Comments on: Underappreciated Artist Spotlight - Ross Andru

By: jalrod

jalrod — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 03:42:58 +0000

Andru hooked me. My first comic was ASM 133 followed by ASM 136. Andru became and still is my definitive Spider-Man. When he left the series in issue 185 I was truly distraught. Over time Romita Sr has emerged as my favorite Spider-Man artist, but Andru is right up there.

By: tachyonblade

tachyonblade — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 01:00:28 +0000

For me, and I know this is saying a lot, Ross Andru's Spiderman IS Spiderman. I had a subscription during most of his run on Spidey during the 70's and I have no stronger memories or impressions of comics in general and Spidey specifically than those years. Also, as someone who works at drawing and art myself I have to say his line work was just amazing. He is one of my top three favorite artists.

By: "O" the Humanatee!

"O" the Humanatee! — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 04:25:38 +0000

Ross Andru's does have all the virtues Scott describes - but it always seemed bizarre to me that a professional comics artist never learned the correct proportions of limbs: forearms (as measured from elbows to wrists) are a little shorter than upper arms, and calves are a little shorter than thighs. The strange spindly look Andru's proportions lent to bodies (coupled with his penchant for showing limbs strongly bent) may have worked for Spidey; too bad he used it on everyone else too!

By: Dalarsco

Dalarsco — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 03:28:11 +0000

My first comics were by Ross Andru. When I was very young my Dad was at a book sale of some sort and found the first two issues of the 1979 World of Krypton mini made to cash in on the Superman movie. The mini still stands up well today, especially the art. This made me a life-long Jor-El fan.

By: mr. clam

mr. clam — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 05:32:54 +0000

The first comic I ever bought was a Ross Andru Spider-Man. The second comic I bought was shown above, with the Hitman, Punisher, and Spidey atop the Statue of Liberty. I am very heartened to see so many people giving it up for this man's work. He IS under-appreciated!

By: Greg Geren

Greg Geren — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 03:19:28 +0000

I loved the Ross Andru Spider-Man as well. Even though it was before my time, I have more recently come to appreciate his work on Flash and Superman and especially his long run on Wonder Woman.

By: Jack Norris

Jack Norris — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 22:17:31 +0000

Love Ross Andru; he was the artist on the first issue of Spider-Man I ever bought and throughout most of my personal golden age. In recent years, as I discovered online comics fandom I was stunned to find people who disliked his work. People who suck.

By: dhole

dhole — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 22:15:46 +0000

He's the artist I associate with my formative Spider-Man years, reading Marvel Tales reprints of his work. I agree that his Jackal was very scary and impressive. I liked his work a lot.

I also agree with his inclusion in this series as I never see any mention of him in blogs like this. Glad that this entry has changed that.

By: Alan Coil

Alan Coil — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 21:37:47 +0000

jazzbo's typo of Rodd Andru instead of Ross Andru reminded me of the time I saw a review where a Flash villain was typo-ed as Gorilla Gross.

I appreciate Andru, but his name came up this week at the LCS and one person was critical of his work. I don't see how anybody could hate his work, although I do understand why some wouldn't care for it. Some people just don't like some styles of artwork.

By: Tyson

Tyson — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 18:19:10 +0000

I really like Andru's page layouts, backgrounds, and action, but I've always thought he was terrible at drawing facial expressions. Reading through the Essential Spider-Man collection recently, I noticed, over and over again, how a page with two characters talking will look like ten different characters. The only thing that looks the same from panel to panel is the clothes.

To this day, when I think of peter parker, in my mind he looks like the Ross Andru version.

I read this and thought, "Which one?" I haven't read any of the other books Andru worked on, and I think that he would probably be great on a comic with less soap opera than Spider-Man, because he is so very good at all the other elements. But Spidey is all about the character interactions, and I just think the book suffered under his pencils.

By: Hannibal

Hannibal — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 16:32:54 +0000

The Spider-Man / Superman Treasury Edition was one of the highlights of the '70's and had a great Andru cover, but for me his attention to the details of New York was what made the comic. I have read stories of him taking hours of photos and sketches of any landmark he had to draw - bridges, buildings - like the water treatment works in one issue. He was a true professional.

By: Guido

Guido — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:44:55 +0000

My first (and to the day almost only) contact with Andru's work is the Superman/Spider-Man crossover. I was a teenager back then and remember being absolutely wowed by his work (especially remarkable for a kid during the boom of the Image house-style) If anything, I felt that his work was diminished a bit by the inking. But he did drew the best NY vistas I've ever seen in a comic book, and to me, his Spidey/Pete and May Jane seemed as definitive as they get. He is definitely an unsung classic. Anyone knows of any trades (besides Essential volumes) where Andru's Spidey work is featured?

By: Andrew Brown

Andrew Brown — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 14:38:22 +0000

To this day, when I think of peter parker, in my mind he looks like the Ross Andru version. maybe its because I was too young when Romita was the artist, but Andru's parker will always be the version that will be in my head till i die.
Also, the War that Time Forgot by Andru and Robert Kanigher was freakin awesome!

By: Bill Gladman

Bill Gladman — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:20:36 +0000

It's hard to think of Spider-Man and not think of Ross Andru. It may be true that during his run on the book he was just as talked about and appreicated as many of the other artists of the time, but nobody talks much about him today.

Great article.

By: Hannibal

Hannibal — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:33:36 +0000

I also grew up with Ross Andru's excellent Spider-Man artwork; it's his meticulously researched vision of New York which still informs my imagination as to how the city looks. At the time I just accepted him as yet another Marvel artist, having no idea of his history at DC. He is one of the unsung greats.

By: jazzbo

jazzbo — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 08:27:27 +0000

Ross Andru is pretty great, too. Especially when teamed up with his previously unheard of brother "Rodd."

By: jazzbo

jazzbo — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 08:26:30 +0000

I gotta say I disagree with this entry. Not because Rodd Andru isn't great, but I guess I didn't think he was underappreciated. I figured everyone knew how good he was. I

By: Andrew-TLA

Andrew-TLA — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 06:15:54 +0000

Don't forget, Andru also drew that first Spider-Man/Superman crossover.

By: Mark Bourne

Mark Bourne — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:02:18 +0000

I always loved Ross Andru's work. He did a fantastic Punisher and his run on Amazing during the original clone saga is just awesome. He drew the Jackel scarry.

By: GarBut

GarBut — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 03:20:48 +0000

Get Lost was recently anthologized, complete and remastered, by a small-press company (can't remmeber the name). Cheap, too, all things considered. 25 bucks or so. Seek it out, it's well well well worth it.