Spider-Variant

Here's another letter from Ross Andru to Joey Thingvall (the actor and comic book collector). It proves what we Andru fans had already deduced, that Ross Andru was an unassuming man.

I actually wish I did. We built plywood fake guitars and put smoke bombs in them. We had makeup and platform shoes. Would love to have a picture of those days.

The way Spidey lands here screams Andru to me. Those platforms, Steve, remind me of the time my brothers and I used to dress up like members of the band KISS, lol.

Hey Steve, which panel on these two pages is most Andruey? See if we think alike.

Well, the way he was sporting your clothes from the seventies I thought he may have been a relative of yours, lol.

I really like this two page sequence from Spider-Man vs the Prodigy. Really great inking.

Thanks Lee. Really nice work by Dave on that helicopter.

Thanks Lee, appreciate the heads up. I love these pencil scans with Dave's inks. So cool.

Thanks Terry. Not many left to find, but I do spot a thing or two now and again. I do think Ross used some real buildings in ASM 143 and 144, but none that I haven't identified are famous. In other words, a needle in a haystack to find.

Hey @cosmic-spider-man, how are things going my friend?

Here's another Ross Andru real-life reference I found in Amazing Spider-Man 143. It's nothing major and I should have spotted it before, as there are not many airports Peter Parker was going to fly into in Paris. It's a really good match to Charles de Gaulle airport. As usual, I highlight the matching features. It fits the detailed work did on this book, as Ross depicts a great JFK earlier in ASM 143 and at the end of ASM 144.

I looked around a little, but could not find it. Very nice piece.

I found this email address for him online. No idea if he still uses it. ronadrian@gmail.com

That's what I call a good friend.

That's the panel that my eyes get drawn too, Steve. Exactly my feelings, very Andruey!

I really like Ross's and Mike's art in this one shot from 1976 for Planned Parenthood. Amazing Spider-Man vs Prodigy. I enjoy finding the little notes on the art board. Here, to the Artist: Fix Face. You can see the white out on the guy's nose on the lower right, apparently the needed fix. Another note to the colorist is to keep the villain green. And in great Ross tradition of adding a NYC feel to the story, here Spidey is scaling the Pan Am building.

Thanks, just curious.

Here is the sketch John did for me back in 2006. Classic.

Mrs. Spider-Variant and I both gave it an A minus. We really had fun.

Happy Birthday Ross! Born on this date in 1927. He left us way too early.

I met John and his wife at the 2006 NY Comic Con. I was moved nearly to tears while having John do a sketch in one of his art books. His wife was so nice and kind. I started collecting Amazing Spider-Man with issue 153, so I missed John's work off the stands, but as I collected all the back issues, I came to love his work. RIP John

Lee, you are the man! No worries about the large size, IMHO. I love that this thread pulls in all this unseen stuff on the Amazing Ross Andru. Your contributions have been great!

Both Len Wein and Ross Andru were born this month!

Oh, I couldn't agree more. Even his MTU art is much less polished than his ASM artwork. I'm just amazed at the work he was putting out when he was 60 years old, like that Blue Beetle page I posted.

Dude. you're like a founding member, IMHO!