Gray Morrow
Encyclopedia
Dwight Graydon "Gray" Morrow (March 7, 1934 - November 6, 2001) was an American
illustrator of paperback
books and comics
.
, Morrow is best known as art director
of Spider-Man
between 1967 and 1970 and as illustrator of the syndicated Tarzan
, Buck Rogers
, Flash Gordon
and Prince Valiant
comic strip
s, among others.
Morrow was a feature cover and interior illustrator for many science fiction
-genre magazines in the 1960s and 1970s. Examples of his work graced most of the covers of the American Perry Rhodan
series. He also did the illustrations for the original Galaxy magazine publication of the Hugo
-winning novella Soldier, Ask Not by Gordon R. Dickson
. Morrow worked with Warren Publishing
from 1964 to 1967 on the comic magazines Creepy
, Eerie
and Blazing Combat
, doing both stories and covers.
In the early 1960s, Morrow produced three complete titles for the Gilberton Company's Classics Illustrated series: No. 159, The Octopus by Frank Norris (November 1960); No. 163, Master of the World by Jules Verne (July 1961); No. 165, The Queen's Necklace by Alexandre Dumas (January 1962). In a letter to Classics historian William B. Jones, Jr., the artist stated that he penciled and inked The Queen's Necklace at a rate of "eight pages a day." Morrow also supplied drawings for chapters in one Classics Illustrated Special Issue -- No. 159A, Rockets, Jets and Missiles (December 1960) -- and in a substantial number of World Around Us issues: Prehistoric Animals (November 1959); Great Scientists (February 1960); The Jungle (March 1960); American Presidents (May 1960); Boating (June 1960); Great Explorers (July 1960); Ghosts (August 1960); Magic (September 1960); High Adventure (November 1960); Whaling (December 1960); The Vikings (January 1961); For Gold and Glory (April 1961); Famous Teens (May 1961).
and could no longer draw, died of a self-inflicted gunshot at his home in Kunkletown, Pennsylvania.
for best professional artist
in 1966, 1967, and 1968.
People of the United States
The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
illustrator of paperback
Paperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
books and comics
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
.
Biography
Born in Fort Wayne, IndianaFort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
, Morrow is best known as 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....
of Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
between 1967 and 1970 and as illustrator of the syndicated Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
, Buck Rogers
Buck Rogers
Anthony Rogers is a fictional character that first appeared in Armageddon 2419 A.D. by Philip Francis Nowlan in the August 1928 issue of the pulp magazine Amazing Stories. A sequel, The Airlords of Han, was published in the March 1929 issue....
, 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...
and Prince Valiant
Prince Valiant
Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur, or simply Prince Valiant, is a long-run comic strip created by Hal Foster in 1937. It is an epic adventure that has told a continuous story during its entire history, and the full stretch of that story now totals more than 3700 Sunday strips...
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....
s, among others.
Morrow was a feature cover and interior illustrator for many 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...
-genre magazines in the 1960s and 1970s. Examples of his work graced most of the covers of the American Perry Rhodan
Perry Rhodan
Perry Rhodan is the name of a science fiction series published since 1961 in Germany, as well as the name of the main character. It is a space opera, dealing with several themes of science fiction. Having sold over one billion copies worldwide, it is the most successful science fiction book series...
series. He also did the illustrations for the original Galaxy magazine publication of the Hugo
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
-winning novella Soldier, Ask Not by Gordon R. Dickson
Gordon R. Dickson
Gordon Rupert Dickson was an American science fiction author.- Biography :Dickson was born in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1923. After the death of his father, he moved with his mother to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1937...
. Morrow worked with Warren Publishing
Warren 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...
from 1964 to 1967 on the comic magazines Creepy
Creepy
Creepy was an American horror-comics magazine launched by Warren Publishing in 1964. Like Mad, it was a black-and-white newsstand publication in a magazine format and thus did not require the approval or seal of the Comics Code Authority. The anthology magazine was initially published quarterly but...
, Eerie
Eerie
Eerie was an American magazine of horror comics introduced in 1966 by Warren Publishing. Like Mad, it was a black-and-white newsstand publication in a magazine format and thus did not require the approval or seal of the Comics Code Authority. Each issue's stories were introduced by the host...
and Blazing Combat
Blazing Combat
Blazing Combat was an American war-comics magazine published by Warren Publishing from 1965 to 1966. Written and edited by Archie Goodwin, with artwork by such industry notables as Gene Colan, Frank Frazetta, John Severin, Alex Toth, and Wally Wood, it featured war stories in both contemporary and...
, doing both stories and covers.
In the early 1960s, Morrow produced three complete titles for the Gilberton Company's Classics Illustrated series: No. 159, The Octopus by Frank Norris (November 1960); No. 163, Master of the World by Jules Verne (July 1961); No. 165, The Queen's Necklace by Alexandre Dumas (January 1962). In a letter to Classics historian William B. Jones, Jr., the artist stated that he penciled and inked The Queen's Necklace at a rate of "eight pages a day." Morrow also supplied drawings for chapters in one Classics Illustrated Special Issue -- No. 159A, Rockets, Jets and Missiles (December 1960) -- and in a substantial number of World Around Us issues: Prehistoric Animals (November 1959); Great Scientists (February 1960); The Jungle (March 1960); American Presidents (May 1960); Boating (June 1960); Great Explorers (July 1960); Ghosts (August 1960); Magic (September 1960); High Adventure (November 1960); Whaling (December 1960); The Vikings (January 1961); For Gold and Glory (April 1961); Famous Teens (May 1961).
Death
Morrow, who had Parkinson's diseaseParkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
and could no longer draw, died of a self-inflicted gunshot at his home in Kunkletown, Pennsylvania.
Awards
Morrow was nominated for the Hugo AwardHugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
for best professional artist
Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
in 1966, 1967, and 1968.
External links
- Gray Morrow at LambiekLambiekLambiek is a comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded in 1968 by Kees Kousemaker .It has held exhibitions of art by comic creators, including Robert Crumb, Daniel Clowes, Erik Kriek, André Franquin, Tanino Liberatore and Chris Ware...
's Comiclopedia - Obituary