Paul pays a birthday tribute to one of comics’ most respected artists… Our pal Paul Kupperberg has another groovy column here for you — a birthday salute to the great Gray Morrow, who was born 87 years ago on March 7, 1934. You’ll dig it — but don’t forget that our esteemed columnist has a variety of books out there to entertain and enlighten you, as well, such as the novel JSA: Ragnarok. You can click here to check it out. And away we go… By PAUL KUPPERBERG One of the most misused words on the internet is “underrated,” as in “(insert creator being discussed here) is so underrated.” Usually, what they mean is “Oh, I haven’t thought about (insert creator being discussed here) in a long time!” I won’t make the same mistake here: Dwight Graydon “Gray” Morrow (March 7, 1934 – November 6, 2001) isn’t “underrated.” Rather, he’s one of the most respected and admired artists of his time whose work, 20 years after his death, still stands the test of time! Gray Morrow was hardly a prolific comic book artist; according to Mike’s Amazing World of Comics (“An Unofficial Official Database of 13th Dimension!”®) he drew some 163 stories in his 45-or-so-year career, less than four stories a year, but to paraphrase Spencer Tracy in 1952’s Pat and Mike, “Not many credits, but what there is is cherce.” Gray was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and grew up on the lush newspaper comic strips of the 1930s and 1940s. After going through a variety of jobs in the Midwest, Gray moved to New York in 1955 where he met other young artists like Al Williamson and Wally Wood, and was soon drawing for Marvel Comics (then still Atlas) and others. In addition to comics, he was also a book and magazine illustrator, and even dabbled in animation on the 1967 Spider-Man animated series. Morrow didn’t draw a lot of superhero stories. He wasn’t a “superhero” artist in the Jack Kirby tradition. Superheroics call for exaggerated anatomy and over dramatized posturing. He was better suited to science fiction and horror, or regular-guy action/adventure heroes. His characters were firmly planted on the ground, even — as in the example from DC Comics Presents below — when they were in flight. He came as close as any comic book...