COMICS 2008

1/6 Martha Arguello, 90

- creator of the comic strip ‘Bobby Sox’ (later ‘Emmy
Lou’), 1944-79
- signed her strip ‘Marty Links’; one of the first female
members of the National Cartoonists Society

2/2 Gus Arriola, 90, Parkinson’s disease

- cartoonist and creator of ‘Gordo’, 1941-1985
2/2 Roger Testu, 94
- French cartoonist

2/6 John Alvin, 59

- movie poster artist
2/10 Steve Gerber, 60, pulmonary fibrosis
- comic book writer – The Defenders, Man-Thing,
Foolkiller
- co-creator of Howard the Duck; waged a long legal
battle with Marvel Comics over ownership of the
character
- animation writer – co-creator of “Thundarr the
Barbarian”
2/11 Stéphane Peru, 26, heart attack
- comic book colorist for Marvel and DC; titles include
‘52’, ‘Incredible Hercules’ and ‘Young X-Men’
2/19 Robin Moore, 82
- collaborated with artist Joe Kubert on the ‘Green Berets’
comic strip
- wrote the novels “The French Connection” & “The Green
Berets” (1966-69)

2/22 Steve Whitaker, 53

- colorist; ‘V for Vendetta’
3/11 Dave Stevens, 52
- comic book artist/writer; creator of ‘The Rocketeer’
- known for his stunning pin-up art, particularly of Bettie
Page
3/30 Jim Mooney, 88
- legendary comic book artist whose career spanned the
1940s to the 1990s
- best-known for his work on Supergirl and Spider-Man,
as well as work with Steve Gerber (see above)
4/14 Ollie Johnston, 96
- the last of Walt Disney’s “Nine Old Men”, the pioneers
of Disney animation
- Animator from 1935 to 1981, contributing to all the
animated features from ‘Snow White’ to ‘The Fox and
the Hound’
4/29 John Berkey, 76
- sci-fi/space artist/painter, including early artwork for
Star Wars
5/3 Ted Key, 95
- cartoonist; creator of ‘Hazel’, a comic strip that ran
from 1943-1993, which spun-off a live-action TV show
(1961-66)
- also created ‘Mr. Peabody and Sherman’ for “Rocky &
Bullwinkle” and wrote the story for four Disney films

5/15 Will Elder, 86

- EC Comics artist and one of the original artists for MAD
Magazine
- Followed MAD co-founder Harvey Kurtzman to his other
short-lived humor mags – Help!, Trump and Humbug
- Co-writer/artist of ‘Little Annie Fanny”, a cartoon
feature for Playboy that ran almost a quarter century
5/21 Mel Casson, 87
- Comic strip artist; several strips between 1948-99: ‘Jeff
Crockett’, ‘Sparky’, ‘Angel’, ‘Mixed Singles’, ‘Redeye’
5/22 Harry Lange, 77
- illustrator and production, known for his work on ‘2001:
A Space Odyssey’
- also contributed to ‘Dark Crystal’ & the original ‘Star
Wars’ trilogy

6/27 Michael Turner, 37, bone cancer

- Artist; drew/co-created ‘Witchblade’ for Top Cow
- Created his own series, ‘Fathom’, in 1998 and started
his own company, Aspen, in 2002
8/5 Michael Silberkleit, 76
- chairman of Archie Comics; son of Archie co-founder
Louis Silberkleit; worked at Archie for 60 years

8/15 Carlos Meglia, 50, aortic stroke

- Argentinian comics artist, working primarily in his native
country, then later Spain and in the past two decades
for Marvel and DC
9/2 Bill Meléndez, 91
- Animator/director; best known for helming the Peanuts
cartoon specials and films
9/26 Raymond Macherot, 84
- Belgian cartoonist, published in the Spirou and Tintin
magazines

10/14 Ray Lowry, 64

- English cartoonist, illustrator, and album cover designer
10/20 Mark Buck, motorcycle accident
- artist; Samurai Penguin

10/23 Tom Fagan, 76

- fan whose love of comics led him to create an annual
super-hero costumed Halloween parade in Rutland,
Vermont
- the parade, and Fagan, were the subject of several
comics in the ‘70s from Marvel, DC and Charlton
12/4 Forrest J. Ackerman, 92
- one of the originators of sci-fi fandom
- founder of ‘Famous Monsters of Filmland’ magazine,
which he ran from 1958-83
12/11 Bettie Page, 85
- 1950s pin-up model who experienced a resurgence of
interest after being featured in ‘The Rocketeer’ comic in
the mid-1980s
- starred in her own comics from Dark Horse
12/11 Maddie Blaustein, 48
- formerly Adam Blaustein; comics writer – ‘Static’,
‘Hardware’, ‘Legend of the Shield’
- voice of Meowth on the US version of “Pokémon”

12/25 Edd Cartier, 94

- Pulp fiction artist
all Cartier pics from www.shadowsanctum.com