Don Heck

{{Staff Template
 * Image                  = Don Heck.jpg
 * RealName               = Donald L. Heck
 * Pseudonyms             = Don Heck
 * Employers              = Comic Media; DC; Harvey Comics; Hillman Periodicals; Marvel; Quality Comics; Toby Press
 * Titles                 = Penciler; Inker; Cover Artist


 * Gender                 = Male
 * YearOfBirth            = 1929
 * MonthOfBirth           = January
 * DayOfBirth             = 2
 * CityOfBirth            = New York City
 * StateOfBirth           = New York
 * CountryOfBirth         = USA
 * YearOfDeath            = 1995
 * MonthOfDeath           = February
 * DayOfDeath             = 23
 * PlaceOfDeath           =
 * Creations              =
 * First                  =

Don Heck was born on January 2, 1929, in the Queens borough of New York City. He attended Woodrow Wilson Vocational High School in Jamaica and Community College in Brooklyn. Milt Caniff's and Jack Davis's work influenced him strongly. His first professional art assignment came in 1949 at Harvey Comics, where he copied newspaper strips for reprinting in comic books. The next year he turned freelance and sold work to Hillman Comics (who mainly published war and crime titles), Quality Comics (later folded into DC), and Toby Press (later bought by Charlton), all of it uncredited. In 1952 he sold work to Comic Media and finally saw his name in print on titles such as Danger, Death Valley, Horrific, War Fury, and Weird Terror. Two years later he pencilled Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion, based on an NBC TV program starring Buster Crabbe.
 * PersonalHistory        = ==Before Marvel==

Heck met Stan Lee through Pete Morisi, another artist, with whom he had worked at Harvey. He started in September 1954 and worked on almost every title Atlas produced at the time, including mystery, horror, war (e.g. Torpedo Taylor in Navy Combat), sci-fi, jungle (e.g. Cliff Mason in Jungle Tales and Jann of the Jungle), and western stories.

A furor broke out in 1957 over the gore and violence in horror comics, which led to the creation of the Comics Code Authority and censorship. Atlas lost its distribution network and had to cut back to a fraction of its output. For Heck that meant a layoff of a year and a half, during which he drew model airplane designs. Lee rehired Heck to replace Joe Maneely, who had died in an accident. When Heck returned to Atlas, its name had changed to Marvel and the mix of titles had changed to romance and science fiction. He contributed dozens of stories to Journey into Mystery, Strange Tales, Tales of Suspense, and Tales to Astonish before they ever featured the heroes that made them famous, as well as obscure titles such as Love Romances, My Own Romance, Strange Worlds, and World of Fantasy.

At Marvel
Heck graduated to the name "Dandy Don" when he started drawing heroes such as Thor and Giant-Man. His greatest claim to Marvel fame, however, may have been his contribution to the birth of . Along with editor Stan Lee, writer Larry Lieber, and cover artist Jack Kirby, he created the Armored Avenger in [[Tales of Suspense Vol 1 39|Tales of Suspense #39 and (with three short breaks) drew his adventures for almost three years. Heck gave Tony Stark his movie-star good looks by basing him on Errol Flynn.

Artistically, Heck's influence is most strongly remembered from Avengers. The ubiquitous Kirby had pencilled the first 8 issues, but Heck took over on #9 (October 1964) and remained the primary artist on Avengers until 1967. Before, he had always inked his own work, and he preferred to do so, but he adapted to the situation. He also began contributing covers on a regular basis. Along with Kirby and Steve Ditko, Heck was one of the three major Marvel artists in the 1960's. He drew almost every Marvel hero.

In the late 1960s Heck branched out. He worked on The Man from UNCLE for Western Publishing and on the Phantom strip for newspapers. In 1970 he began doing some work for DC as well as Marvel, where he still worked on titles such as Amazing Spider-Man and X-Men.

During the early 1970s Heck suffered through a series of illnesses. His output slowed but never stopped. By 1979 he worked almost exclusively for DC, although he returned to Marvel in 1988 for a few projects.

Heck died of lung cancer on February 23, 1995. He was known for his ability to depict glamorous places and people, and for his willingness to take on last-minute assignments.


 * ProfessionalHistory    =

Issues Credited (penciller)

 * Amazing Adventures, Volume 2, #6 (2nd story, May 1971)
 * Amazing Adventures, Volume 2, #7 (2nd story, July 1971)
 * Amazing Adventures, Volume 2, #8 (2nd story, September 1971)
 * Amazing Spider-Man, issues 57-66, annual 3 (1968)
 * Astonishing #46 (1st story, February 1956)
 * Avengers, issues 9-15, 17-31, 38-40, 45, 47, annuals 1, 2 (1964-1967); 108-112 (1973); 145, 146 (1976); 157 (1977)
 * Avengers Spotlight #22 (September 1989)
 * Captain Marvel, issues 5-10, 16 (1968-1969)
 * Captain Savage and His Leatherneck Raiders, issues 12-16 (1969)
 * Chamber of Chills #3 (2nd story, March 1973)
 * Chamber of Darkness #1 (3rd story, October 1969)
 * Chamber of Darkness #2 (3rd story, December 1969)
 * Chamber of Darkness #8 (4th story, December 1970)
 * Champions #1 (October 1975)
 * Champions #2 (January 1976)
 * Champions #5 (April 1976)
 * Creatures on the Loose #20 (2nd story, November 1972)
 * Creatures on the Loose #23 (2nd story, May 1973)
 * Daredevil, issues 103-106 (1973); 118 (1975)
 * Fear #29 (August 1975)
 * Ghost Rider, volume 2, issues 22-25 (1977)
 * Giant-Size Avengers, issues 4, 5 (1975)
 * Giant-Size Defenders, issues 4, 5 (1975)
 * Giant-Size Dracula #3, #4 (December 1974, March 1975)
 * Giant-Size Kid Colt #2 (2nd story, April 1975)
 * Invaders #35, #38 (December 1978, March 1979)
 * Iron Man, issues 26-31, 33-37, annual 1 (1970-1971)
 * Ka-Zar Volume 2, issues 2-5, 11 (1974-1975)
 * Marvel Comics Presents, issues 12, 32, 40, 49, 51, 63 (1989-1990)
 * Marvel Feature #1 (December 1971)
 * Marvel Premiere #29, #30 (April, June 1976)
 * Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #17 (January 1971)
 * Not Brand Ecch #2 (September 1967)
 * Rawhide Kid #54 (2nd story, October 1966)
 * Solo Avengers #20 (July 1989)
 * Strange Tales, issues 67, 69, 71, 72 (1959); 73-75, 77-79 (1960); 80-83, 88, 90 (1961); 92, 93, 96 (1962); 140, 146, 147 (1966)
 * Sub-Mariner, issues 64-68 (1973-1974)
 * Tales of Suspense, issues 58, 60 (1964); 61-72 (1965)
 * Tower of Shadows #2 (1st story, November 1969)
 * Tower of Shadows #4 (1st story, March 1970)
 * Tower of Shadows #8 (4th story, November 1970)
 * X-Men, issues 38, 39 (1967); 40-42 (1968); 44-49 (1969); 52, 54, 55 (1970); 64 (1971); 86-90 (1974); 92, 93 (1975)
 * Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction #4 (1st & 7th stories, July 1975)

Issues Credited (penciller/inker)

 * Amazing Adventures #5, 2nd story (October 1961)
 * Avengers, issues 32-35 (1966); 36, 37 (1967)
 * Avengers Spotlight #22 (September 1989)
 * Battle Action #21 (1st story, February 1956)
 * Battle Action #24 (4th story, August 1956)
 * Battle Action #25 (1st story, October 1956)
 * Battle Action #28 (1st story, April 1957)
 * Battlefront #29 (March 1955)
 * Captain America annual #10 (2nd story, 1991)
 * Creatures on the Loose #23 (2nd story, May 1973)
 * Fear, issues 1-6, 8 (1970-1972)
 * Frontier Western #3 (2nd story, June 1956)
 * Giant-Size Dracula #2 (September 1974)
 * Iron Man annual #12 (1991)
 * Jann of the Jungle #11 (3rd story, May 1956)
 * Journey into Mystery, issues 37 (1956); 50, 53, 55 (1959); 56-63 (1960); 64, 65, 67, 68, 73, 74 (1961); 76, 77, 79, 80, 82-86 (1962); 88, 97-99 (1963); 100, 104 (1964)
 * Kid Colt Outlaw, issues 91 (1960); 99, 100 (1961); 103-105 (1962)
 * Kid from Dodge City, issues 1, 2 (1957)
 * Marvel Fanfare #56 (April 1991)
 * Mystery Tales #25 (5th story, January 1955)
 * NASCAR Adventures #1 (October 1991)
 * Navy Combat, issues 1-16, 19 (1955-1958)
 * Police Badge #749 #5 (September 1955)
 * Psi-Force #22 (2nd story, August 1988)
 * Rawhide Kid #17 (3rd story, August 1960)
 * Rawhide Kid #31 (3rd story, December 1962)
 * Rugged Action #3 (2nd story, April 1955)
 * Strange Tales, issues 76 (August 1960); 83, 87, 91 (1961); 95, 96, 100, 101, 103 (1962); 105 (February 1963); 145-147 (1966)
 * Strange Worlds #1 (4th story, December 1958)
 * Strange Worlds #2 (1st story, February 1959)
 * Strange Worlds #5 (1st story, August 1959)
 * Tales of Suspense, issues 1, 3, 6 (1959); 7-13 (1960); 15-19, 22, 24 (1961); 26, 29-36 (1962); 38, 39, 42-47 (1963); 50-57, 59 (1964); 80 (August 1966)
 * Tales to Astonish, issues 2, 4, 5 (1959); 7-14 (1960); 15-19, 22-25 (1961); 27, 30, 32-35, 37, 38 (1962); 39-43, 45-50 (1963); 54 (April 1964); 65 (March 1965)
 * Two-Gun Kid, issues 45 (1958); 56 (1960); 58 (1961); 60 (1962)
 * Two-Gun Western #10 (May 1957)
 * Western Kid #3 (3rd story, April 1955)
 * Western Trails #2 (2nd story, July 1957)
 * World of Fantasy #8 (5th story, August 1957)
 * World of Fantasy #11 (1st story, April 1958)
 * World of Fantasy #17 (3rd story, April 1959)
 * World of Fantasy #18 (1st story, June 1959)
 * World of Fantasy #19 (1st story, August 1959)
 * Wyatt Earp #29 (3rd story, June 1960)

Issues Credited (inker)

 * Avengers Spotlight, issues 21-24, 27 (1989); 28, 30, 31, 33 (1990)
 * Avengers, issues 119-121, 123 (1974); 301 (1989)
 * Black Goliath #4 (August 1976)
 * Daredevil #109 (May 1974)
 * Daredevil #119 (March 1975)
 * Ghost Rider, volume 1, #2 (April 1967)
 * Ghost Rider, volume 2, #15 (December 1975)
 * Giant-Size Spider-Man #1 (July 1974)
 * Marvel Two-in-One #19 (September 1976)
 * Nightstalkers #9 (July 1993)
 * Our Love Story #25 (October 1973)
 * Solo Avengers #17 (1st story, April 1989)
 * Solo Avengers #18 (1st story, May 1989)
 * Solo Avengers #19 (1st story, June 1989)
 * Strange Tales #148 (September 1966)
 * Tales to Astonish #44 (June 1963)
 * Thor, issues 396-398 (1988); 400, annual 14 (1989)
 * Tower of Shadows #1 (3rd story, September 1969)
 * X-Men #37 (October 1967)

Issues Credited (cover artist)

 * Amazing Spider-Man annual #3 (1968)
 * Avengers #26 (March 1966)
 * Avengers #29 (June 1966)
 * Avengers #33 (October 1966)
 * Avengers #34 (November 1966)
 * Avengers #35 (December 1966)
 * Avengers #36 (January 1967)
 * Avengers #39 (April 1967)
 * Avengers #40 (May 1967)
 * Avengers annual #1 (September 1967)
 * Avengers #47 (December 1967)
 * Avengers #112 (June 1973)
 * Avengers Spotlight #28 (January 1990)
 * Captain Marvel #5 (September 1968)
 * Captain Marvel #6 (October 1968)
 * Captain Marvel #16 (September 1969)
 * Captain Savage and His Leatherneck Raiders #12 (March 1969)
 * Captain Savage and His Leatherneck Raiders #13 (April 1969)
 * Captain Savage and His Leatherneck Raiders #14 (May 1969)
 * Daredevil #103 (September 1973)
 * Daredevil #105 (November 1973)
 * Fear #29 (August 1975)
 * Giant-Size Avengers #5 (1975)
 * Iron Man #26 (June 1970)
 * Journey into Mystery #99 (December 1963)
 * Kid Colt Outlaw #113 (November 1963)
 * Our Love Story #25 (October 1973)
 * Tales of Suspense #1 (January 1959)
 * Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963)
 * Tales of Suspense #40 (April 1963)
 * Tales of Suspense #45 (September 1963)
 * Tales of Suspense #53 (May 1964)
 * Tales of Suspense #57 (September 1964)
 * Tales of Suspense #69 (September 1965)
 * Tales of Suspense #72 (December 1965)
 * Tales to Astonish #44 (June 1963)
 * Tales to Astonish #47 (September 1963)
 * Tales to Astonish #49 (November 1963)
 * X-Men #37 (October 1967)
 * X-Men #41 (February 1968)
 * X-Men #42 (March 1968)
 * X-Men #44 (May 1968)
 * X-Men #46 (July 1968)
 * X-Men #47 (August 1968)
 * X-Men #52 (January 1969)


 * Notes                  =
 * Trivia                 =
 * OfficialWebsite        =
 * Links                  =