Editing Russ Manning

{{short description|American cartoonist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox comics creator
| image = Manning self.jpg
| caption = Self-portrait
| birth_name = Russell George Manning <ref name="Erbzine1">Hillman, Bill & Sue-On. [http://www.erbzine.com/mag8/0830.html "Russ Manning Tribute I," Erbzine (vol. 830).] Accessed November 8, 2008.</ref>
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1929|1|5}}
| birth_place  = [[Van Nuys, California]]<ref name="Erbzine1" />
| death_date    ={{Death date and age|1981|12|1|1929|1|5}}
| death_place  = California<ref name="ssdi" />
| nationality  = [[United States|American]]
| area = 
| pencil = y
| alias = 
| notable works = ''[[Magnus, Robot Fighter]]''<br />''[[Tarzan (comics)|Tarzan]]'' comic strip<br />''[[Star Wars]]'' comic strip 
| awards = [[List of Eisner Award winners#The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame|Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame]], 2006
| subcat = American
}}
'''Russell George Manning''' (January 5, 1929<ref name="ssdi">"United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VMMT-NZN : accessed 28 Aug 2014), Russell Manning, Dec 1981; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).</ref> – December 1, 1981)<ref name="Lambiek">[http://www.lambiek.net/artists/m/manning_r.htm Manning biography at Lambiek.net's Comiclopedia.] Accessed November 8, 2008.</ref> was an American [[comic book]] [[artist]] who created the series ''[[Magnus, Robot Fighter]]'' and illustrated such [[newspaper]] [[comic strips]] as ''[[Tarzan (comics)|Tarzan]]'' and ''[[Star Wars]]''. He was inducted into the [[List of Eisner Award winners#The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame|Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame]] in 2006.

==Biography==
Manning studied at the [[Los Angeles County]] Art Institute, and later, during his [[US Army]] service in [[Japan]], drew [[cartoon]]s for his military base newspaper.

In 1953 he went to work for [[Western Publishing]] and illustrated stories for the wide variety of comics published by Western for [[Dell Comics]], and later for Western's own [[Gold Key Comics]] line. His first notable work was on ''[[Brothers of the Spear]]'', a backup feature, created by [[Gaylord Du Bois]], in the ''Tarzan'' comic book. He also drew a few Tarzan stories. He created Gold Key's ''[[Magnus, Robot Fighter]]'' and ''[[The Aliens (comics)|The Aliens]]'' (which ran in the back of the former) in 1963 and drew the first 21 issues, through 1968.

From 1965 to 1969, Manning drew Gold Key's ''Tarzan'' series. During this time, he adapted ten of the first eleven Tarzan novels written by [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]], from scripts written by [[Gaylord Du Bois]]. (The adaptation of the sixth, ''Jungle Tales of Tarzan'', also scripted by Du Bois, was drawn by [[Alberto Giolitti]] rather than Manning). In 1999 the first seven of these were reprinted in three graphic novels by [[Dark Horse Comics]] as ''Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes'' (''Tarzan of the Apes'', ''Return'', ''Beasts'', and ''Son of Tarzan''), ''Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan — The Jewels of Opar'', and ''Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan The Untamed'' (''Tarzan the Untamed'' and ''Tarzan the Terrible'').  These were later reprinted by Dark Horse in one hardcover archive volume.  Manning's remaining adaptations, not reprinted by Dark Horse, were ''Tarzan and the Golden Lion'', ''Tarzan and the Ant Men'' and ''Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle''.  They did plan another hardcover archive album. He did not do the finished art on the latter, but provided lay-outs for parts of the story.

Manning also drew the Korak stories in the first 11 issues of Gold Key's ''[[Korak (character)|Korak]]'' comic (also written by Du Bois).  These were reprinted by Dark Horse Comics in 2 hardcover archive collections.

From 1967 to 1972 he drew the ''Tarzan'' daily [[newspaper comic strip]] and stayed on the Sunday page until 1979. He also created four original Tarzan graphic novels for European publication. Two of them were reprinted by Dark Horse Comics in a single [[Trade paperback (comics)|trade paperback]] collection (''Tarzan in The Land That Time Forgot'' and ''The Pool of Time'') ({{ISBN|1-56971-151-8}}).  During that same period he used assistants, among them [[William Stout]], [[Rick Hoberg]], [[Mike Royer (comics)|Mike Royer]], and [[Dave Stevens]].

''Magnus'', his and Gold Key's best-known heroic-adventure series, was set in the year 4000, which Manning depicted as clean, airy city scapes populated by shiny [[robot]]s, handsome men, and beautiful women. In an era when many [[science fiction]] illustrations still showed interstellar spaceships with fins reminiscent of [[World War II]] [[V-2 rocket]]s, Manning offered more exotic craft. His ''Magnus'' work was later collected by Dark Horse Comics in three hardcover "archive" editions using a different color palette. Dark Horse then reprinted them in three trade paperbacks.

His final major work was writing and drawing the ''Star Wars'' newspaper strip in 1979-80. These were collected by Dark Horse Comics as ''Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures'' ({{ISBN|1-56971-178-X}}), which omitted the fact that Manning only drew some of the episodes that were written by [[Steve Gerber]] and [[Archie Goodwin (comics)|Archie Goodwin]].

Russ Manning died of cancer on December 1, 1981, while still living in California where he was born. He was 52.

The [[Russ Manning Award|Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award]], which is presented annually at [[San Diego Comic-Con]] during the [[Eisner Awards]], is named after him.

==See also==
* [[Russ Manning Award]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
''Comics Feature'' #26, December 1983

==External links==
*{{comicbookdb|type=creator|id=1926|title=Russ Manning}}
* Hillman, Bill & Sue-On. [http://www.erbzine.com/mag8/0830.html "Russ Manning Tribute I," Erbzine (vol. 830).]
* Hillman, Bill. [https://web.archive.org/web/20081103003252/http://www.angelfire.com/trek/erbzine16/erbz837.html "Russ Speaks" (reprints of two 1970s newspaper profiles of Manning), Erbzine (vol. 837).]
*[http://www.lambiek.net/artists/m/manning_r.htm Manning bio at Lambiek's Comiclopedia]
{{Inkpot Award 1970s}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manning, Russ}}
[[Category:American comic strip cartoonists]]
[[Category:American science fiction artists]]
[[Category:Artists from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Tarzan]]
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:1981 deaths]]
[[Category:Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:People from Van Nuys, Los Angeles]]