Comic Book Resources has an interesting interview with Alex Ross on this, the 10th anniversary of Kingdom Come.
Ross’s somewhat legendary curmudgeonly side certainly surfaces a few times in this piece.
Alex Ross is somewhat of a polarizing figure in the industry — some people just flat out don’t like his work, while others mention his name in hushed, revered tones. Personally, I think he’s a great talent who is responsible for two of the most important works in comic books in the 1990s, if not in all of the modern age, Kingdom Come and Marvels.
I’d love a Marvels omnibus.
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Some rights reserved.
Ross mentions the old ‘Shazam–Captain Marvel’ TV show. That reminded me, the guy who played Captain Marvel was my sisters acting teacher in college. That was during my high school ‘too cool for comics’ phase, so I just laughed when she told me, but I asked her about him about a year ago, and she said he was really cool.
I enjoy his work but I dont like the way he likes to negate characters and storylines that happened after the golden age.
Not the Golden Age, the Silver Age. He likes the Silver Age.
Actually he likes any original characters like he likes Barry Allen but not Wally West. He likes the Ronnie Raymond Firestorm.
Actually he likes any original characters like he likes Barry Allen but not Wally West. He likes the Ronnie Raymond Firestorm.
Yeah, those characters are all from the Silver Age. The Silver Age lasts from the first appearance of Barry Allen and ends with The Dark Knight Returns, which kicked off the Modern Age.
And Barry is better than Wally. 😉
I do love Kingdom Come, the takes on Superman and Batman especially are so rich. I thought the Kingdom was an insulting piece of shit 🙂
What makes Ross’ work even more impressive for me is that his medium of choice (gouache) is one of the most reviled/testy/difficult media one can use. It’s also interesting that in an era when even commercial illustrators are turning to digital media to save time and money, he still paints everything out by hand.
I suppose, though, that given what he gets for original pages it’s worth it.
If you’ve ever flipped through one of his books at a Con, he asks a ton of money for just doodling on a napkin.
I agree, he paints very nicely, but for some reason, it’s never been for me. I think I just like ‘cartooning’ as a style, and I’ve never been interested in photo realistic work. I do really like work that blends the two however. Like if you take a photo and render it artistically, like Bendis did in his early work. I’m sure there are others as well. But I can certainly understand why people like Ross’ work. I might just be sick of seeing the same thing. I get the sense that it will never change or adapt, and I love seeing the evolution of artists’ work.
In every Ross interview i have ever read I feel like im the young whipper-snapper with no respect for the good ol’ days and that the world and the industry is just going to hell. I don’t have all the answers, but im damn sure Alex Ross doesn’t have them either and for some reason it bothers me as a fan. Regardless I am enjoying his new take on the JLA, just wish it came out more often.
Oh, I didn’t mean that Ross is a favorite or even that I necessarily prefer photorealistic art. I’m just saying I respect his talent and what he does takes a lot of technical skill. As far as personality, I don’t know if I necessarily jive with him, but meh. It’s not like I’ll ever meet the guy.
That said, I also have a lot of love for toonier styles (fluidity is a wonderful thing), and I’m generally willing to give anything a chance. My biggest beef with comic art lies not with pencilers but is often shoddy photoshop (Dear colorists: there is no excuse to ever slap in a lens flare, ever.) like obvious filters and the like. Conversely, good colorists mean a lot to me and deserve much respect, as they can make worlds of difference.
blah blah /rant.
I think we’re in agreement.
I think it will come as no surprise that I love Alex Ross’s art. I love photorealism.
I also love toony style.
I love it all.
But I think that if I had to have one art style, it would lean more towards photorealism.
…. I just found this and I figured this was a good place to put it. http://www.thomasamckean.com/mp3audio.htm
Kingdom Come? The AUDIOBOOK?
haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! good work
I have the audiobook and it’s not bad. Some cheese, since they chose to have comic writers do audio cameos, but it does a nice job of bringing the story to life. Great Batman and Superman voices, and I do get chills when I hear ‘Shazam.”