William Marshall Rogers III (January 22, 1950 – March 24, 2007),William Marshall Rogers III

Social Security Number In the United States, a Social Security number (SSN) is a nine-digit number issued to United States nationality law, U.S. citizens, Permanent residence (United States), permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents under section 205(c)(2 ...

084-38-8742, at United States Social Security Death Index via FamilySearch.org. Accessed March 2, 2013. known professionally as Marshall Rogers, was an American

comics artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the literar ...

best known for his work at

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

and

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

in the 1970s.

Biography

Rogers was born in the Flushing neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens, and raised there and in

Ardsley, New York Ardsley is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is part of the town of Greenburgh. The village's population was 5,079 at the 2020 census. The mayor of Ardsley is Nancy Kaboolian. The Ardsley post office serves the en ...

. He took up mechanical drawing in high school,Rogers interview, ''The Comics Journal'' (54)
57
from the original on October 24, 2011. Retrieved October 24, 2011. and then attended

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, where he studied

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

. He said later that he felt this He studied architectural drawing, and his work was characterized by detailed rendering of buildings and structures. He left college in 1971 before graduating, and returned home to New York, where he discovered his family was moving to

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, where his father's employer, Johns Manville, was relocating. Opting to remain, he completed a 52-page story he had begun in college and presented it in 1972 as a sample to

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

production manager John Verpoorten, who found Rogers' work wanting. To earn a living, Rogers did illustrations for men's magazines that he described as " al low-grade schlock sleazo magazines that had illustrations to precede the stories". When one client went bankrupt owing him at least $1,000, a friend, Jim Geraghty, offered him a rent-free house for the winter in Easthampton, New York, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, in exchange for "four or five illustrations" for a local art project. The following summer he worked in a hardware store for several months, was fired, and while living on unemployment benefits approached the short-lived

Atlas/Seaboard Comics Atlas/Seaboard Comics is a line of comic books published by the American company Seaboard Periodicals in the 1970s. Though the line was published under the brand Atlas Comics, comic book historians and collectors refer to it as Atlas/Seaboard Com ...

and, he said: At some unspecified point, Rogers recalled, he "bounced in and out of a shipping clerk job" and did some retouching work for

on reprints of 1940s Batman stories. He continued showing samples to both Marvel and DC, and in 1977, his artwork began interesting Marie Severin and

Vince Colletta Vincente Colletta (October 15, 1923 – June 3, 1991)Vincent Colletta

, the two companies' respective art directors. "That got me my first job; it wasn't really the drawing ability", he said in 1980, "as much as my design capabilities." Marshall Rogers Portrait

Some of his first comic-book work appeared in the black-and-white magazine ''The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu'', where he worked with writer

Chris Claremont Christopher S. Claremont (; born November 25, 1950) is an English-born American comic book writer and novelist. Claremont is best known for his 16-year stint on ''Uncanny X-Men'' from 1975 to 1991, far longer than that of any other writer,Clarem ...

on a story featuring the " Iron Fist" supporting characters

Misty Knight Mercedes "Misty" Knight is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Jenny Blake Isabella and Arvell Jones, the character was first mentioned in '' Marvel Premiere'' #20 (January 1975) and first appear ...

and Colleen Wing as the Daughters of the Dragon. He eschewed the grey wash that was used in other black-and-white comics stories in favor of applying screentone. With writer

Steve Englehart Steve Englehart (; born April 22, 1947) is an American writer of comic books and novels. He is best known for his work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s and 1980s. His pseudonyms have included John Harkness and Cliff Garnett. Early li ...

, Rogers penciled an acclaimed run on the Batman in ''Detective Comics'' #471–476 (Aug. 1977 – April 1978), providing one of the definitive interpretations that influenced the 1989 movie ''Batman'' and that was adapted for the 1990s

animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

. The Englehart and Rogers pairing was described in 2009 by comics writer and historian

Robert Greenberger Robert Greenberger (born July 24, 1958) is an American writer and editor known for his work on ''Comics Scene'', ''Starlog'', ''Weekly World News'', the novelization of the film ''Hellboy II: The Golden Army#Novelization, Hellboy II'', and for ...

as "one of the greatest" creative teams to work on the Batman character. DC Comics writer and executive

Paul Levitz Paul Levitz (; born October 21, 1956) is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002 to 2009, he worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles. Along with publisher Jenette Kahn ...

noted in 2010: "Arguably fans' best-loved version of Batman in the mid-1970s, writer Steve Englehart and penciller Rogers's ''Detective'' run featured an unambiguously homicidal Joker...in noirish, moodily rendered stories that evoked the classic Kane-Robinson era." In their story "The Laughing Fish", the Joker is brazen enough to disfigure fish with a rictus grin, then expects to be granted a federal

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

on them, only to start killing bureaucrats who try to explain that obtaining such a claim on a natural resource is legally impossible. The supervillain

Deadshot Deadshot is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer David Vern Reed and artist Lew Sayre Schwartz based on a concept from Bob Kane, the character first appeared in ''Batman (comic book), Batman ...

was redesigned by Rogers during his ''Detective Comics'' run. Rogers also penciled the origin story of the Golden Age Batman in ''

Secret Origins ''Secret Origins'' is the title of several comic book series published by DC Comics which featured the origin stories of the publisher's various characters. Publication history ''Secret Origins'' was first published as a one-shot in 1961 and c ...

'' #6 (Sept. 1986) with writer

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly bes ...

and inker Terry Austin. The two also did a sequel miniseries, ''Batman: Dark Detective'', and worked together on other series, including Marvel's '' The Silver Surfer'' and a short run on DC's revived ''

Mister Miracle Mister Miracle is the name of three fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first and third are humans Thaddeus Brown and Shilo Norman, while the second is New God Scott Free. The Scott Free incarnat ...

''. Englehart and Rogers' first Batman run was collected in the trade paperback ''Batman: Strange Apparitions'' (), and the second run in ''Batman: Dark Detective'' (). Rogers remained as artist on ''Detective Comics'' for a few issues after Englehart's departure from the series. With writer

Len Wein Leonard Norman Wein (; June 12, 1948 – September 10, 2017) was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine (character), Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel sup ...

, he co-created the third version of the

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

Clayface Clayface is an alias used by several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Most incarnations of the character possess clay-like bodies and shapeshifting abilities, and all of them are List of Batman family enemies ...

. Rogers' other Batman work included a story arc in '' Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight'' that was begun by writer Archie Goodwin and completed by James Robinson. An Englehart-Rogers story featuring

Madame Xanadu Madame Xanadu (Nimue Inwudu) is a fictional character published by DC Comics. The character is identified with Nimue, the sorceress from Arthurian mythology made popular by Sir Thomas Malory's ''Le Morte d'Arthur''. Jeryl Prescott portrays X ...

that sat in inventory for a few years was published as a one-shot in 1981, in DC's first attempt at marketing comics specifically to the "

direct market The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for American comic books. The concept of the direct market was created in the 1970s by Phil Seuling. The network currently consists of: * three major comic distributors: ** Luna ...

" of fans and collectors. In 1986, Rogers drew a graphic novel adaptation of " Demon with a Glass Hand", an episode of '' The Outer Limits'' television series, based on a script by

Harlan Ellison Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave science fiction, New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. His published wo ...

. It was the fifth title of the '' DC Science Fiction Graphic Novel'' series. At

Eclipse Comics Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book store, comic book specialty stor ...

during the early 1980s, he collaborated on the graphic novel '' Detectives Inc.'' with writer Don McGregor, drew the ''Scorpio Rose'' series and the first ''

Coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...

'' series written by Englehart, and wrote and drew his own whimsical series ''Cap'N Quick & A Foozle''. In 1992, McGregor and Rogers crafted a two part-story for Marvel in ''

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

'' issues #27–28 dealing with bullying and gun violence.

Personal life

Rogers' mother was Ann White Rogers. He had a sister, Suzanne, and an adopted son, Russell Young. Rogers died on March 24, 2007, at his home in

Fremont, California Fremont () is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area, Fremont has a population of 230,504 as of 2020, making it the fourth List of cities and towns in the San F ...

. His ''Batman'' collaborator

said he was told by Spencer Beck, Rogers' agent: "His son found him. They think it was a heart attack, and that he might have been dead for a while."

Awards

* 1978: nominated at the

Eagle Awards The Eagle Awards were a series of British awards for comic book titles and creators. They were awarded by UK fans voting for work produced during the previous year. Named after the UK's seminal boys' comic ''Eagle'', the awards were launched in ...

for Favourite Artist, for Favourite Single Story for ''Detective Comics'' #472: "I am the Batman" with

and for Favourite Continued Story for ''Detective Comics'' #471-472 with Steve Englehart * 1979:

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at Comic-Con Internati ...

* 1979: nominated at the Eagle Awards for Favourite Comicbook Artist (US), for Best Continued Story for ''Detective Comics'' #475-476 with Steve Englehart, and for Best Cover for ''Detective Comics'' #476

Bibliography

Comics work (interior pencil art, except where noted) includes:

DC Comics

*''

Action Comics ''Action Comics'' is an American comic book/Comic anthology, magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as Detective Comics Inc., which later merged into National ...

'' #566 (cover only, with

Jerry Ordway Jeremiah Joseph Ordway (born November 28, 1957) is an American writer, penciller, inker and painter of comic books. He is known for his inking work on a wide variety of DC Comics titles, including the continuity-redefining ''Crisis on Infinite E ...

) (1985) *''

All-Star Squadron The All-Star Squadron is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in ''Justice League, Justice League of America'' #193 (August 1981) and was created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway. Although the team was introduced in the 1980s, its s ...

'' #38 (three pages only) (1984) *'' Atari Force'' #18, Special #1 (1985–1986) *''

Batman Family ''Batman Family'' is an American comic book anthology series published by DC Comics which ran from 1975 to 1978, primarily featuring stories starring supporting characters to the superhero Batman. An eight-issue miniseries called ''Batman: Famil ...

'' #11–13 (pages 9–16 only in #13) (1977) *''Batman: Dark Detective'', miniseries, #1–6 (2005) *'' Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight'' #132–136 (2000) *'' DC Graphic Novel'' ''Demon With a Glass Hand'', graphic novel (1986), 144 pages, *'' DC Special Series'' #15 (1978) (Batman) *''

Detective Comics ''Detective Comics'' (later retitled as ''Batman Detective Comics'') is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is ...

'' #466–468, 471–479, 481 (1976–1979) *''

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

'' #187 (1985) *'' Green Lantern: Evil's Might'', miniseries, #1–3 (2002) *'' Heroes Against Hunger'' (two pages only) (1986) *''

House of Mystery ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror comics, horror, fantasy comics, fantasy, and mystery fiction, mystery comics anthology, comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It had a companion series, ''The House of Secrets (DC Comi ...

'' #254, 274 (1977–1979) *'' Justice League America Annual'' #5 (1991) *''

Justice League Europe ''Justice League Europe'' (''JLE'') is a comic book series published by DC Comics that was a spin-off of the comic book '' Justice League America'' (which was then named '' Justice League International'' (vol. 1) for issues #7 to #25). ''Justic ...

'' #20–22, ''Annual'' #2 (1990–1991) *''

'' #1 (1981) (originally produced for '' Doorway to Nightmare'') *''

'' #19–22 (1977–1978) *''Mister Miracle'' vol. 3 #5–6 (1996) *''

Mystery in Space ''Mystery in Space'' is the name of two science fiction American comic book series published by DC Comics, and of a standalone Vertigo anthology released in 2012. The first series ran for 110 issues from 1951 to 1966, with a further seven issues ...

'' #111 (1980) *'' Realworlds: Batman'' (2000) *''

'' ( Golden Age Batman) #6 (1986) *''

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by American magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by Gibs ...

'' vol. 3 #7 (1988) *''

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

'' #400 (1984) *'' The Superman Family'' #182, 194 (1977–1979) *'' The Unexpected'' #191 (1979) *'' Weird War Tales'' #51–52 (1977) *'' Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe'' #1–2, 5–7, 11–12, 15, 24 (1985–1987) *''

World's Finest Comics ''World's Finest Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1941 to 1986. The series was initially titled ''World's Best Comics'' for its first issue; issue #2 (Summer 1941) switched to the more familiar name. Michael ...

'' #259 (1979)

Eclipse Comics

*''Cap'n Quick & A Foozle'' #1–2 (1984–1985), writer/artist *'' Detectives Inc.: A Remembrance of Threatening Green'', graphic novel (1980), 52 pages *'' Eclipse Magazine'' #1 ("Slab"), #2–8 (Coyote feature) (1981–1983) *'' Eclipse Monthly'' #1–4 (Cap'n Quick feature) (1983–1984), writer/artist *''Scorpio Rose'' #1–2 (1983)

Marvel Comics

*''

Amazing Fantasy ''Amazing Adult Fantasy'', retitled ''Amazing Fantasy'' in its final issue, is an American comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics from 1961 through 1962, with the latter title revived with superhero features in 1995 and in the 20 ...

'' #19 (2006) *'' Avengers Annual'' #16 (among other artists) (1987) *''

Bizarre Adventures ''Marvel Preview'' is a black-and-white comics magazine published by Magazine Management for fourteen issues and the affiliated Marvel Comics Group for ten issues. The final issue additionally carried the imprint Marvel Magazines Group. Public ...

'' #25 (1981) *'' Deadly Hands of Kung Fu'' #32–33 (1977) *''

Doctor Strange Dr. Stephen Vincent Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as ...

'' #48–53 (1981–1982) *''

Excalibur Excalibur is the mythical sword of King Arthur that may possess magical powers or be associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. Its first reliably datable appearance is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. E ...

'' #10–11 (1989) *''

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four, often abbreviated as FF, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover-dated November 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism i ...

Roast'' #1 (among other artists) (1982) *''

G.I. Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), A ...

'' #61, 75, 77, 82, 86 (1987–1989) *''

Howard the Duck Howard the Duck is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Steve Gerber, based very loosely on his college friend Howard Tockman, and artist Val Mayerik. Howard the Duck firs ...

'' (black and white magazine) #8 (1980) *'' The Incredible Hulk'' vol. 3 #94–95 (2006) *''

Marvel Comics Presents ''Marvel Comics Presents'' is an American comic book anthology title that was published in three series by Marvel Comics: from 1988 to 1995; 2007 to 2008; and in 2019. Volume 1 The first volume was released on a bi-weekly basis and lasted for ...

'' (Hulk) #38, ( Daredevil) #81 (1989–1991) *''Marvel Westerns: Strange Westerns Starring the Black Rider'' #1 (2006) *''

Marvel Fanfare ''Marvel Fanfare'' was an anthology comic book series published by American company Marvel Comics. It was a showcase title featuring a variety of characters from the Marvel universe. Volume one ''Marvel Fanfare'' featured characters and setting ...

'' (Doctor Strange) #5 (1982) *''

Silver Surfer The Silver Surfer is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character also appears in a number of movies, television, and video game adaptations. The character was created by Jack Kirby and first a ...

'' vol. 3 #1–10, 12, 21 (1987–1989) *''

'' #27–28 (1992) *''

What If What If may refer to: Film * ''What If'', a 2006 TV film starring Niall Buggy * What If... (2010 film), ''What If...'' (2010 film), an American film * What If... (2012 film), ''What If...'' (2012 film), a Greek film * What If (2013 film), ''What ...

'' vol. 2 #38 (

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

) (1992)

Books and compilations

*''Batman: Dark Detective'' collects ''Batman: Dark Detective'' #1–6, April 2006, DC Comics, 144 pages, *''Batman: Strange Apparitions'' includes ''

'' #471–476 and #478–479, December 1999, DC Comics, 176 pages, *''

'' Volume 1 collects ''Eclipse Magazine'' #2–8 and ''Scorpio Rose'' #1–2, September 2005, Image Comics, 128 pages, *''Legends of the Dark Knight - Marshall Rogers'' collects ''Detective Comics'' #468, #471–479 and #481, '' DC Special Series'' #15, ''

'' #6, '' Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight'' #132–136 and ''Batman: Dark Detective'' #1–6, November 2011, DC Comics, 496 pages, *''Shadow Of The Batman'' miniseries #1–5 (covers) (1985–1986), DC Comics *''Daughters Of The Dragon Special'' #1 (2005), Marvel Comics *''Silver Surfer Epic Collection #3: Freedom'' collects ''Silver Surfer'' #1–10 and #12, Marvel Comics

Portfolios

*''Strange'' (1979), Schanes & Schanes, six plates, 1200 signed and numbered *''The Batman - Portfolio #1'' (1981), S.Q. Productions Inc, five plates, s/n 1000 *''F.O.O.G. (Friends Of Old Gerber)'' (1982), one plate (Cap'N Quick & A Foozle) *''Heroines'' (1979), one plate (Pulp Heroine) *''Heroes, Heavies & Heroines'' (1981), one plate (Nightcrawler)

Comic strips

*In 1989, he was the first artist to work on the new ''Batman'' newspaper comic strip. Rogers drew the strip from its launch on November 6, 1989, until the conclusion of its first storyline on January 21, 1990. The entirety of Rogers work on the strip was reprinted in '' Comics Revue'' #41–43.Norwood, Rick, ed. ''Comics Revue'' #41 (1989), #42 (1990), and #43 (1990) Fictioneer Books

References

External links

*
"DC Profiles #26: Marshall Rogers"
at the Grand Comics Database

at the

Lambiek Comiclopedia Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ). His son Boris Kousemaker has been the owner since 2007. From 1968 to 2015, it was located in the Ke ...

*
Marshall Rogers
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics

at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators

Cavalli, David, ed. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Marshall 1950 births 2007 deaths American comics artists Inkpot Award winners Marvel Comics people People from Ardsley, New York People from Flushing, Queens People from Fremont, California American role-playing game artists DC Comics people