Russ Heath was one of the great comic book illustrators of the field. Because he veered away from super-heroes and more "commercial" genres, he often did not get the respect he deserved but…boy, when he drew a war comic, no one could draw a tank like Russ Heath. And when he drew beautiful women or cityscapes or just about anything that existed in reality, he was unmatched in his ability to capture reality and put it down on the page.
He was also a colorful figure with a wicked sense of humor. He was hard to get to know but once you did, you never for a moment doubted that it was worth the trouble.
And he was devoted to this art. He drew one comic book story I wrote and he must have called me at least twice per page to ask minute but valid questions: How did I envision staging this panel? Exactly what kind of expression should be on that character's face in this panel? How tall was this character compared to others. With someone else, I might have said, "Stop asking these questions. Just draw the damned thing!" But I could see the painstaking precision Russ put into his work, making everything as close to perfect as he could get it, not for his editor's satisfaction but for his own.
Like a lot of older artists, Russ found a lucrative industry in doing re-creations of his old covers. You could pay him to expertly redo a scene from Sea Devils or G.I. Combat or any of them but you had to answer a question first. The question was "Do you want it exact or can I fix things?" Russ was so intense about doing his best work that when he looked back at old work from decades past, he always saw ways to improve things. He would do it either way for you but was happier if you let him fix stuff.
Russ was born September 29, 1926 in New York and raised in New Jersey. He began drawing at an early age and his first published work in comics appears to have been for Holyoke Publishing's Captain Aero Comics in 1942. He was sixteen years old and still in high school. He served in the Air Force in World War II and his career really got going after he got out of the service. He joined the staff at Timely Comics (what we now call Marvel) in 1947 and was a constant presence in the comic book field ever after.
He was probably best known for his work on DC's war comics and he did a lot of the artwork — probably more than some people thought — on the Little Annie Fanny strip that Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder did for Playboy. Kurtzman was always late and that led to a story I told on this blog back in 2010…
One time when deadlines were nearing meltdown, Harvey Kurtzman called Heath in to assist in a marathon work session at the Playboy Mansion in Chicago. Russ flew in and was given a room there, and spent many days aiding Kurtzman and artist Will Elder in getting one installment done of the strip. When it was completed, Kurtzman and Elder left…but Heath just stayed. And stayed. And stayed some more.
He had a free room as well as free meals whenever he wanted them from Hef's 24-hour kitchen. He also had access to whatever young ladies were lounging about…so he thought, "Why leave?" He decided to live there until someone told him to get out…and for months, no one did. Everyone just kind of assumed he belonged there. It took quite a while before someone realized he didn't and threw him and his drawing table out.
As I related in my speech, when I was 14 years old, I used to take comic books over to my friend Randy Jacobs' house. His parents didn't allow him to spend money on comics but it was okay for him to read mine. And while he read mine, I read from his secret (his parents didn't know about it) stash of Playboy magazines. Well, maybe "read" is the wrong word here. In truth, I mainly looked at the pictures. If you've ever been a 14 year old boy, you know that few things can look as wonderful as Miss October when you're that age.
One day, Randy and I made an incredible discovery. One of the best artists in the DC war comics I brought over was this person named Russ Heath. And on the Little Annie Fanny strips in Playboy, the credits said that one of the artists was Russ Heath. We were shocked because we assumed that if you drew for Comics Code-approved comic books, you were barred from drawing naked women anywhere. I think Randy even suggested, "Maybe it's a different Russ Heath" but I knew. The tanks were drawn with the same meticulous care as the breasts. And later, when I got to know Russ, I realized they were drawn with the same painstaking research. I also found out something else amazing about him.
In one issue of Playboy that Randy had, there was a pictorial on the Playboy Mansion, which was then in Chicago. There was a photo of one of Hef's movie screenings in his private screening room. It was furnished with two-person love seats that faced the screen and in each love seat, there was some male crony of Hef's with his arm around his gorgeous date. Right in the middle of the photo was a handsome guy to be envied, cuddling up with Miss Whatever Month She Was. I had no idea who that man was or what he did but I wanted to be him.
Flash forward to years later and, yes, I know you can see the payoff on this from a block away. Russ and I are both working at Hanna-Barbera and one day, we're out to lunch and he's telling Tales From the Mansion. He happens to tell about one time they dragged him away from his drawing board to take part in a photoshoot in Hef's screening room. I instantly thought of that cool guy in the love seat and when I got home, I hauled out that issue. (Yes, I have a copy. I have every issue of Playboy, in large part because I always try to have every issue of everything. Keeping this set up is easy because years ago when I did a show with Hefner, I told him I had every issue to date and he said, "Well, let's keep your collection going" and he gifted me with a lifetime subscription. Every time I see him bragging about having sex with his six current girl friends, I hope he meant my lifetime and not his.)
Well, anyway, you see where this is going. The guy in the photo? Russ. Before that revelation, I only admired him as a great artist.
Russ was a joy to know. His work was a joy to see. He'd been very sick the last few years, often dependent on the kindness of his many fans and admirers. He passed away Thursday evening at the age of 91 and the cause of death appears to have been cancer. But his work will live on and those of us who were lucky enough to know him will never forget him.