Meet the artist who makes the comic book superheroes more realistic

Ross wields his superpower in his paintbrush, and he allowed CBS News’ Anthony Mason into his secret lair.

This is making up for a life where I had to ask or beg for toys, and so once I had money then I could buy everything I ever wanted. And it just never stopped

The little museum upstairs in Ross’s home in the Chicago suburbs is every comic book fan’s dream, filled with figurines, life-size superheroes and memorabilia.

Alex Ross | Comic Artist

This is Alex Ross’s world. He not only collects it, he creates it. In nearly 30 years as an artist and illustrator, he’s painted almost every popular superhero. His work for DC was collected in the book “Mythology,” and his work for Marvel has just been published in “Marvelocity.”

It’s kind of a difference based upon mood and vibe of the material. There’s something about the stoic heroes of DC that could be contrasted against the hyperkinetic heroes of Marvel. I knew from whatever you might call a very early age this is what I wanted to do, period. I wanted to make art of superheroes. I wanted to, you know, sort of live in their skin full time if I could.