There was a positive effect to being around him, and his actions tied into what the superhero comics were teaching me.

He used to run a children s shelter in Lubbock. 'My dad has given aid - physical aid, not just financial - to a number of charities and causes. Ross is quick to credit his father Clark, a minister, with laying the moral framework that allowed him to appreciate the routinely good deeds performed by the likes of Superman and Spider-Man. The best characters embody virtues we may try to find in ourselves.' 'Superheroes are a mixture of every form of fiction � myth, science-fiction, mystery and magic � all in one giant pot. 'It s a fun environment to be in,' he admits. Some cynics might confuse this attitude with escapism. I wanted to bring these characters to life.' 'I guess I knew this was what I wanted to do. 'I just fell in love with the notion that there were colorful characters like this, performing good, sometimes fantastic deeds,' Ross says.

Ross came from an artistic family: his mother was a commercial artist and his grandfather, he recalls, 'built working wooden toys and loved drawing.' When Ross discovered Spider-Man on an episode of The Electric Company, his life was changed forever. It s a job he s been preparing for nearly all his life.īorn in Portland, Oregon, and raised in Lubbock, Texas, Alex made his artistic debut at three when, according to his mother, he grabbed a piece of paper and drew the contents of a television commercial he d seen moments before. Looking back, it makes perfect sense that Alex Ross would become one of the world s most pre-eminent and well-respected comic book artists.

Dc mythology