Strobe Warrior for another independent company founded by Esposito and his assistant Blake Seals.[citation needed] The project fell apart after Andru's passing but was revived years later in song by a band called Fling Lois.[43]
Style and technique
Frequent collaborator Gerry Conway commented of Ross Andru's work, "Ross Andru could place a character anywhere he wanted. He had a terrific sense of spatial relations; he could track a battle easily across rooftops, from panel to panel. He drew some great sequences where he maintained the same stationary background, a rooftop or a street, across an entire page, but move the characters from panel to panel. I know there are artists today who do that, but many of today's artists are figure-oriented. Space and context doesn't seem as important to them, whereas it was extremely important to Ross. He used to go around New York City taking pictures of the buildings so he could be accurate about where he put Spider-Man."[44]
Death and burial
Andru suffered a brain aneurysm and died on November 9, 1993, in Jamaica Bay, Queens County, New York.[45][46] His body was cremated and interred at the Fresh Pond Crematory and Columbarium, Middle Village, Queens County, New York.
^ abEsposito, Mike, in Stroud, Bryan D. (2008). "Mike Esposito interview (part 1)". The Silver Age Sage. Archived from the original on September 1, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2009. I went to the High School of Music & Art ... in Harlem Additional, June 16, 2012.
^Irvine, Alex; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1950s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 90. ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9. Wonder Woman's origin story and character was given a Silver Age revamp, courtesy of writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru.((cite book)): |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^McAvennie, Michael "1960s" in Dolan, p. 105 "Writer/editor Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru put a then-modern-day spin on robots with the exploits of comics' first "heavy metal" group, the Metal Men."
^Irvine "1950s" in Dolan, p. 93 "War comics had rarely featured recurring characters, but writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru changed that with the introduction of U.S. Marines Gunner MacKay and Sarge Clay in All-American Men of War #67."
^Irvine "1950s" in Dolan, p. 93 "In "The Rock of Easy Co.!" written by Robert Kanigher and Bob Haney, with art by Ross Andru, the reader was introduced to Sgt. Frank Rock of Easy Company."
^Irvine "1950s" in Dolan, p. 95: "In 'The Three Waves of Doom', a story that filled The Brave and the Bold #25, writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru introduced the Suicide Squad, a band of World War II-era military misfits."
^McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 100 "What was most memorable about the initial installment of "The War that Time Forgot" by writer/editor Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru was that it was the first cross-genre story to blend war comics with science-fiction."
^McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 141 "The second feature uncovered the roots of Rose Forrest/Thorn's identity, as told by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru."
^Cassell, Dewey (May 2013). "A Rose By Any Other Name ... Would Be Thorn". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (64): 28–32.
^Manning, Matthew K.; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2012). "1960s". Spider-Man Chronicle Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 43. ISBN978-0756692360. When John Romita sprained his wrist, Marvel hired artist Ross Andru to draw a fill-in issue of The Amazing Spider-Man to give Romita time to recover. However, never less than a consummate professional, Romita turned in his work on schedule as promised, leaving the company with an extra Stan Lee-scripted Spider-Man story on their hands.((cite book)): |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Sanderson, Peter; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2008). "1970s". Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 151. ISBN978-0756641238. [Roy] Thomas and artist Ross Andru reunited [Doctor] Strange, the Hulk, and Namor as a brand new Marvel superhero team - the Defenders."((cite book)): |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Manning "1970s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 60: "Spider-Man was a proven hit, so Marvel decided to expand the wall-crawler's horizons with a new Spider-Man title ... Its first issue featured Spidey teaming up with the Human Torch against the Sandman in a Christmas tale written by Roy Thomas with art by Ross Andru."
^Saffel, Steve (2007). "An Exploding Icon The 1970s". Spider-Man the Icon: The Life and Times of a Pop Culture Phenomenon. London, United Kingdom: Titan Books. p. 66. ISBN978-1-84576-324-4. Having done a special stand-alone Spider-Man story in Marvel Super-Heroes #14, May 1968, Andru came aboard as the ongoing artist with Amazing #125, October 1973.
^Manning "1970s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 72: "Writer Gerry Conway and artist Ross Andru introduced two major new characters to Spider-Man's world and the Marvel Universe in this self-contained issue. Not only would the vigilante known as the Punisher go on to be one of the most important and iconic Marvel creations of the 1970s, but his instigator, the Jackal, would become the next big threat in Spider-Man's life."
^Eury, Michael (2003). Dick Giordano: Changing Comics, One Day At A Time. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 101. ISBN1-893905-27-6. Retrieved December 23, 2011. Giordano was also frequently partnered with penciler Ross Andru, and for several years, the duo illustrated virtually every Superman cover published, and a host of other covers.
^Eury, Michael (December 2012). "The Amazing World of Superman Tabloids". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (61): 11–16.
^Mangels, Andy (February 2011). "Opening the Box: Pandora Pann's Lost Adventures". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (46): 37.
^Saltzman, Mark; Garlan, Judy (1974). DC Super Heroes Super Healthy Cookbook. New York, New York: Random House. ISBN978-0517417614.
^Manning, Matthew K. "1980s" in Dolan, p. 200: "The Amazing Amazon was joined by a host of DC's greatest heroes to celebrate her 300th issue in a seventy-two-page blockbuster ... Written by Roy and Dann Thomas, and penciled by Gene Colan, Ross Andru, Jan Duursema, Dick Giordano, Keith Pollard, Keith Giffen, and Rich Buckler."
^Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 206: "In the tradition of DC's anniversary editions, World's Finest Comics #300 was an extra-length issue contributed to by a variety of comic book talent. Written by David Anthony Kraft, Mike W. Barr, and Marv Wolfman, and illustrated by Ross Andru, Mark Texeira, Sal Amendola, and George Pérez."
^"Turner, Carlton E.: Files, 1981–1987 – Reagan Library Collections". Simi Valley, California: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. n.d. Archived from the original on October 15, 2014. This series contains material relating to the development and distribution of the Teen Titans drug awareness comic books. The comic books were designed to communicate the dangers of drug abuse to elementary school children. The Drug Abuse Policy Office coordinated the project, DC Comics developed the story line and artwork, and private companies funded the production costs. The Keebler Company sponsored the fourth grade book (released in April 1983), the National Soft Drink Association sponsored the sixth grade book (November 1983), and IBM sponsored the fifth grade book through the National Federation of Parents for Drug Free Youth (February 1984). The files consist primarily of correspondence with educators, parents, and children.
^Greenberger, Robert (August 2017). "It Sounded Like a Good Idea at the Time: A Look at the DC Challenge!". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (98): 43.
^Williams, Scott E. (October 2010). "Gerry Conway: Everything but the Gwen Stacy Sink". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (44): 18.
^Voger, Mark (January 16, 1994). "Perchance to Fly". Asbury Park Press. p. E6.
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