Category: Creators

SDCC | Scott Morse plans to draw 24 one-page comics at Comic-Con

The creator of ‘Soulwind’ will draw live on the show floor and then collect the stories in an anthology, ‘This Ink Runs Cold.’

Scott Morse, creator of Soulwind, Magic Pickle and more, has come up with a fun way to spend his time in San Diego — he’s going to draw one-page comics for an anthology called This Ink Runs Cold.

Morse will be at the Allen Spiegel Fine Arts booth (#4701) during the show, and earlier this month he started talking about the idea on social media. He asked for “simple” but “epic” stories from writers. “Like, the best thing you’ve ever written. In one page. Maybe less than 6 panels. Go.”

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Rest in peace, Michael Zulli

The artist of ‘Sandman,’ ‘The Last Temptation’ and ‘Puma Blues’ has passed away at the age of 71.

Michael Zulli, the creator of Puma Blues and artist on Sandman, Alice Cooper: The Last Temptation and many more beautifully drawn comics, has passed away at the age of 71. The news was shared by artist and publisher Stephen Bissette, who published Zulli’s work in several issues of Bissette’s Taboo in the late 1980s/early 1990s.

“Beloved longtime friend, irreplaceable Taboo ally and co-conspirator, and among the greatest animal artists who ever worked in the comics medium anywhere in the world—miss you, Michael Zulli, proud to have walked a few beats in this crazy creative path with you,” Stephen Bissette wrote on Facebook.

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Rest in peace, Peter B. Gillis

The co-creator of ‘Strikeforce: Morituri’ and writer of ‘Doctor Strange,’ ‘Defenders’ and ‘Micronauts’ has passed away at the age of 71.

Peter B. Gillis, the writer of Strikeforce Morituri, Shatter, Doctor Strange, The Defenders and more, has passed away. His brother Rob shared the news on Facebook, saying that Gillis passed away around 2 a.m. this morning after battling health issues for the last two years. He was 71.

“Many of you know my brother Peter has been struggling almost the the last two years with health issues,” his brother posted. “Getting better, getting much worse, getting much better, getting far worse. Yesterday he went from being ‘on the road back home’ in the morning to a quick decline and passed away around 2am this morning in the presence of some close friends who drove to Albany to be with him.”

Gillis began his career in comics in the late 1970s, with his first published story appearing in Captain America #224, which featured artwork by Mike Zeck. He went on to write issues of Marvel Two-In-One, Super-Villain Team-Up and What If…?, of which he wrote about 12 issues in the early 1980s, which gave him the chance to write everyone from the Fantastic Four to Conan the Barbarian.

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Rest in peace, Don Perlin

The co-creator of Moon Knight and Bloodshot and artist of countless comics passed away at the age of 94.

Don Perlin, the veteran comics artist who co-created Moon Knight and Bloodshot, passed away May 14 at the age of 94, his daughter confirmed on social media.

“I am devastated to report the death of an amazing man. My father Don Perlin passed away peacefully yesterday at the age of 94,” Elaine Perlin wrote on Facebook. “He was an amazing father, husband, grandfather and great-grandfather. We will all miss him terribly. He was an amazing artist and considered a legend in the comic world. To me he was my best friend. I will miss him so much.”

Born in New York City and raised in Brooklyn, Perlin began pursuing his career in high school when he began taking classes from Burne Hogarth, who worked on the Tarzan comic strip and wrote several anatomy books aimed at artists.

“I always wanted to draw and I always like to draw cartoons,” he told Nerd Team 30 back in 2018. “While I was in high school, Burne Hogarth had put an ad in some of the high school papers about a class he’d be having on Saturday mornings in Manhattan. I showed it to my dad and he called Hogarth. We went to his apartment and showed him some of the things I’d done, and he accepted me into to the class. There I started learning about comic books and comic strips and the ‘how-to’ part of things.  From there on I started trying to get into the business and slowly I managed to.”

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Rest in peace, Trina Robbins

The influential comics creator and pioneer has passed away at the age of 85.

“Trina wears her wampum beads
She fills her drawing book with line
Sewing lace on widows’ weeds
And filigree on leaf and vine
Vine and leaf are filigree
And her coat’s a secondhand one
Trimmed with antique luxury
She is a lady of the canyon”

–Joni Mitchell, Ladies of the Canyon

Trina Robbins, a comics creator, historian, advocate and pioneering figure in the underground comix movement — and, yes, the “Trina” Joni Mitchell sang about in 1970 — passed away yesterday at the age of 85.

Her death was first reported by her daughter on social media last night, followed by tributes and obituaries by her fans, fellow artists and news outlets, including The New York Times and Forbes. Forbes reported that Robbins passed away following a stroke that left her hospitalized earlier this year.

“Not only was she a legendary creator of comics, she was also one of comics’ greatest historians and researchers, and a guiding light to countless girls and women who had a hard time believing there was space for them in this art form,” Gail Simone said in a remembrance of her “hero, friend and mentor.”

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Rest in peace, Mark D. Bright

The artist of ‘Quantum & Woody,’ ‘Iron Man,’ ‘Icon’ and more was 68.

Mark “M.D.” Bright, an artist whose resume included drawing iconic runs on Iron Man and Green Lantern, as well as co-creating the Valiant Comics series Quantum and Woody and the Milestone Media series Icon, has passed away.

Bright died on March 27 at the age of 68. While no cause of death has been reported, an obituary posted by the funeral home notes he passed away “peacefully.”

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Rest in peace, Ed Piskor

The creator of ‘Hip Hop Family Tree’ passed away on Monday.

Ed Piskor, the creator of Hip Hop Family Tree and X-Men: Grand Design, has passed away at the age of 41.

According to the obituary posted on the Savolskis – Wasik – Glenn Funeral Home website, Piskor passed away “unexpectedly” yesterday. His sister, Justine Cleaves, confirmed her brother’s passing on Facebook.

The news followed a week of allegations against the artist for inappropriate behavior and grooming of an aspiring artist. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust  indefinitely postponed a gallery showing of Piskor’s artwork as a result of the allegations, and his longtime podcast partner Jim Rugg announced he was ending his working relationship with Piskor. Piskor posted an apparent suicide note on social media yesterday several hours before it was revealed he had died.

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Jim Rugg ends working relationship with Ed Piskor

The announcement follows recent allegations of misconduct against Piskor.

Jim Rugg has shared he has ended his professional relationship with Ed Piskor, who was accused of inappropriate behavior by multiple women this past week.

“In light of this past week’s shocking revelations, I find it necessary to reevaluate my professional associations to ensure they align with my values of respect and integrity,” Rugg wrote on Instagram. “Therefore, I have ended my working relationship with Ed Piskor.”

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Marvel celebrates 10-ish years of Skottie Young variant covers with a new series of Skottie Young variant covers

Marvel will also release Young’s ‘Giant-Size Little Marvels’ in print.

If there’s one artist who has become synonymous with Marvel variant covers, it would have to be Skottie Young, who has been drawing his “Little Marvels” versions of their characters for more than 10 years now. Gentle Giant even released statues based on his art.

Marvel plans to celebrate that milestone with a new poster, the print release of the Giant-Size Little Marvels Infinity Comic in June and, you guessed it — a series of variant covers.

“It’s hard to believe that we’re celebrating 10 years of my Young Variants,” Young said. “It’s easier to believe that we’re celebrating 10 years of my covers on the 12th year of me doing them. I mean, it’s Marvel Comics. Everyone’s crazy busy and it’s hard to keep track of every anniversary. And hey, we love playing fast and loose with numbering of things, right? Joking aside, it’s a been such a fun 12 years of getting to make people smile and laugh with my take on the Marvel Universe. Here’s to 10-ish or 12-ish more!”

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Ed Piskor gallery showing ‘indefinitely postponed’ after misconduct allegations

Multiple women have accused the creator of ‘Hip Hop Family Tree’ of inappropriate behavior, including grooming an underage artist.

A planned exhibit of Ed Piskor’s artwork from Hip Hop Family Tree has been “indefinitely postponed,” according to the Pittsburgh City Paper, following allegations of misconduct that were revealed this past weekend.

The exhibit was scheduled to begin in April at the 707 Penn Gallery in Pittsburgh and would have run through August.

“The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust learned yesterday of allegations of misconduct made by an individual against artist Ed Piskor, whose work was scheduled to be on exhibition at 707 Penn Gallery starting April 6, 2024,” a spokesperson for the Trust told Pittsburgh City Paper. “The Trust takes the allegations very seriously and has decided to postpone the exhibition indefinitely.”

Both Hip Hop Family Tree and Piskor’s Red Room were published by Fantagraphics. When Smash Pages reached out to the publisher, they shared this statement: “Fantagraphics has no future projects in the works with Ed Piskor.”

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You can pre-order Michel Fiffe’s DIY guide to creating comics

‘Creating Copra: Michel Fiffe’s Definitive DIY Guide to Making and Self-Publishing Comics’ will reveal the ‘Copra’ creator’s secrets.

If you’ve ever wondered how Copra creator Michel Fiffe produces and publishes his own comics, it’s time to find out –he’s offering a guide to making and publishing your own comics for pre-order on his website.

Creating Copra: Michel Fiffe’s Definitive DIY Guide to Making and Self-Publishing Comics is as the title describes, as detailed by one of the modern-day masters. Fiffe has self-published roughly 45 issues of Copra — minus a few that were published by Image — along with several spinoffs.

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Rest in peace, Ramona Fradon

The Hall of Fame comics artist and co-creator of Metamorpho and Aqualad has passed away at 97.

Ramona Fradon, the longtime DC artist and co-creator of Metamorpho, passed away yesterday at the age of 97 — a little more than a month after officially retiring from drawing comics.

The news was announced by her art agent, Scott Kress of Catskill Comics, on Facebook.

“Ramona was 97 and had a long career in the comic book industry and was still drawing just a few days ago. She was a remarkable person in so many ways. I will miss all the great conversations and laughs we had. I am blessed that I was able to work with her on a professional level, but also able to call her my friend,” the post reads.

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