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Rick Veitch

Richard Veitch (/viːtʃ/;[1] born May 7, 1951)[2] is an American comics artist and writer who has worked in mainstream, underground, and alternative comics.

Rick Veitch

(1951-05-07) May 7, 1951

American

Artist, writer

Biography[edit]

Rick Veitch is a native of the small town of Bellows Falls, Vermont.[3] One of six children, he was raised Catholic. One of his elder brothers was the writer Tom Veitch, his first collaborator in comics.[4] In an interview, Veitch recalled visiting the [WPA] muralist Stephan J.Belaski to ask his advice on becoming an artist. "He just said, 'Don't do it, kid.'" Winning honorable mention in a "draw a monster" contest hosted by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, for Drag Cartoons when he was in seventh grade reassured him that he was on the right path.[5]


Today, Veitch lives in West Townshend, Vermont with his wife Cindy. His sons Ezra Veitch and Kirby Veitch are also artists, contributing to Eureka Comics.[6]

Career[edit]

Early career[edit]

While still in high school, Veitch and his brother Tom created the comic strip Crazymouse, which ran regularly in The Vermont Cynic. He made his professional debut in 1972, illustrating the underground comix horror parody Two-Fisted Zombies published by Last Gasp and written by Tom.[3] This one-shot was excerpted in Mark James Estren's 1974 study, A History of Underground Comix. According to Veitch, it also proved to be his ticket to admission to The Kubert School.[3]


Veitch enrolled in the Kubert School in 1976,.[7] Studying under veteran cartoonists Joe Kubert, Ric Estrada and Dick Giordano, he was part of the school's first graduating class in 1978, along with his future long-time collaborators Stephen R. Bissette and John Totleben. While still at school Veitch began his professional career in mainstream comics, contributing over a dozen short stories to DC’s combat title, Our Army at War.


Out of school, Veitch contributed to Heavy Metal. next major project was an adaptation of the Steven Spielberg film 1941 with Bissette.[8]


During the 1980s, Veitch became known as a distinctive fantasy artist and writer for Marvel's Epic Comics line, for which he created three graphic novels, Abraxas and the Earthman serialized in Epic Illustrated; Heartburst published as a standalone graphic novel; and The One.


During this period Veitch contributed numerous short comics to Epic Illustrated.[9] He also worked with Alan Moore on Miracleman, published by Eclipse Comics. He illustrated the story that graphically depicted the birth of the superhero's child in Miracleman #9 (July 1986). With Moore and Bissette, Veitch collaborated on the original version of The Mirror of Love, published in an 1988 anthology by AARGH (Artists Against Rampant Government Homophobia). Moore later revised the text and published it with new illustrations by José Villarrubia.

The One[edit]

Originally published as a six-issue comic book limited series, The One was an ambitious and bizarre fantasy-adventure involving monstrous superheroes, the Cold War, and spiritual evolution. Published between 1985 and 1986, The One presaged both Alan Moore's The Watchmen (1986–1987) and Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns (1986) in its revisionist approach to superheroics. As Moore would later write:

#126, 137, 180–182 (writer/artist) (1989–1994)

Cerebus

Official website

at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)

Rick Veitch

at Mike's Amazing World of Comics

Rick Veitch

at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators

Rick Veitch

at The Daily Cross Hatch (March 28, 2007)

Army@Love by Veitch and Erskine