Since he was three years old, gouache artist Alex Ross has slowly been perfecting his artistic talents to become one of the world’s most preeminent and well-respected comic book artists. After getting hired by Marvel Comics in 1994 to illustrate the publisher’s central characters in Marvels, the Portland native quickly established himself within the superhero subgenre. Around this time, he released a painted superhero cover for Superman: Doomsday & Beyond, co-created Astro Boy for Image Comics, and worked on the DC Comics limited series Kingdom Come.
Ross transition from fantasy to reality with the 96-page story Uncle Sam for DC’s Vertigo line. This non-superhero work examined the darker side of American history. Returning to the world of flying heroes and caped vigilantes, Ross drew the lenticular covers for Superman: Forever #1 and Batman: No Man’s Land #1. In celebration of the 60th anniversaries of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, Ross partnered with writer Paul Dini to produce fully painted, tabloid-sized books. He also released two specials featuring the Justice League, Secret Origins, and Liberty and Justice.
Over the years, Ross has worked on additional titles such as Earth X, Universe X, Paradise X, Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross, Justice, Project Superpowers, Avengers/Invaders, Fighting American, The Phantom, Kirby: Genesis, The Green Hornet, Silver Star, Captain Victory, The Bionic Man, Lord of the Jungle, The Spider, The Amazing Spider-Man and Squadron Supreme, among others. Ross has also provided original art for M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable, Smallville covers for the 2001 TV Guide, promotional posters for the 2002 Academy Awards, and provided 15 paintings for the opening credits of the film Spider-Man 2.
Throughout his career, Ross won the Comics Buyer’s Guide’s Award for Favorite Painter seven years in a row, leading the publication to eventually retire that category. He is also a ten-time Eisner Award winner and has received countless Harvey Awards as well. As such, Ross’ work is highly sought after by collectors and always garners attention when it crosses the auction block. Did you know you have the chance to snag such a coveted collectible? Hake’s Auctions has added an impressive piece of original art by Ross to Auction #225.
Presented in a large frame is Ross’ fully painted original art for DC Comics’ 2003 treasury size prestige format comic JLA: Liberty and Justice. This final one-shot in a series of six prestige format comics features the members of DC Comics’ Justice League of America. Attractively matted, this art is split into three diagonal format panels, with one scene showing Batman, Wonder Woman, The Atom, and Aquaman examining monitors in the Batcave.
The middle panel shows the same scene, viewed over the heroes’ shoulders, offering a clearer view of the chaos unfolding on the monitors. In the third panel, Superman joins the rest of the team in the Batcave. The photorealistic art includes a brass name plate that reads “Alex Ross - Liberty And Justice - Original Art.”
Bidding on this striking art has already begun and closes on November 13-15, 2018. Head over to hakes.com to browse through further selections from Auction #225 and get started on bidding today!