Happy Birthday, Russ Heath!

[dan bailey]

Today, Russ Heath -- one of the greatest ever -- turns 80. Between Russ & Joe Kubert (who himself turned 80 only 11 days ago, I see), the war comics DC was putting out while I was a kid in the mid-to-late '60s were almost an embarassment of riches (not that Marvel, with John Severin inking Dick Ayers on Sgt. Fury, exactly had anything to apologize for in that area, either). Definitely one of the all-time greats.

I particularly remember this cover of his reaching out from the spinner racks & grabbing me way back when --

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c129/arktrav/th_gicombat130.jpg (http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c129/arktrav/gicombat130.jpg)

[Mr. Palmer]

I just finished Enemy Ace: War In Heaven that featured his artwork. Still as great as usual!

Always did love his work on Sgt. Rock, too.

[Rob Allen]

I got a chance to meet Russ and get his autograph on some war stories at last year's Emerald City Con. He was a really nice old gent. He signed with a red pen; not sure why.

Shortly after the con, I got a tpb collection of early "Little Annie Fanny" strips from Playboy magazine, and was surprised to find that Russ had worked on a lot of them with Kurtzman and Elder. Pretty different from The Haunted Tank!

Then Tom Orzechowski, the letterer who's now my neighbor and drinking buddy, told me a story he had heard about Russ and Playboy. At some point in the mid-60s, Heath, Kurtzman & Elder went to the Playboy Mansion in Chicago to meet with Hefner about the "Annie" strips. Since none of three lived in Chicago, they stayed at the Mansion for a few days. Russ noticed that the Mansion was busy 24/7, there were always people around, the kitchens were always open, there were plenty of spare bedrooms - so, when Kurtzman and Elder left for New York, Russ stayed.

And stayed.

And stayed.

About six months later, Hefner noticed him across a room and asked, "Who is that?" Later that day, Russ was politely asked to move out. He had lived rent-free at the Playboy Mansion for six months!

I wish I'd heard that story before the con so I could have asked him about that!

[Rob Imes]

I was just thinking about Russ Heath's art yesterday when trying to compile my list for the top 10 comicbook artists. I ended up putting him at #5 on my list.

[benday-dot]

I got a chance to meet Russ and get his autograph on some war stories at last year's Emerald City Con. He was a really nice old gent. He signed with a red pen; not sure why.

Shortly after the con, I got a tpb collection of early "Little Annie Fanny" strips from Playboy magazine, and was surprised to find that Russ had worked on a lot of them with Kurtzman and Elder. Pretty different from The Haunted Tank!

Then Tom Orzechowski, the letterer who's now my neighbor and drinking buddy, told me a story he had heard about Russ and Playboy. At some point in the mid-60s, Heath, Kurtzman & Elder went to the Playboy Mansion in Chicago to meet with Hefner about the "Annie" strips. Since none of three lived in Chicago, they stayed at the Mansion for a few days. Russ noticed that the Mansion was busy 24/7, there were always people around, the kitchens were always open, there were plenty of spare bedrooms - so, when Kurtzman and Elder left for New York, Russ stayed.

And stayed.

And stayed.

About six months later, Hefner noticed him across a room and asked, "Who is that?" Later that day, Russ was politely asked to move out. He had lived rent-free at the Playboy Mansion for six months!

I wish I'd heard that story before the con so I could have asked him about that!

Did he have free use of the grotto? What a gem of an anecdote.

[Aaron Kashtan]

Russ is an incredible artist and he also seems like an awesome guy. I've talked with him a couple times at Comicon and he appears to be very energetic for his age. I kind of wanted to show him a paper I wrote on Roy Lichtenstein's swiping of his art, but I never had the courage.

Best wishes to him on his 80th birthday.

[wayneds]

I first discovered Russ Heath's art work in an old box of damaged (ATLAS) pre-code horror comics! i loved his art from the first time i saw it! it was so much better than the other artist's working at Atlas. I also loved his Plastic Man parody in MAD!
Question: Did Russ Heath draw the original Plastic Man (QUALITY) after Jack Cole left the series?
Thanks!
Wayne