| Russ Manning | |
|---|---|
 Self-portrait | |
| Born | Russell George Manning[1] (1929-01-05)January 5, 1929 |
| Died | December 1, 1981(1981-12-01) (aged 52) California[2] |
| Nationality | American |
| Area | Penciller |
Notable works | Magnus, Robot Fighter Tarzan comic strip Star Wars comic strip |
| Awards | Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame, 2006 |
Russell George Manning (January 5, 1929[2] – December 1, 1981)[3] was an Americancomic bookartist who created the seriesMagnus, Robot Fighter and illustrated suchnewspapercomic strips asTarzan andStar Wars. He was inducted into theWill Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2006.
Manning studied at theLos Angeles County Art Institute, and later, during hisUS Army service inJapan, drewcartoons for his military base newspaper.
In 1953 he went to work forWestern Publishing and illustrated stories for the wide variety of comics published by Western forDell Comics, and later for Western's ownGold Key Comics line. His first notable work was onBrothers of the Spear, a backup feature, created byGaylord Du Bois, in theTarzan comic book. He also drew a few Tarzan stories. He created Gold Key'sMagnus, Robot Fighter andThe Aliens (which ran in the back of the former) in 1963 and drew the first 21 issues, through 1968.
From 1965 to 1969, Manning drew Gold Key'sTarzan series. During this time, he adapted ten of the first eleven Tarzan novels written byEdgar Rice Burroughs, from scripts written byGaylord Du Bois. (The adaptation of the sixth,Jungle Tales of Tarzan, also scripted by Du Bois, was drawn byAlberto Giolitti rather than Manning). In 1999 the first seven of these were reprinted in three graphic novels byDark Horse Comics asEdgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes (Tarzan of the Apes,Return,Beasts, andSon of Tarzan),Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan — The Jewels of Opar, andEdgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan The Untamed (Tarzan the Untamed andTarzan the Terrible). These were later reprinted by Dark Horse in one hardcover archive volume. Manning's remaining adaptations, not reprinted by Dark Horse, wereTarzan and the Golden Lion,Tarzan and the Ant Men andTarzan, Lord of the Jungle. They did plan another hardcover archive album. He did not do the finished art on the latter, but provided lay-outs for parts of the story.
Manning also drew the Korak stories in the first 11 issues of Gold Key'sKorak comic (also written by Du Bois). These were reprinted by Dark Horse Comics in 2 hardcover archive collections.
From 1967 to 1972 he drew theTarzan dailynewspaper comic strip and stayed on the Sunday page until 1979. He also created four original Tarzan graphic novels for European publication. Two of them were reprinted by Dark Horse Comics in a singletrade paperback collection (Tarzan in The Land That Time Forgot andThe Pool of Time) (ISBN 1-56971-151-8). During that same period he used assistants, among themWilliam Stout,Rick Hoberg,Mike Royer, andDave Stevens.
Magnus, his and Gold Key's best-known heroic-adventure series, was set in the year 4000, which Manning depicted as clean, airy city scapes populated by shinyrobots, handsome men, and beautiful women. In an era when manyscience fiction illustrations still showed interstellar spaceships with fins reminiscent ofWorld War IIV-2 rockets, Manning offered more exotic craft. HisMagnus work was later collected by Dark Horse Comics in three hardcover "archive" editions using a different color palette. Dark Horse then reprinted them in three trade paperbacks.
His final major work was writing and drawing theStar Wars newspaper strip in 1979-80. These were collected by Dark Horse Comics asClassic Star Wars: The Early Adventures (ISBN 1-56971-178-X), which omitted the fact that Manning only drew some of the episodes that were written bySteve Gerber andArchie Goodwin.
Russ Manning died of cancer on December 1, 1981, while still living in California where he was born. He was 52.[3]
TheRuss Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award, which is presented annually atSan Diego Comic-Con during theEisner Awards, is named after him.
Comics Feature #26, December 1983
