Born in Portland, Oregon, and raised in Lubbock, Texas, Alex Ross, a comic-book artist, made his artistic debut at age three when, according to his mother, he grabbed a piece of paper and drew the contents of a television commercial he'd seen moments before. Ross came from an artistic family: His mother was a commercial artist, and his grandfather, he recalls, "built working wooden toys and loved drawing." When Ross discovered Spider-Man on an episode of The Electric Company, his life was changed forever. "I just fell in love with the notion that there were colorful characters like this, performing good, sometimes fantastic deeds," Ross says. "I guess I knew this was what I wanted to do. I wanted to bring these characters to life."

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