Ralph Reese

Ralph Reese is an American artist who attended the High School of Art and Design before beginning his art career in 1966 at the age of 16 as an assistant to Wally Wood. Reese's ability to do tight pencilled art gave him a high ranking as a Wood assistant.

Related Topics:
High School of Art and Design - Wally Wood

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Reese and Wood collaborated on everything from Topps Chewing Gum trading cards to Superboy. Reese recalled, "After a while, I got to keeping his files in order. His file was astounding! He must have had 30 file drawers of clippings, and I kept them in order. I also kept the place in order. When I first met Wally he had been working in the same room for 12 years, so there was a lot of clutter. The first time I saw his studio I couldn't figure out what was hanging from the ceiling. There were all these things with grey felt on them. They turned out to be hundreds of model airplanes on strings, covered with dust."

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With the Wood Studio as a launching pad, Reese was prolific during the 1970s, doing everything from underground comics to illustrations for National Lampoon and Esquire. From 1972 to 1977, Reese worked at Neal Adam?s Continuity Associates studio at 9 East 48th Street. At Continuity Associates, he was part of an ever-changing group of freelance artists that included Jack Abel, Sergio Aragones, Dick Giordano, Larry Hama, Russ Heath, Bob McLeod, Marshall Rogers, Joe Rubinstein and Lynn Varley. Reese and Hama sometimes worked as a team, and they created numerous illustrations for a variety of clients, including the Children's Television Workshop.

Related Topics:
National Lampoon - Esquire - Sergio Aragones - Larry Hama

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His comic book credits include pages for Acclaim, Byron Preiss, Marvel, DC, Eclipse, Marvel, Skywald and Warren Publishing. In 1973, Reese did a memorable adaptation of Thomas Disch's "The Roaches" for Marvel's Monsters Unleashed, and he collaborated with Preiss on the book One Year Affair (Workman, 1976).

Related Topics:
Warren Publishing - Thomas Disch

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In 1982, Reese teamed with Al Williamson, Dan Green and Carlos Garzon to bring Philip K. Dick to comic books in an adaptation of the retrofuturistic Blade Runner. Also during the 1980s, he illustrated several titles in Bantam's "Choose Your Own Adventure" series. In 1991, he worked on the Flash Gordon comic strip, and he did considerable work for Magnus Robot Fighter and other Valiant Comics between 1992 and 1997.

Related Topics:
Al Williamson - Dan Green - Carlos Garzon - Philip K. Dick - Blade Runner - Flash Gordon

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