Joshua Quagmire (1952-2023).
Was very surprised to learn via Mark Evanier’s website that Joshua Quagmire, creator of Cutey Bunny, had passed away.
Cutey Bunny was a favorite of mine, after picking up that initial run of comics in the mid-1980s. Every page was just crammed wall-to-wall with fun art and funny (and even better, corny) jokes. Quagmire’s personality just shone through wherever his pen touched paper and his work was a constant delight.
A silly running gag in a few of the Amazing Heroes Preview Specials was the entries for upcoming issues of Cutey Bunny (or rather Army Surplus Comikz Presents Cutey Bunny) that, well, weren’t actually going to happen far as I can tell. Here’s one from Preview Special #3 (Summer 1986):
He had a website with cartoons and writings ‘n’ such that I would check into once in a while, though he stopped updating it a couple of years back. Still lots of nice work on there (I think maybe a little bit of it NSFW), so check it out while you can.
I can’t remember the circumstances…it may have been me linking to his site before here, but I did have a brief, friendly exchange of emails with Mr. Quagmire several years ago. Struck me as a very nice guy, which fits with everything else I’ve heard about him. A unique talent that I’m going to miss…so long, Joshua.
Speaking of Mr. Evanier, I also just now saw on his site that the legendary artist John Romita Sr. has also passed away. Another huge loss to the comics industry. Yes, he drew lots of other stuff, but he was the man who redefined Spider-Man’s look after he took over art chores on Amazing when Steve Ditko left. His legacy is not only that wonderful work he’s left behind, but also that it carries on through his son, John Jr., still doing great art today on…Spider-Man, what else?
So long, John.
Saddened to learn of the passing away of John Romita Sr. He was one of the greats! What beautiful draftsmanship and craft he brought to his work! I think Marvel and Stan got really lucky that John Romita and John Buscema were there to evolve the House Style in the ’70s after Kirby left. And, boy, could Romita draw attractive women!
We are reaching the end of the old guard comics creators…Stan’s younger brother Larry Lieber, and Jack Katz are among the last few left.
Sad to learn of Joshua Quagmire’s passing as well. I should probably track down some of his work. That ad in Comics Preview was
fantastic…it would be cool if those stories actually existed. I dig the whimsy in his drawing of Cutey Bunny as Storm and her friends as other X-Men characters.
Two big hits to the gut. There’s no other way to put it.
John Romita Sr. missed his flight so he could do drawings for a long line of people, including me–he drew a picture of Rebecca Cunningham from Talespin. He will be missed.
I never really paid attention to Cutey Bunny in the 80s and never realized she was Black. Was Quagmire Black? I can’t find anything about the man online.
Ditko’s Spider-Man will always be *the* Spider-Man IMHO, but Romita brilliantly and consistently met the challenge when handed the unenviable task of taking over a hugely popular title at short notice. R.I.P.
Quagmire belonged to a small but significant niche in comicbooks, alongside Scott Shaw!, Stan Sakai, Steve Gallacci, Chuck Fiala, Mike Kazaleh and John Patrick Morgan: creators whose work benefitted from the post-TMNT boom and which then, in turn, helped fuel the nascent furry fandom of the late 1980s.
Never noticed those “previews” before, as there were a few years between when I got the AH issues (mostly as back issues) and I discovered Cutey Bunny. Cool find.
Quagmire did eventually do a few more issues of his series, probably not resembling those previews, looks like three one-shots in the mid 90s, but I’ve only ever found one.
https://13thdimension.com/that-time-murphy-anderson-inked-john-romitas-spider-man/
That time Murphy Anderson inked John Romita!
John Romita, probably the last of the old greats!
Snark Shark:
Agreed, although Stan’s younger brother Larry Lieber is still with us, and he was part of early Marvel Comics as well, both scripting and drawing comics.
Also Jack Katz, more know for his magnum opus First Kingdom, did some drawing for Atlas/Marvel in the Atomic and Silver Ages.
And for the next wave we still have Steranko, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Sal Buscema.
I didn’t know Jack Katz was still around, nor that he’d worked for Marvel!
Snark Shark:
Yes, Jack Katz is 95 years old. He is one of the last–if not the last–living Golden Age artists. He worked with C.C. Beck, at Fawcett Comics, worked for Simon and Kirby, worked for Stan Lee at Timely/Atlas, worked for Fiction House, and then left comics for awhile and taught art. He came back in the Silver Age and did some Western stuff for Marvel and Romance stuff for DC, and stuff for Warren Magazines, and Skywald Comics, before creating First Kingdom. He used a lot of pseudonyms, including “Jay Hawk.”
That’s quite a resume!
I’m Josh’s friend. He used an alias – I’ve been dealing with his apartment for his sisters … I’ve rescued 3/4ths of stuff I could.
May try to get a collection of the QT Bunny / Taffy & the Pirates / Space Gophers materials reprinted. I’m keeping his FaceBook page open.
Josh was my friend.
I was in the navy stationed in CT. when I found a copy of CUTEY BUNNY #3 in our local comic shop in 83 n fell in love with Kelly n the gang. Ordered a t shirt from Josh, was surprised find a long typed letter with scans n sketches of his art included. We began corresponding he was always there for me for 40 years. I collabed with him creating his online store n doing ink n color work for his calendars n other stuff. When my computer died he sent me an iMac that I still have. I never met him n only talked to him on the fone three or four times. But he was my best friend. The world is a little darker now that he’s gone.