comics history

San Diego Comic-Con has begun, bringing over 130,000 people to enjoy the pop culture extravaganza taking place inside and outside the convention center. There is a lot to see and do every day during SDCC. More likely than not, if you don't go in with a plan for experiencing the things that you most want to check out, you'll miss them!

On this day in 1927, Rossolav Andruskevitch was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He showed an aptitude for art from an early age, and after attending the High School Of Music & Art in New York City, serving a stint in the Army, enrolling at the Cartoonists And Illustrators School (now known as SVA), and shortening his professional name to Ross Andru, he launched himself into a career in comics that would span six decades, and establish him as one of the industry's finest craftsmen.

Legendary writer/editor Len Wein was born on this day in 1948. Over the course of a career that began in 1968, he built a reputation as one of the most reliable and consistent creators the medium has ever seen, and he was one of the first of a generation of creators that set out to work in the comics industry instead of simply treating it as stopgap employment, making the leap from the fan press to major publishers in the late 1960s, alongside contemporaries such as Marv Wolfman and Gerry Conway. Over the course of his career he's written some of comics' best-loved storylines, created and/or developed a number of the medium's most memorable characters, and been a constant and friendly presence at conventions and fan gatherings, known for his clever plot twists, infectious smile, neatly-trimmed beard, and neatly-turned phrases.

There are a number of names that get thrown around when discussing comics' great artists, but Charles Vess is one who stands alone from the pack, occupying a whole category of the conversation unto himself. His work is immediately recognizable, his voice and personality shining through in every project – depicting impossible worlds in a naturalistic way, using a craftsman's eye and skill to channel unbridled imagination onto paper, creating fantastic images that never fail to evoke sincere human emotion.

Scott McCloud was born on this day in 1960, as Scott McLeod. (Like all great self-made iconoclasts, he changed his name.) Cartoonist, scholar, orator, inventor, and champion, Scott McCloud is one of the most important creators of his era, and perhaps the Ben Franklin of comics.