Comic Book Artist JOHN SEVERIN Reported Dead at 90

Artist JOHN SEVERIN Reported Dead at 90 CREDIT: View full size image

 

Veteran comic book artist John Severin is dead at age 90, according to reports from multiple sources including The Beat.

Severin is best known for his work in the war, western and humor genres, though he worked on a diverse range of projects in his 60-plus-year career. In the 1950s, Severin illustrated war comics Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat for EC Comics, and was one of the five cartoonists who founded Mad at the publisher in 1952. At Marvel Comics, Severin worked as both a penciler and inker on titles including The Incredible Hulk and Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos. Severin continued to work in humor with many years as one of Cracked magazine's mainstays.

 

Severin remained active in recent years, illustrating western series Desperadoes: Quiet of the Grave for Wildstorm in 2002, and the much-publicized 2003 Rawhide Kid miniseries by writer Ron Zimmerman, which depicted the decades-old Marvel cowboy as gay. In 2011, Severin drew Witchfinder: Lost and Gone Forever for Dark Horse comics, an Old West miniseries in the Hellboy universe.

According to a statement released by Severin's family, the artist passed away on Sunday, Feb. 12, at home in Denver, with his family by his side.

Cover penciled by

Dick Ayers, inked by

John Severin.

"He had an art style that was uniquely and distinctly his own," says a quote from Stan Lee in the family's statement. "The minute you looked at his artwork you knew you were looking at a John Severin illustration; it could be no one else."

Following the news breaking on Tuesday morning, several comic book pros showed their respect for Severin on Twitter.

"Everytime a package from John came in, [Dark Horse editor Daniel Chabon] and I would just lose our minds looking at the detail, the raw drawing ability," wrote Dark Horse editor Scott Allie. "Few artists were turning in pages that made such an impression, certainly no one who'd been doing it longer than either of us were alive."

"John Severin, it was one of the highlights of my career to write pages he drew in Iron Fist," wrote Ed Brubaker, who worked with Severin on Immortal Iron Fist #2 in 2006. "He was still great, still working, at 90."

Severin was inducted in 2003 as a member of the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame. His sister, Marie, is also a noted comic book artist who worked for EC and Marvel.

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