That time Steve Dillon drew Swamp Thing growing some…herbiage for John Constantine’s 40th birthday party.
As I’m sure you’ve heard, Steve Dillon, artist of Punisher and Hellblazer, as well as the co-creator of Preacher, passed away over the weekend at the much-too-young age of 54. I’m sure I’d come across his work before this, but it was his run on Hellblazer (with writer Garth Ennis) that I really began to notice and appreciate his work. As I said on my post about his passing on the store site (where I scanned and posted a Preacher sequence that I particularly like), he had a very clean, uncomplicated style that managed to convey huge amounts of detail and wide ranges of emotion. In a way, his style reminds me a bit of Jaime Hernandez’s, particularly in his later work (as opposed to that slightly rougher-edged, but still wonderfully expressive, artwork on view in those panels above).
He was a wonderful artist, and judging by some of the tributes I’ve seen on Twitter, he seemed to be a pretty darn good guy as well. I mean, look at this swell Scarecrow he drew for a little kid.
My most sincere condolences to his family, friends and fans. So long, Steve.
I’ve never read Preacher or the Punisher comics he drew, but his work stood out to me on an ATOM special he drew around when I graduated high school/left for college. I probably reread it the first half-dozen times I came home for holidays, breaks, etc., and I’m pretty sure it’s still on the dresser in my old room at my parents’ house.
You summed up his style so well. I’ve always loved his clean, yet graphic way of telling stories. I hope his loved ones realize how much the fans of his work truly appreciate having his work in our lives. Thank the world for Steve Dillon.