Legendary comic artist Russ Heath, known for his extensive and diverse work at DC Comics, Timely/Marvel, EC Comics, and many more, passed away on August 23, 2018, after a battle with cancer, his family confirmed. He was 91 years old.

Heath had an interest in the arts from an early age, taking inspiration from popular Western artists of the early 20th century such as Charlie Russell and Will James. By the time he was in high school, he was freelancing on comic books on his summer breaks, contributing to such work as Captain Aero Comics. Heath went into the Air Force for a brief stint before returning to New Jersey and starting a family.

By 1947, Heath had been hired onto the staff at Timely Comics. His earliest work at that company included several Western stories in books such as Wild Western, Black Rider, Arizona Kid, Western Outlaws, and many others. By the 1950s he was expanding his artwork into other genres, such as sci-fi (Journey into Unknown Worlds), superheroes (Marvel Boy), and horror (Adventures into Terror). Some of his best-known work would be for war stories, though, in books such as Sea Devils, G.I. Combat, All-American Men of War, and more. By the 1960s he had also done some notable commercial artwork on advertisements that would often be seen on many back covers of popular comic books.

“Any area in which Russ Heath worked was the better for his presence, perhaps nowhere more so than in war comics. The power and grit of his art never overwhelmed his attention to detail. Settings, vehicles, and most of all the people of his stories had a stylish realism that few other artists ever matched. He had a long life and contributed mightily to our field. We were blessed by his presence and will be the poorer for his absence,” said Steve Geppi, President of Diamond Comic Distributors.

Heath received the Inkpot Award in 1997, and would be inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2009. His last comic story artwork was on the four-page flashback seen in The Immortal Iron Fist #20 in 2009, though he did occasional cover work after that, including the Hero Initiative edition of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #46 in 2016, the year he was inducted into The Overstreet Hall of Fame.

During his career he made headlines when artist Roy Lichtenstein “adapted” some of his war comic artwork and sold it for several million dollars, with Heath not seeing a cent of the profits; Heath would later tell the story in a short comic for the Hero Initiative, the non-profit organization that helped him financially after a knee replacement.

“The members of both the Big Five and Overstreet’s War Report are saddened by the passing of our friend and industry luminary. This loss literally marks the end of an era. He will truly be missed, but his work and contributions over the course of so many decades will live on, especially in our hearts and minds,” said noted collector Matt Ballesteros. “Even at 90 Russ was bigger than life. Every time we got the opportunity to sit and break bread with him, he would have us both chuckling and mesmerized. The stories he would tell of his career adventures were almost perfect for a Hollywood script ‒ one replete with drama and certainly lots of bawdy humor. During his 70-year career, Russ literally etched his name in the broad business of illustrated art. From comics to Playboy cartoons, his body of work and the characters he brought to life seemingly filled magazine racks and comic spinners everywhere. Indeed, Russ’ work was so ubiquitous that even well-known pop artists were inspired by and emulated his work. Notably, he made a major impact on the war comic genre by way of producing art that was not only visually stunning, but painstakingly accurate. He thus created a fan base of admirers both within and outside the genre, and even more, influenced so many artists in the comic book industry. Indeed, it is no surprise that his work would come to be hoarded by editors and fellow colleagues to use as technical guidelines due to his precision rendering of equipment gear and machines. Incredibly, Russ just used photographs for reference, but in turn, artists would then use Heath’s drawings as reference. His attention to detail was and will forever remain simply breathtaking. Like the countless signature crosshatching in his art, Russ was a multilayered man. I feel there was great deal for us to still uncover. His passing will be mourned by fans and friends alike. He was one of a kind and he will be sorely missed.”

“It was with a sense of incredible privilege and excitement that I had the chance to shine a little light on the geniuses behind the war comic genre by holding a war comics banquets annually during Comic-Con International in San Diego. In addition to recruiting war comics fans who have formed a close bond over a commonly beloved art form, we had the chance to meet our heroes. Yes, Sgt. Rock, Johnny Cloud, and Mademoiselle Marie were at the base of every conversation, but the heroes I’m talking about were those that wrote and drew the stories that these characters appeared in. Can you imagine year over year sitting across from Irv Novick, listening to naval exploits from Sam Glanzman, chatting casually with Joe Kubert about background figures and composition, watching Sergio Aragones charm a neighboring table by facilitating a singalong in Spanish, listening to John Severin’s stories about his buddy, Joe Maneely, and hearing about Ric Estrada’s early childhood experiences as a refugee immigrant. But, there was always one constant who was there at every dinner from the beginning to the end. Russ Heath was that constant and he was so widely beloved by all of his colleagues and all of his fans,” said Mick Rabin, Overstreet War report correspondent. “Russ Heath will indeed be missed, but has ‒ fortunately for us all ‒ left us with one of the most magnificent bodies of work that anybody in comics has delineated. It’s hard to overstate what a monumental contribution Russ Heath made to the medium of war comics as well as the overall comics industry. He was one of our final living links to the genre. It’s hard to imagine a world without Russ for a bunch of different reasons, but if I need a reminder, I don’t have far to look to experience the genius that he embodied. Russ Heath’s work was among the finest in the industry and I suspect that he will be revered as one of the masters of the form as long as comics are discovered by lucky new generations of fans. My thoughts go out to Russ Heath’s family at this time as well as all the other fans who knew the man for the treasure that he was and for the riches he gave us all in the pages of the Big-5 war comics.”

Heath’s passing has been felt throughout the comic industry, with many other artists and notable figures paying tribute to one of the icons of the trade.

“His DC work in the ’60s, especially his war comics set a standard for realism and authenticity. His Warren work was sublime in its draftsmanship and tonal rendering and his Son of Satan #8 is still one of my Bronze Age highlights at Marvel,” artist Joe Jusko said. “Above all that he was a wonderful man to talk to, always with a wealth of stories to tell, and Polaroids to show (those who knew him will get that). It was always a joy to see him at a convention. Rest easy, Russ.”

Artist Howard Chaykin said: “No one more than Russ Heath more perfectly personified the philosophy that insisted that: life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and proclaiming, ‘Wow, what a ride!’”