Greg LaRocque (born February 24, 1954) is 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 comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...

best known for his work on the ''

Legion of Super-Heroes The Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st c ...

'' and ''

The Flash The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...

''. Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, LaRocque worked as an assistant teacher at the Professional Institute of Art while still a teenager. He started his art career in the advertising field.

Comics career

Greg LaRocque began his comics career at

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

and his first published work was the story "That Which Conquers All" in ''

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 c ...

'' #115 (Jan. 1981). This was followed by a series of OMAC back-up stories in '' The Warlord'' #42–47 (Feb.–July 1981). His first work for Marvel Comics appeared in ''

Power Man and Iron Fist ''Power Man and Iron Fist'' (originally ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' then ''Luke Cage, Power Man'') was an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics, featuring the superheroes Power Man and Iron Fist. Publication history ''He ...

'' #73 (Sept. 1981). He drew several issues of ''

Marvel Team-Up ''Marvel Team-Up'' is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The series featured two or more Marvel characters in one story. The series was originally published from March 1972 through February 1985, and featured Spider-Man as ...

'' including the last issue of the series. He and writer

Louise Simonson Louise Simonson (née Mary Louise Alexander; born September 26, 1946) is an American comic book writer and editor. She is best known for her work on comic book titles such as ''Conan the Barbarian'', ''Power Pack'', ''X-Factor'', ''New Mutants'', ...

then launched a new Spider-Man title, ''

Web of Spider-Man ''Web of Spider-Man'' is the name of two different monthly comic book series starring Spider-Man that have been published by Marvel Comics since 1985, the first volume of which ran for 129 issues between 1985 and 1995, and the second of which ran f ...

'', in April 1985. After returning to DC Comics, LaRocque became prominent for his work illustrating the ''

''. He stated in a 2013 interview that "I decided to leave Marvel for personal reasons, and the first person I called was ditor

Karen Berger Karen Berger (; born February 26, 1958) is an American comic book editor. She is best known for her role in helping create DC Comics' Vertigo imprint in 1993 and serving as the line's Executive Editor until 2013. She currently oversees Berger B ...

. She handed me the next available ''Legion'' script, and the day I handed in the work she offered me the book." He drew ''

'' with writer

William Messner-Loebs William Francis Messner-Loebs (; born William Francis Loebs, Jr., February 19, 1949) is an American comics artist and writer from Michigan, also known as Bill Loebs and Bill Messner-Loebs. His hyphenated surname is a combination of his and his wif ...

from issue #15 (Aug. 1988) through #79 (Aug. 1993). A career highlight was redesigning the Flash's costume to its current incarnation. LaRocque and Messner-Loebs introduced

Linda Park Linda Park (born July 9, 1978) is a South Korean-born American actress, best known for her portrayal of communications officer character Hoshi Sato in the television series ''Star Trek: Enterprise''. Early life Park was born in South Korea and ...

as a supporting character in the series in ''The Flash'' vol. 2 #28 (July 1989) and reintroduced the

Pied Piper The Pied Piper of Hamelin (german: der Rattenfänger von Hameln, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany. The legend dates back to ...

as a reformed villain and established the character as gay, in issue #53 (Aug. 1991). Exiled Studio released LaRocque's creator owned material in the three-issue mini-series ''The Exiled'', followed by ''CryBaby'', Exiled Studio's first color comic book. The CryBaby story arc was concluded in the 80-page graphic novel ''Extinction''. LaRocque's ''The Dreaming'' graphic novel was published by Exiled Studio in 2009. LaRocque's work among the independent companies includes London Night Studios, Peregrine Entertainment, Realm Press, Catfish Comics, and

Avatar Press Avatar Press is an independent American comic book publisher founded in 1996 by William A. Christensen, and based in Rantoul, Illinois. Avatar Press is most notable for publishing Bad girl art, bad girl comics, such as ''Faust (Avatar Press), Fau ...

. In 2010 he helped launch the revival of

Dave Cockrum David Emmett Cockrum (; November 11, 1943 – November 26, 2006) was an American comics artist known for his co-creation of the new X-Men characters Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus, and Mystique, as well as the antiheroine Black Cat. Cockrum was ...

's ''

Futurians The Futurians were a group of science fiction (SF) fans, many of whom became editors and writers as well. The Futurians were based in New York City and were a major force in the development of science fiction writing and science fiction fandom i ...

'' with a cover for David Miller Studio. LaRocque's fantasy art was exhibited at Gallery Provocateur in Chicago to coincide with his appearance at the 2010 Chicago ComicCon. He returned to DC Comics in 2011 to draw the ''

DC Retroactive ''DC Retroactive'' is a line of one-shot comic book issues published by DC Comics. It revisited periods (grouped by decades) of the company's main characters: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, the Justice League, and the Flash. T ...

: The Flash - The '80s'' one-shot.

Bibliography

Alternative Comics

* '' 9–11 Emergency Relief'' (2002)

DC Comics

* '' The Big Book of Conspiracies'' (1995) * ''The Big Book of Hoaxes'' (1996) * ''

: The Flash – The '80s'' #1 (2011) * ''

Fighting American Fighting American is a superhero created in 1954 by the writer-artist team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Published by the Crestwood Publications imprint (trade name), imprint Prize Comics, it was, contrary to standard industry practices of the time ...

'' #1–6 (1994) * ''

'' vol. 2 #15–18, 20–22, 24–28, 30–59, 62–65, 67–71, 73–79, ''Annual'' #2–3 (1988–1993) * ''

Ghosts A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

'' #98, 103 (1981) * '' Justice League America Annual'' #7 (1993) * ''

Justice League Quarterly ''Justice League Quarterly'' (''JLQ'') was a quarterly American comic book series published by DC Comics from Winter 1990 to Winter 1994; it lasted 17 issues. It had a variable cast, pulling from the Justice League membership. The title centred o ...

'' #13 (1993) * '' Justice League Task Force'' #9, 16 (1994) * ''

'' vol. 3 #15, 17–48, ''Annual'' #3 (1985–1988) * ''

'' #115 (1981) * '' Primal Force'' #7 (1995) * ''

Secrets of Haunted House ''Secrets of Haunted House'' was a horror-suspense comics anthology series published by American company DC Comics from 1975 to 1978 and 1979 to 1982. Publication history The series began in April–May 1975. Like its predecessor ''Secrets of S ...

'' #33–34, 36, 41, 46 (1981–1982) * '' Showcase '95'' #3 ( Eradicator) (1995) * ''

Steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

'' #17 (1995) * '' The Unexpected'' #207 (1981) * '' The Warlord'' #42–47 ( OMAC back-up stories) (1981) * ''

Weird War Tales ''Weird War Tales'' was a war comic book title with supernatural overtones published by DC Comics. It was published from September–October 1971 to June 1983. Publication history The original title ran for 12 years and 124 issues. It was ...

'' #95, 104 (1981) * ''

Who's Who in the DC Universe ''Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe'' (1985–87), usually referred to simply as ''Who's Who'', is the umbrella title for a number of comic book series which DC Comics published to catalogue the wide variety of fictional cha ...

'' #2–3, 10, 16 (1990–1992) * ''Who's Who in the DC Universe Update 1993'' #1 (1992) * ''Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes'' #1–7 (1988) * ''Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe'' #7, 11, 13–14, 19, 21, 24–25 (1985–1987) * ''Who's Who: Update '87'' #1–3, 5 (1987) * ''Who's Who: Update '88'' #3–4 (1988)

Exiled Studio

* ''The Exiled'' #1 (1998)

London Night

* '' Razor: Uncut'' #39–40, 42 (1997)

Marvel Comics

* ''

The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bim ...

Annual'' #15 (1981) * '' The Avengers'' #222–223, 225–226 (1982) * ''

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. Publica ...

'' #32 (1982) * ''

The Incredible Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book a ...

'' vol. 2 #279 (1983) * ''

Marvel Comics Presents ''Marvel Comics Presents'' was an American comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics originally from 1988 to 1995. It returned for a second volume in 2007–2008, and a third volume that started in 2019. Volume 1 The first volume ...

'' #55 (

Collective Man The Collective Man (Sun, Chang, Ho, Lin, and Han Tao-Yu) is a Chinese superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Collective Man is actually an identity shared by the Tao-Yu brothers, a set of quintuplets. They pos ...

) (1990) * ''

Marvel Graphic Novel ''Marvel Graphic Novel'' (''MGN'') is a line of graphic novel trade paperbacks published from 1982 to 1993 by Marvel Comics. The books were published in an oversized format, 8.5" x 11", similar to French albums. In response, DC Comics establ ...

'' #16 ("The Aladdin Effect") (1985) * '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' vol. 2 #11, 13–14 (1992–1993) * ''

'' #137–138, 141–148, 150 (1984–1985) * ''

Micronauts Micronauts is a North American science fiction toyline manufactured and marketed by Mego Corporation, Mego from 1976 to 1980. The ''Micronauts'' toyline was based on and licensed from the ''Microman'' toyline created by Japanese-based toy compan ...

'' #37 (1982) * ''

Moon Knight Moon Knight is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Doug Moench and artist Don Perlin, the character first appeared in ''Werewolf by Night'' #32 (August 1975). The son of a rabb ...

'' #21–22 (1982) * ''

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe The ''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe'' is an encyclopedic guide which details the fictional universe featured in Marvel Comics publications. The original 15-volume series was published in comic book format in 1982, followed by sporadic u ...

'' #5, 10 (1983) * ''

'' #73, 91, 103–104, 106, 108–113 (1981–1985) * ''

Rom Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * R ...

'' #25, ''Annual'' #1 (back-up stories) (1981–1982) * ''

The Spectacular Spider-Man ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' is a comic book and magazine series starring Spider-Man and published by Marvel Comics. Following the success of Spider-Man's original series, ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', Marvel felt the character could support ...

'' #60, 63, 83, 124 (1981–1987) * ''

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent 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 groves ...

'' #323 (1982) * ''

'' #1–5 (1985) * '' What If...?'' #32, 35 (1982)

References

External links

*
Greg LaRocque
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics

at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators {{DEFAULTSORT:Larocque, Greg 1954 births 20th-century American artists 21st-century American artists Advertising artists and illustrators American comics artists Artists from Baltimore DC Comics people Living people Marvel Comics people