George Roussos
Encyclopedia
George Roussos also known under the pseudonym
George Bell, was an American comic book
artist
best known as one of Jack Kirby
's Silver Age
inkers, including on landmark early issues of Marvel Comics
' Fantastic Four
.
George Roussos was born in Washington, D.C.
, the son of Greek-Americans William and Helen Roussos. After he and his sisters Helen and Alice were orphaned as children, George was sent to live at the Brooklyn
Orphan Asylum in New York City
, and attended Public School 125 in the Woodside neighborhood of Queens
. Roussos was influenced by the art of cartoonist
Frank Miller
in the aviation
comic strip
Barney Baxter in the Air
. Other influences included Chester Gould, Stan Kaye, Robert Fawcett and Hal Foster. "I had no schooling [in art] except the things I learned by myself," Roussos said.
He entered comics in 1939 as letterer
of the Spanish
-language version of the newspaper
panel Ripley's Believe It or Not. The following year, Bob Kane
and Bill Finger
hired him to assist inker Jerry Robinson
on Batman
stories. Roussos' duties included drawing backgrounds, inking
, and lettering, starting as early as Batman #2 (Summer 1940). He and Robinson would eventually leave the Kane studio to work directly for National Comics
(the future DC Comics
) on Batman and other characters. Roussos worked on features starring the Vigilante
, Johnny Quick
, Superman
, and Starman. His most notable DC work was as penciller of the Detective Comics backup feature "Air Wave
", on which he experimented, on at least one story, with using only shades of gray for color.
included Marvel-precursor Timely Comics
, as well as Avon Publications
, Standard/Better/Nedor, Family, Fiction House
, Hillman Periodicals
, Lev Gleason Publications
, and Spark. He also did 16 internationally distributed educational pamphlets for General Electric
, receiving a World War II
draft deferment
to do so. The survey "The 20 Greatest Inkers of American Comic Books" placed Roussos at #15, saying he "was so adept with a brush in his hand that his co-workers appointed the nickname 'Inky' to him. His style was often thick, heavy with blacks, and sported nice contrasts which complimented [ sic ] one of his prime collaborators in the' 50's, Mort Meskin
."
After a brief attempt to open an art school with colleague Mort Meskin, Roussos added comic strips to his repertoire, assisting artist Dan Barry's Flash Gordon
, Charles Flanders' The Lone Ranger
, Dan Heilman
's Judge Parker
and Sy Barry
's The Phantom
, and succeeding Fred Kida
as artist on Judge Wright from 1947 until the strip's demise the following year. Roussos unsuccessfully pitched syndication companies his own comic strips, such as the science fiction
feature 2001 A.D. in 1945, the archeology strip Azeena in 1967, and Transisto, with Batman writer Bill Finger
, in the late 1960s.
Comic-book clients during the 1950s included that decade's Marvel precursor, Atlas Comics
, along with Crestwood
, EC Comics and St. John Publications
. For EC he did stories in Crime SuspenStories
, Tales from the Crypt, Weird Science
and Weird Fantasy
.
, Roussos gained prominence under the pseudonym
George Bell when he became Jack Kirby's inker on landmark early issues of Marvel Comics
' superhero
team title Fantastic Four
. These included #21-27 (Dec. 1963 - June 1964), which featured two early Doctor Doom
confrontations, the first Hulk vs. Thing
battle, and fellow superhero team the Avengers
. As well, Roussos had inked the Kirby covers of issues #11, 13, and 18-20. Roussos also inked the return of Captain America
in Kirby's The Avengers #4 (March 1964) — the cover of which has become one of comics' most famous — as well as Kirby's Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos
#3-7 (Sept. 1963 - March 1964).
's black-and-white horror-comics magazines in 1970 and 1971, Roussos in 1972 succeeded Marie Severin
as Marvel's full-time, in-house colorist.. In the early 1980s, Roussos was Marvel's cover colorist.
Roussos was a Renaissance man
whose myriad interests included architecture
, astronomy
, automobiles, gardening
, natural medicine, philosophy
and photography
. He took photographs of various Long Island estates, and his photographs at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park
were collected in his book, The Bayard Cutting
Arboretum History.
Roussos died of a heart attack. He was married twice: to Viola Fink, followed by Florence Lacey (married 17 November 1980, died 1998). Roussos had three sons (William, Robert, and Louis) and a daughter (Marie).
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
George Bell, was an American 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...
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...
best known as one of Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
's Silver Age
Silver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...
inkers, including on landmark early issues of Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium...
.
Early life and career
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, the son of Greek-Americans William and Helen Roussos. After he and his sisters Helen and Alice were orphaned as children, George was sent to live at the Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
Orphan Asylum in 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...
, and attended Public School 125 in the Woodside 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....
. Roussos was influenced by the art of cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
Frank Miller
Frank Miller (newspaper cartoonist)
Frank Miller was an American cartoonist.Born in Sheldon, Iowa, Miller was most famous for his comic strip Barney Baxter in the Air, created in 1936 for King Features Syndicate, and renamed simply Barney Baxter in 1943...
in the aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
Barney Baxter in the Air
Barney Baxter
Barney Baxter in the Air was a comic strip by Frank Miller. It started its run in 1935 for the Denver's Rocky Mountain News and later was syndicated by King Features....
. Other influences included Chester Gould, Stan Kaye, Robert Fawcett and Hal Foster. "I had no schooling [in art] except the things I learned by myself," Roussos said.
He entered comics in 1939 as letterer
Letterer
A letterer is a member of a team of comic book creators responsible for drawing the comic book's text. The letterer's use of typefaces, calligraphy, letter size, and layout all contribute to the impact of the comic. The letterer crafts the comic's "display lettering": the story title lettering and...
of the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
-language version of the newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
panel Ripley's Believe It or Not. The following year, Bob Kane
Bob Kane
Bob Kane was an American comic book artist and writer, credited as the creator of the DC Comics superhero Batman...
and Bill Finger
Bill Finger
William "Bill" Finger was an American comic strip and comic book writer best known as the uncredited co-creator, with Bob Kane, of the DC Comics character Batman, as well as the co-architect of the series' development...
hired him to assist inker Jerry Robinson
Jerry Robinson
Jerry Robinson is an American comic book artist best known for his work on DC Comics' Batman line of comics during the 1940s.He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2004.-Career:...
on 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...
stories. Roussos' duties included drawing backgrounds, inking
Inker
The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book or graphic novel. After a pencilled drawing is given to the inker, the inker uses black ink to produce refined outlines over the pencil lines...
, and lettering, starting as early as Batman #2 (Summer 1940). He and Robinson would eventually leave the Kane studio to work directly for National 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...
(the future 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...
) on Batman and other characters. Roussos worked on features starring the Vigilante
Vigilante (comics)
Vigilante is the name used by several fictional characters appearing in DC Comics. The original character was one of the first DC Comics characters adapted for live-action film, beating Superman by one year.-Greg Saunders:...
, Johnny Quick
Johnny Quick
Johnny Quick is the name of two DC Comics characters, each with the power of superhuman speed. The first was a superhero who appeared mostly in More Fun Comics during the Golden Age...
, 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 Starman. His most notable DC work was as penciller of the Detective Comics backup feature "Air Wave
Air Wave
Air Wave is the name of three fictional superheroes in the DC Comics universe. The first two were active in the Golden Age of Comic Books...
", on which he experimented, on at least one story, with using only shades of gray for color.
Comic books and comic strips
Other companies for which Roussos drew during the 1940s Golden Age of comic booksGolden 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...
included Marvel-precursor Timely Comics
Timely Comics
Timely Comics, an imprint of Timely Publications, was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics....
, as well as Avon Publications
Avon (publishers)
Avon Publications was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. As of 2010, it is an imprint of HarperCollins, publishing primarily romance novels.-History:...
, Standard/Better/Nedor, Family, Fiction House
Fiction House
Fiction House is an American publisher of pulp magazines and comic books that existed from the 1920s to the 1950s. Its comics division was best known for its pinup-style good girl art, as epitomized by the company's most popular character, Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.-History:-Jumbo and Jack...
, Hillman Periodicals
Hillman Periodicals
Hillman Periodicals, Inc. was an American magazine and comic book publishing company founded in 1938 by Alex L. Hillman, a former New York City book publisher...
, Lev Gleason Publications
Lev Gleason Publications
Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Gleason, was the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, including Daredevil, Crime Does Not Pay, and Boy Comics....
, and Spark. He also did 16 internationally distributed educational pamphlets for General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
, receiving a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
draft deferment
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
to do so. The survey "The 20 Greatest Inkers of American Comic Books" placed Roussos at #15, saying he "was so adept with a brush in his hand that his co-workers appointed the nickname 'Inky' to him. His style was often thick, heavy with blacks, and sported nice contrasts which complimented [ sic ] one of his prime collaborators in the
Mort Meskin
Morton "Mort" Meskin was a prolific American comic book artist best-known for his work in the 1940s Golden Age of comic books, well into the late-1950s and 1960s Silver Age.-Early life:...
."
After a brief attempt to open an art school with colleague Mort Meskin, Roussos added comic strips to his repertoire, assisting artist Dan Barry's Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon is the hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by and created to compete with the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip. Also inspired by these series were comics such as Dash...
, Charles Flanders' The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. The character has become an enduring icon of American culture....
, Dan Heilman
Dan Heilman
Dan Heilman was the first artist of the Judge Parker comic strip. He was born in 1922 in Cincinnati, Ohio.Having served in World War II, Heilman became an assistant to artist Ken Ernst on the Mary Worth comic strip, and to Roy Crane on Buz Sawyer. In 1949 he was the artist for a comic strip called...
's Judge Parker
Judge Parker
Judge Parker is a soap opera-style comic strip created by Nicholas P. Dallis that first appeared on November 24, 1952. The strip's look and content were influenced by the work of Allen Saunders and Ken Ernst on Mary Worth.-Characters and story:...
and Sy Barry
Sy Barry
Seymour "Sy" Barry is an American comic strip artist, best known for his work on The Phantom comic strip, which he drew for three decades.-Career:...
's The Phantom
The Phantom
The Phantom is an American adventure comic strip created by Lee Falk, also creator of Mandrake the Magician. A popular feature adapted into many media, including television, film and video games, it stars a costumed crimefighter operating from the fictional African country Bengalla.The Phantom is...
, and succeeding Fred Kida
Fred Kida
Fred Kida is an American comic book and comic strip artist best known for the characters Airboy and Valkyrie.-Early life and career:...
as artist on Judge Wright from 1947 until the strip's demise the following year. Roussos unsuccessfully pitched syndication companies his own comic strips, such as the science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
feature 2001 A.D. in 1945, the archeology strip Azeena in 1967, and Transisto, with Batman writer Bill Finger
Bill Finger
William "Bill" Finger was an American comic strip and comic book writer best known as the uncredited co-creator, with Bob Kane, of the DC Comics character Batman, as well as the co-architect of the series' development...
, in the late 1960s.
Comic-book clients during the 1950s included that decade's Marvel precursor, Atlas Comics
Atlas Comics (1950s)
Atlas Comics is the term used to describe the 1950s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. Magazine and paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of corporate entities, used Atlas as the umbrella name for his comic...
, along with Crestwood
Crestwood
Crestwood is a common placename:In Australia:*Crestwood, New South Wales, an urban locality in the Baulkham Hills Shire region of Sydney, Australia*Crestwood, Queanbeyan, New South Wales, a suburb of Queanbeyan, New South Wales...
, EC Comics and St. John Publications
St. John Publications
St. John Publications was an American publisher of magazines and comic books. During its short existence , St. John's comic books established several industry firsts. Founded by Archer St. John , the firm was located in Manhattan at 545 Fifth Avenue. After the St...
. For EC he did stories in Crime SuspenStories
Crime SuspenStories
Crime SuspenStories was a bi-monthly anthology crime comic published by EC Comics in the early 1950s. The title first arrived on newsstands with its October/November 1950 issue and ceased publication with its February/March 1955 issue, producing a total of 27 issues...
, Tales from the Crypt, Weird Science
Weird Science (comic)
Weird Science was a science fiction anthology comic book that was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. Over a four-year span, the comic ran for 22 issues, ending with the November–December, 1953 issue...
and Weird Fantasy
Weird Fantasy
Weird Fantasy is a science fiction anthology comic that was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. The companion comic for Weird Fantasy was Weird Science...
.
Silver Age Marvel
In the 1960s, during the period fans and historians call the Silver Age of Comic BooksSilver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...
, Roussos gained prominence under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
George Bell when he became Jack Kirby's inker on landmark early issues of Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
team title Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium...
. These included #21-27 (Dec. 1963 - June 1964), which featured two early Doctor Doom
Doctor Doom
Victor von Doom is a fictional character who appears in Marvel Comics publications . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Fantastic Four #5 wearing his trademark metal mask and green cloak...
confrontations, the first Hulk vs. Thing
Thing (comics)
The Thing is a fictional character, a founding member of the superhero team known as the Fantastic Four in the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in The Fantastic Four #1...
battle, and fellow superhero team the Avengers
Avengers (comics)
The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
. As well, Roussos had inked the Kirby covers of issues #11, 13, and 18-20. Roussos also inked the return of Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
in Kirby's The Avengers #4 (March 1964) — the cover of which has become one of comics' most famous — as well as Kirby's Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos are a fictional World War II unit in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, they first appeared in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 . The main character, Sgt...
#3-7 (Sept. 1963 - March 1964).
Later life and career
After doing some work for Warren PublishingWarren Publishing
Warren Publishing was an American magazine company founded by James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades...
's black-and-white horror-comics magazines in 1970 and 1971, Roussos in 1972 succeeded Marie Severin
Marie Severin
Marie Severin is an American comic book artist and colorist best known for her work for Marvel Comics and the 1950s' EC Comics....
as Marvel's full-time, in-house colorist.. In the early 1980s, Roussos was Marvel's cover colorist.
Roussos was a Renaissance man
Polymath
A polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable...
whose myriad interests included architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
, astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, automobiles, gardening
Gardening
Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants. Ornamental plants are normally grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants are grown for consumption , for their dyes, or for medicinal or cosmetic use...
, natural medicine, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
. He took photographs of various Long Island estates, and his photographs at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park
Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park
Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park is located in the hamlet of Great River, Suffolk County, New York, USA. The extensively landscaped garden is in the nature of an estate arboretum, laid out, starting in 1887, for William Bayard Cutting by Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of Central Park...
were collected in his book, The Bayard Cutting
William Bayard Cutting
William Bayard Cutting, Esq. , a member of New York's merchant aristocracy, was an attorney, financier, real estate developer, sugar beet refiner and philanthropist. He was born to Fulton Cutting and Elise Justine Bayard...
Arboretum History.
Roussos died of a heart attack. He was married twice: to Viola Fink, followed by Florence Lacey (married 17 November 1980, died 1998). Roussos had three sons (William, Robert, and Louis) and a daughter (Marie).
Books by Roussos
- Roussos, George. The Bayard Cutting Arboretum History. OakdaleOakdale, New YorkOakdale is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 8,075 at the 2000 census. Oakdale is in the Town of Islip.- History :...
, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
: The Board of Trustees and the Long IslandLong IslandLong Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
State Park and Recreation Commission, 1984.