532 RUCKA, GREG
his art and storytelling: Marvels (1994), Astro City (1995), Kingdom Come (1996) and
the “Earth” series Earth X (1999), Universe X (2000), and Paradise X (2002).
Ross was born in Portland, Oregon, and grew up in Lubbock, Texas. His mother be-
lieves that he was destined to be an artist because at the age of three he would take pieces
of paper and try to quickly draw whatever was being advertised on television during a
commercial break. While his mother applauded his artistic ability, his father, a minister,
was his moral compass, something that proved important when writing stories for char-
acters like Superman. He remembers the defi ning moment of his childhood as being his
discovery of the existence of Spider-Man from watching Th e Electric Company. Ironically,
Ross would go on to be one of the foremost storytellers of the Spider-Man mythology
during the 1990s, even helping design the superhero’s costume for the 2002 fi lm.
Having impressed Marvel editor Kurt Busiek with the art he created at the American
Academy of Art in Chicago, Ross was asked to collaborate with Busiek in 1993 on a story
about the average person on the street and their relationship with the superbeings of their
world. Busiek was so impressed by the fi nal product, Marvels , that he and Ross started
designing characters the following year, for a monthly series for Image Comics that would
explore the use of narrative perspective similar to the way that they experimented with it
in the creation of Marvels. In Astro City , they conceived and designed over 50 superheroes
and villains and used an ever-evolving cast of characters to tell an extended story about
a city fi lled with superheroes. Not only were many stories told from the perspective of
villains or individuals without superpowers, many issues were told from the fi rst-person
perspective with the panels refl ecting the framing of the narrator’s eyes. After the initial
concept stage, Ross only continued to design the covers of subsequent issues preferring to
continue with his own work looking at the connection between reality and superheroes.
Ross’s follow-up to Marvels was a limited series for DC, Kingdom Come , which
explored the future of DC’s stable of superheroes, as they fought the passing of time,
and each other, for personal, professional, and moral reasons. In 1997, Wizard magazine
asked Ross to imagine a dystopian future for the Marvel characters, similar to the material
that Ross had created DC in Kingdom Come. Th is issue of Wizard sold incredibly well,
leading to Wizard partnering with Marvel on an additional issue in 1999 that featured a
section called the Earth X Sketch Book. Th e Sketch Book was expanded into three mini-
series that tell the story of Captain America , as he takes the reincarnation of Captain
Marvel (Mar-vell) on a journey to repopulate the Marvel canon.
Selected Bibliography: Alex Ross Web site, (www.alexrossart.com).
Jason Gallagher
RUCKA, GREG (1969–). A multi-talented writer whose work includes novels, screen-
plays, animated features, and comic books, Greg Rucka is well regarded for his ability to
craft narratives that are sympathetic to the humanity of his sometimes far-from-human
characters. Known throughout the industry for skills honed as a crime novelist, Rucka
has consistently proven himself a reliable comics writer by stressing the importance of
