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Werner Roth (comics)
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Werner Roth was an American comic book artist, perhaps best known for immediately succeeding Jack Kirby on Marvel Comics' The X-Men. He was born in the German city of Zwickau on January 27, 1921, and died on Long Island on June 28, 1973.[1][2][3]
Key Information
Career
[edit]Roth's work began appearing in Marvel Comics, then known as Atlas Comics, in 1953. Atlas editor Stan Lee has described being impressed with Roth's portfolio, particularly his drawings of women, "So I took his samples to show [then-publisher] Martin Goodman. I suggested we should use Werner, even create a comic for him. Which we did, and that was how Lorna, the Jungle Girl was born."[4] Roth drew the first dozen issues of Lorna. He drew a number of other features for Atlas, including most of the stories of the Apache Kid. He later drew romance stories for DC Comics.
Roth returned to Marvel to work on the X-Men in 1965, initially using the pseudonym Jay Gavin, taken from the names of his two sons, to conceal his Marvel work from his editors at DC.[5][6] His true name was revealed in the "Bullpen Bulletins" page of the Marvel Comics publications cover-dated September 1966. X-Men series writer Roy Thomas later commented that Roth, though a talented artist, was a poor fit for the X-Men, being more oriented towards character interactions and relationships than action.[7] Roth pencilled the first appearances of the Banshee,[8] the Cobalt Man,[9] and Lorna Dane.[10]
Roth later drew more Western comics for Marvel, and penciled issues of Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane for DC Comics. His first issue of that series, #106 (Nov. 1970), featured the controversial story "I Am Curious (Black)!",[11] in which Lois Lane uses a machine to temporarily transform herself into an African American woman, allowing her to experience and report on racism first-hand .[12]
Bibliography
[edit]DC Comics
[edit]- Girls' Love Stories #164 (1971)
- Heart Throbs #62, 66, 83, 85 (1959–1963)
- House of Secrets #82 (1969)
- Love Stories #151 (1973)
- The Phantom Stranger (vol. 2) #4 (1969)
- Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #106–121 (1970–1972)
- The Unexpected #115, 119, 133 (1969–1972)
Marvel Comics
[edit]- Apache Kid #2–9, 13–19 (1951–1956)
- The Avengers Annual #2 (1968)
- Kid Colt, Outlaw #62, 133, 138–140 (1956–1969)
- Lorna the Jungle Girl #6–12, 19 (1954–1956); formerly Lorna the Jungle Queen #1–5 (1953–1954)
- Marvel Tales #96, 113, 148 (1950–1956)
- Mystic #7, 10–11, 19 (1952–1953)
- Rawhide Kid #67, 79 (1968–1970)
- Strange Tales #34, 62, 66 (1955–1958)
- Tales to Astonish #96–98 (Namor, the Sub-Mariner) (1967)
- Venus #8–10, 12 (1950–1951)
- X-Men #13–29, 31–33, 35, 38–57 (1965–1969)
- Yellow Claw #1 (1956)
References
[edit]- ^ Gavin Roth, "An E-mail from the Son of Werner Roth to Nick Caputo", Alter Ego 42 (November 2004), page 22.
- ^ Social Security Death Index for Werner Roth, which gives "State of Issue" as Massachusetts, and notes "Last known residence - State: Unknown". Accessed January 5, 2012.
- ^ "Werner Roth". lambiek.net. March 1, 2017. Archived from the original on December 7, 2024.
- ^ Wright, Nicky (2000). The Classic Era of American Comics. London, United Kingdom: Prion Books Limited. p. 166. ISBN 978-1780974415.
- ^ Ro, Ronin (2004). Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and the American Comic Book Revolution. New York City: Bloomsbury USA. p. 82. ISBN 1-58234-345-4.
- ^ Evanier, Mark (April 14, 2008). "Why did some artists working for Marvel in the sixties use phony names?". P.O.V. Online (column). Archived from the original on November 26, 2009. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
- ^ O'Neill, Patrick Daniel (August 1993). "'60s Mutant Mania: The Original Team". Wizard: X-Men Turn Thirty. pp. 76–77.
- ^ DeFalco, Tom (2008). "1960s". In Gilbert, Laura (ed.). Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 120. ISBN 978-0756641238.
Drawn by Werner Roth, Banshee was a former Irish Interpol agent who eventually joined the X-Men.
- ^ DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 121: "Writer Roy Thomas and artist Werner Roth introduced Cobalt Man."
- ^ DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 132: "Lorna Dane learned she was a mutant in The X-Men #49, an issue written by Arnold Drake and Illustrated by Don Heck and Werner Roth."
- ^ Kanigher, Robert (w), Roth, Werner (p), Colletta, Vince (i). "I Am Curious (Black)!" Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, no. 106 (November 1970).
- ^ Sacks, Jason; Dallas, Keith (2014). American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1970s. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 19. ISBN 978-1605490564.
External links
[edit]- Werner Roth at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- Werner Roth at Marvel.com
- Werner Roth at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
- Werner Roth at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
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