McLeod, Bob 1951-

Personal

Born 1951; married. Education: Attended Barnstone Studios (Coplay, PA), Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, and Auburn University. Hobbies and other interests: Tennis.

Addresses

Agent—c/o Author Mail, HarperCollins, 10 E. 53rd St., 7th Fl., New York, NY 10022. E-mail—mcleod.bob@gmail.com.

Career

Freelance artist and comic-book artist. Banana Factory, Bethlehem, PA, art teacher; children's book author/illustrator.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

SuperHero ABC, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2006.

Editor of Rough Stuff magazine.

ILLUSTRATOR

J.M. DeMatteis, Stan Lee Presents Spider-Man: Fearful Symmetry—Kraven's Last Hunt, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 1989.

J.M. DeMatteis, The Amazing Spider-Man: Soul of the Hunter, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 1992.

Roger Stern, Superman: Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1996.

Steve Behling, How to Draw X-Men, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2003.

Also illustrator of How to Draw Super-Heroes, Walter Foster Publishing, and of books for Wildstorm Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Pacific Comics, Acclaim Comics, and Future Comics. Co-creator of superheroes for New Mutants comic-books series for Marvel Comics. Contributor to comic-book series, including Hulk, Spider-Man, Star Wars, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Conan the Barbarian, Captain America, Sub-Mariner, G.I. Joe, and others; contributor to Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Legion of Super Heroes, New Titans, Aquaman, and other series for DC Comics; and of Phantom for Egmont publications.

Sidelights

Freelance artist and illustrator Bob McLeod has worked on a variety of well-known comic-book series, among them Spider-Man, Hulk, Star Wars, X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Superman, just to name a few. In addition to illustrating for comics, McLeod branched out into children's books with SuperHero ABC, which was published in 2006. In an interview posted on his home page, McLeod discussed the experience of writing his first picture book and how different it was than the comic-book work he has often done. "I got so much satisfaction from doing it all myself," he noted. "In comics, the monthly deadline requires most jobs to be split up among a writer, penciler, inker, letterer and colorist. There's so much compromise in story and art. With SuperHero ABC, I was able to make it totally the way I envisioned it, within the confines of the market. I loved being able to color it myself, after working almost exclusively in black and white for 30 years."

A large-format picture book, SuperHero ABC introduces younger readers to an unusual group of caped crusaders via an alliterative text that follows the book's ABC format. McLeod's heroes save the day by means of tasks that follow their respective letter—Astro Man battles attacking aliens while Goo Girl wields a sticky weapon. "McLeod is not only a master at creating entertaining figures, but also at introducing youngsters to vocabulary words that go beyond the average spelling list," exclaimed a reviewer appraising SuperHero ABC for Publishers Weekly. Roger Sutton, writing in Horn Book, also enjoyed McLeod's picture-book debut, writing that "the drawing is expert, the page design is dynamic, the colors are attractively lurid, and the humor is deliberately, delightfully dumb." Steven Englefried, in School Library Journal, commented that, with its inspiring "bold colors, word balloons, and block letters," McLeod's book may even prompt "imaginative readers … to add to the ranks of Goo Girl, Huge Man, and Multiplying Mike" with their own superhero creations.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 2006, Jennifer Mattson, review of SuperHero ABC, p. 93.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February, 2006, review of SuperHero ABC, p. 274.

Horn Book, March-April, 2006, Roger Sutton, review of SuperHero ABC, p. 175.

Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2005, review of SuperHero ABC, p. 1325.

Publishers Weekly, January 30, 2006, review of SuperHero ABC, p. 68.

School Library Journal, February, 2006, Steven Engelfried, review of SuperHero ABC, p. 108.

ONLINE

Bob McLeod Home Page,http://www.bobmcleod.com (September 10, 2006).