Bob LeRose
Encyclopedia
Robert K. "Bob" LeRose was an American
advertising
artist
and a comic book
colorist
for DC Comics
, who provided the color for hundreds of stories featuring Batman
, Superman
, and other major characters.
neighborhood of Queens
, New York City
, Bob LeRose was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942. Following his discharge three years later, he attended Phoenix Art School in New York City on the G.I. Bill. He spent more than two decades as an office manager and a watercolor artist for the advertising agency
Johnstone and Cushing
, which created custom comics for Boys' Life
magazine and other clients. In 1962, when art director
Al Stenzel took the Boy's Life account, without which the agency could not survive, LeRose followed Stenzel to the newly formed Stenzel Productions.
, who had worked with LeRose at Johnstone and Cushing, recommended him to DC Comics
. LeRose's first recorded credits include Batman Family #11 (June 1977), DC Special #28 (July 1977) and DC Special Series #1 (1977).
LeRose colored across genres, from superheroes (Action Comics
, Detective Comics
, Justice League America, Legion of Super-Heroes
Robin
, World's Finest Comics
) to the supernatural (Secrets of Haunted House
), from war comics
(G.I. Combat
) to Westerns
(Weird Western Tales
). In addition, he was among the handful who handled the multi-issue Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe
in 1985, and also recolored the hardcover Golden Age of Comic Books
reprint series Superman Archives and Batman: The Dark Knight Archives in the 1990s.
From 1986 to 1993, he was, variously, the cover artist or the colorist of Mayfair Games
' "DC Heroes" line of roleplaying games, including An Element of Danger, The Green Lantern Corps Sourcebook, Who's Who in the DC Universe, Superman: The Man of Steel Sourcebook, and DC Heroes Role-Playing Game, 3rd Edition.
, at home. He died of complications from that disease. He was predeceased by his first wife, Alice, with whom he had three children and who died in 1992. He remarried in 2002, to second wife Veronica, who was 61 when she survived him. LeRose had three children, sons Kenny and John LeRose and daughter Roberta LeRose McIntyre.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and a comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
colorist
Colorist
In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates...
for DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, who provided the color for hundreds of stories featuring Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
, Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
, and other major characters.
Early life and career
Raised in the Richmond HillRichmond Hill, Queens
Richmond Hill is a neighborhood in central-southern Queens, New York City, USA. It is bordered by Kew Gardens to the north, Woodhaven and Ozone Park to the west, South Ozone Park to the south and South Jamaica to the east...
neighborhood of Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Bob LeRose was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942. Following his discharge three years later, he attended Phoenix Art School in New York City on the G.I. Bill. He spent more than two decades as an office manager and a watercolor artist for the advertising agency
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
Johnstone and Cushing
Johnstone and Cushing
Johnstone and Cushing was an American advertising agency that specialized in comic strip-style advertisements that used many prominent cartoonists and commercial artists of the time...
, which created custom comics for Boys' Life
Boys' Life
Boys' Life is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America . Its targeted readership is young American males between the ages of 6 and 18.Boys' Life is published in two demographic editions...
magazine and other clients. In 1962, when art director
Art director
The art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
Al Stenzel took the Boy's Life account, without which the agency could not survive, LeRose followed Stenzel to the newly formed Stenzel Productions.
DC Comics
In 1976, comic-book artist Neal AdamsNeal Adams
Neal Adams is an American comic book and commercial artist known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow; as the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates; and as a creators-rights advocate who...
, who had worked with LeRose at Johnstone and Cushing, recommended him to DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
. LeRose's first recorded credits include Batman Family #11 (June 1977), DC Special #28 (July 1977) and DC Special Series #1 (1977).
LeRose colored across genres, from superheroes (Action Comics
Action Comics
Action Comics is an American comic book series that introduced Superman, the first major superhero character as the term is popularly defined...
, Detective Comics
Detective Comics
Detective Comics is an American comic book series published monthly by DC Comics since 1937, best known for introducing the iconic superhero Batman in Detective Comics #27 . It is, along with Action Comics, the book that launched with the debut of Superman, one of the medium's signature series, and...
, Justice League America, Legion of Super-Heroes
Legion of Super-Heroes
The Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team in the 30th and 31st centuries of the . The team first appears in Adventure Comics #247 , and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino....
Robin
Robin (comics)
Robin is the name of several fictional characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, originally created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson, as a junior counterpart to DC Comics superhero Batman...
, World's Finest Comics
World's Finest Comics
World's Finest Comics was an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1941 to 1986. The series was initially titled World's Best Comics for its first issue; issue #2 switched to the more familiar name...
) to the supernatural (Secrets of Haunted House
Secrets of Haunted House
Secrets of Haunted House was a horror-suspense anthology comic book series published by DC Comics from 1975 to 1982.-Publication history:...
), from war comics
War comics
War comics is a genre of comic books that gained popularity in English-speaking countries following World War II.-American war comics:Shortly after the birth of the modern comic book in the mid- to late 1930s, comics publishers began including stories of wartime adventures in the multi-genre...
(G.I. Combat
G.I. Combat
G.I. Combat is a long-running comic book series published first by Quality Comics and later by National Periodical Publications, which was the primary company of those that evolved to become DC Comics.-Publication history:...
) to Westerns
Western comics
Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier and typically set during the late nineteenth century...
(Weird Western Tales
Weird Western Tales
Weird Western Tales is a Western genre comic book title published by DC Comics which ran from June-July 1972 to August 1980. It is perhaps best known for featuring the adventures of Jonah Hex until #38 when the character was promoted to his own eponymous series...
). In addition, he was among the handful who handled the multi-issue Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe
Who's Who in the DC Universe
Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe is the umbrella title for a number of comic book series which DC Comics published to catalogue the wide variety of fictional characters in their imaginary universe, the DC Universe.-History:Who's Who was the creation of Len Wein, Marv...
in 1985, and also recolored the hardcover Golden Age of Comic Books
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
reprint series Superman Archives and Batman: The Dark Knight Archives in the 1990s.
From 1986 to 1993, he was, variously, the cover artist or the colorist of Mayfair Games
Mayfair Games
Mayfair Games is a publisher of board, card, and roleplaying games. They also license German-style board games and publish them in English throughout the world...
' "DC Heroes" line of roleplaying games, including An Element of Danger, The Green Lantern Corps Sourcebook, Who's Who in the DC Universe, Superman: The Man of Steel Sourcebook, and DC Heroes Role-Playing Game, 3rd Edition.
Later life
LeRose semi-retired in 1996, continuing to work at DC one day a week, initially in the office and eventually, due to emphysemaEmphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
, at home. He died of complications from that disease. He was predeceased by his first wife, Alice, with whom he had three children and who died in 1992. He remarried in 2002, to second wife Veronica, who was 61 when she survived him. LeRose had three children, sons Kenny and John LeRose and daughter Roberta LeRose McIntyre.
External links
- Heintjes, Tom. "Funny Business: The Rise and Fall of Johnstone and Cushing", Hogan's Alley, n.d. WebCitation archive.
- Nuff Said! (WBAI-FM radio show): One-hour interview on Oct. 5, 1998 (No audio; guest-list only)