The Silver Age of comics has lost some of its luster with the news that Russ Heath has died. As a youth scouring the comics spinner racks, Russ Heath quickly became one of the artists I sought out. Back when few artists signed their comic book work, I first learned who Russ was in a Sea Devil’s comic wherein we the readers were asked to vote among several artist who were being tried-out for the book. In a testimony to the impression he made, his is the only name I still recall from that tryout issue.
I followed his work on The Silent Knight and The Haunted Tank and, when the time came to find and artist for my Tank Thompson cover in Funky, Russ was quite naturally the first artist I thought of. Not many of us get to meet our heroes let alone work with them, and it was an honor and a privilege to be able to do that. The Silver Age firmament will be a little darker now with the loss of one of it’s brightest stars.
