Dærick Gröss Sr. (January 28, 1947 – December 8, 2023) was an American illustrator, writer, editor, and art director. Gröss worked at comic book companies Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Chaos! Comics, Image Comics, and Innovation Publishing, primarily in the 1990s, and afterwards at his own company, Studio G, with his son, Dærick Gröss. He was the visual editor at inDELible Comics, and the art director at ACP Comics.

Early life and education

Gröss was born in the Dayton suburb of Kettering, Ohio, on January 27, 1947, and was a comic book fan from childhood. He later attended Ohio University from 1965 to 1967 studying art and theatre. He was a member of the fraternity, Phi Kappa Theta. Dissatisfied with the art instruction at the university, he went to the Central Academy of Commercial Art in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1969.

Career

Early career

After graduation, Gröss worked at WCPO-TV in Cincinnati, Ohio as a live set designer and created art for on-camera graphics for 3 years. Gröss joined the Cincinnati Post as a staff artist and cartoonist, eventually becoming the Art Director as illustrator and page designer.

Murciélaga She-Bat

Gröss answered a CFW Magazine ad which started his career in comics. In 1988, he created the Latina mutant Murciélaga She-Bat, part of the REIKI team in Robo Warriors. In the early 1990s, two issues of Murciélaga She-Bat were published by Heroic Publishing, and issue #3 by Revolutionary Comics. In 2000, two comics featuring Murciélaga were released as a bilingual flipbook in both Spanish and English. Heroic Publishing later reprinted the original eight issues of the series.

Innovation Comics

Dærick Gröss painted interior art for 12 issues of an adaptation of the Anne Rice Vampire Lestat Series published by Innovation Comics. He won Comicon's Russ Manning award for most promising newcomer. In 1992, Gröss also painted cover art for Forbidden Planet issues #1-4, also published by Innovation.

Marvel and DC

Gröss pencilled issues #84 and #88 of Excalibur for Marvel Comics in 1995. He pencilled part 7 of the short-lived CyberComics initiative from Marvel featuring Spiderman in 1996. He also penciled a portion of X Force/Cable Annual #1 in 1995, and X-Men: Domino issue #1 in 1997. At DC Comics, Gröss penciled Batman: Two-Face Strikes Twice issues #1 and #2 in 1993.

Other work

Gröss made caricatures of celebrities starring in shows for the Kenley Players from the 60s to the 80s, which appeared on the front covers of the programs. At adult comic book publisher Carnal Comics, Gröss drew several projects in the 90s. Gröss illustrated The Guide to Getting it On, an educational sexual manual written by psychoanalyst and author Paul Joannides. It was published in 1996 by Goofy Foot Press and won a 1997 Firecracker Alternative Book Award. As penciler and inker he also worked on Gay Comics issue #24 (1997). Gröss contributed to the Marvel trading card game OverPower and Game of Thrones cards for Fantasy Flight Games. His production company Dærick Gröss Studios, was founded in 1989, then renamed Studio G in 1990. His son Dærick Gröss worked with him. In 2001, a fire destroyed most of his studio. Gröss produced T-shirt designs, prints, and other products featuring his work. Gröss turned to political cartooning in 2019 with the satirical comic Trumpy.

Personal life and death

From 2008 until his death, he lived in Simi Valley, California. He died on December 8, 2023, at the age of 76.

Awards

Contributions

Innovation Comics

Heroic Publishing

Image Comics

Marvel Comics

Malibu Comics

Chaos! Comics

DC Comics

AK Comics

Sicilian Dragon Publishing

Revolutionary Publishing

CFW Enterprises

Carnal Comics

Kitchen Sink Press

Sky Comics

Bishop Press

Knight Press

Marz Publishing

inDELLible Comics