User blog:ARTaylor/RIP Russ Heath

Russell Heath, Jr., better known as Russ Heath has passed away in Long Beach, California at the age of ninety-one following a battle with cancer.

Heath was born on September 29, 1926 in New York City then raised in New Jersey. He developed an interest in drawing at a young age and was influenced by his cowboy father. Largely self-taught, he began working on comics in high school. He joined the Air Force in 1945, only serving nine months due to World War II ending. While in service, he drew comics for the camp newsletter, though due to a clerical error he was never paid for his work. In 1947, he began a staff member position at a small place called Timely Comics. He started working on Two-Gun Kid while his first superhero work was on Captain America. He stayed on as Timely became Atlas working on several Western-themed comics. When Atlas became Marvel he expanded into superhero comics like Marvel Boy, and anthology stories like Journey into Unknown Worlds, horror stories like Adventures into Terror and Journey into Mystery. He also worked at EC Comics on their popular Frontline Combat series. He is famed for his work on the Playboy magazine comic strip Little Annie Fanny, even living at the famous Playboy Mansion while doing so.

He worked on a number of animated series such as Godzilla, G. I. Joe, RoboCop, and The Karate Kid. Marvel fans would know him as a designer on "Pryde of the X-Men" and Solarman.

He got an Inkpot award in 1997. In 2009, he was entered into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame. He was given a Comic Art Professional Society Sergio Award in 2010. The National Cartoonists Society recognized him with a Milton Caniff Award in 2014.