P. Craig Russell is an artist with a nearly half-century career in comics. His seventieth birthday was last weekend. Samhain shenanigans prevented me posting about it then. Time for a belated congrats.

Philip Craig Russell was born in Ohio and took to art early on. He had this to say in a 2010 interview:

'Around the age of 11 or 12 when Marvel started crediting artists I really started studying styles. Wood, Kirby, Ditko, etc. They all made me want to draw. Al Williamson inspired me the most, I think. The first comic page I ever drew was pure imitation Williamson.'

Graduating from the University of Cincinnati, he became an art assistant to Dan Adkins.* Adkins found work for PCR on Marvel's 'Killraven' series running in Amazing Adventures. Russell was very quickly seen as a possible heir apparent to Barry Windsor-Smith, who had recently left Marvel to start Gorblimey Press.

This is how PCR recalls the Barry Windsor-Smith influence on his early work:

"[Barry Windsor-] Smith was a big influence just at the time I was beginning, Steranko as well, two very dissimilar artists. I also was studying many of the artists that Smith was studying so a lot of what I drew that was attributed to a Smith influence was actually the Pre-Raphaelite artists. (...)
A lot of us picked up certain inking mannerisms [from BWS]. I also tremendously admired Smith’s storytelling and layout abilities, something that I think is sometimes overlooked in appreciations of his work. I think he’s one of the best storytellers ever in this field. (...)
I still had some reservations about his drawing up until 'Hawks from the Sea' and then I was totally enamored. ‘Hawks’ was his return to Conan [the Barbarian] after a 2 or 3 issue leave. Dan Adkins inked. That run culminated with 'The Song of Red Sonja', his swan song on the monthly book."

Amazing Adventures--and 'Killraven'--was cancelled in late 1976. PCR sort of did this and that for the next few years. Some Doctor Strange for Marvel, some Batman for DC, various fanzine work and illos for a collection of Jack London's SFF tales.

In 1982 Russell flew back onto the radar of more mainstream fans when he began illustrating Roy Thomas' Elric adaptations. After that ended in 1984, he went on to various other projects. That included collaborating on Sandman with Neil Gaiman. They would work together numerous times over the next decade or so. Russell would also collaborate directly with Moorcock on 1997's Elric: Stormbringer.

Russell considers his magnum opus to be his rendering of Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelungs into a graphic format. That was published in 2000 by Dark Horse Comics, for which it earned two Eisner awards.

PCR has continued to produce comics in the two decades since. I have to say that I prefer his 1970s work, but there is no doubt that he possesses immense talent. When it comes to portraying utterly otherworldly landscapes--likely a legacy of his fondness for Ditko and Kirby--or depicting magic being cast. wielded, and flung about, P. Craig Russell has few equals. I think he could do a great job illustrating Lord Dunsany or Tanith Lee's 'Tales of the Flat Earth'. We can always hope.

I mentioned PCR's Jack London illustrations above. All I have on that is an ISFDB entry. If anyone has actually seen those illos, feel free to comment on them below.

*Dan Adkins mentored several excellent artists in the '70s, along with being a notable artist in his own right. I need to do a post on him.