The Passing of a Legend

I often frequent an Internet website called The Comic Art Community where you can find all sorts of great artwork. I was there to look for images of the Invisible Woman to use as reference guides for a character going invisible in one of my scripts. And I saw an image that floored me. It was the image you see on the right.
I immediately went into a state of shock and started doing frantic Internet searches. Unfortunately, it was true. Comic book artist Michael Turner had passed away.
As I alluded to in a previous blog entry, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And Mike Turner’s art was a beauty for me to behold. I was a huge fan of his and was lucky enough to meet him at a comic book convention a few years ago. He did a sketch for me and autographed several of my Witchblade and Ballistic issues. A giant Sara Pezzini poster hangs in my comic book room and more Turner artwork adorned my bedroom for a time.
I was lucky enough to attend his drawing class at Defcon. I had already attended classes held by artist Marat Mychaels and Dan Fraga. I was surprised to turn around during the session and see Dan Fraga sitting behind me. Professionals wanted in on Turner’s secrets. He was just such a tremendous talent. Those autographed copies of mine aren’t in the best shape because I poured over them time and again to study and try to learn (i.e. copy) his drawing techniques. His artwork adorned my computer screen as much as Jim Lee. I will sorely miss his incredible artwork and from what other comic professional have said, he was a really nice guy too.
Unfortunately, I was a bit out of the loop. He passed away on June 27 after a long and heroic struggle with bone cancer. He was only 37 years old. His artwork will long outlive him and his legend will continue to grow. Of that I am sure.
Part of me considered selling my sketch of Ian Nottingham on eBay for about 1.25 milliseconds but that piece is just way too cool and too close to me. You can click on the following gallery to see a small sample of his tremendous artwork.

You will be missed, Michael Turner. You were an idol for me, a talent to aspire to. My heart goes out to your family. Rest in peace.