Bernie Mireault (1961-2024).
I’m not sure what turned me on to Bernie Mireault’s MacKenzie Queen way back when. It wasn’t a rack purchase…I found a copy in a back issue bin purely at random in the mid-1980s, not very long after the series had come out and completed its five issue run. It might have been the vague memory of an Amazing Heroes review that made it sound interesting to me. Or it may have been Mireault’s striking artwork, standing out as it did even here in its earliest form:
Mireault may have been best known for his non-super superhero comics The Jam, running many issues from a variety of publishers. Usually it was in black and white, but it did have the occasional color appearance, like this one from the Super Col Color-Infused Turbo Adventure from Hell #1:
And he would appear occasionally in various places, like a story in this Secret Origins Special, a short but notable run on Grendel, and somewhat bizarrely this one issue of the Blair Witch Project comic book tie-in.
His comic work declined in recent years, though he did have one final hurrah with the rerelease of some of his The Jam material, plus some new work, from my pal Nat Gertler’s publishing company About Comics. (In fact, Nat has dropped the price on the remastered trade paperback of the first The Jam series, basically selling them at cost to get more people exposed to Mireault’s wonderful work.
And yes, I did say his “last hurrah” up there, because, as you likely saw on this post’s subject line, Bernie Mireault is no longer with us. He was a wonderfully gifted talent in an industry that didn’t appreciate him as it should have. (A story, sadly, that has repeated itself several times.) I selfishly wish I could have had more from him, but I will still treasure what I got.
Pal Nat also has a tribute to the man.
So long, Bernie.
I have the only issue of The Jam I’ve ever seen and his Grendel work, and he was unique as an artist, work that’s textured in almost the way stop-motion is. He appeared in the one-page Joe Matt Peepshow as well, compounding the loss. RIP Bernie.
I loved his work on the Richard Feynman bio Two-Fisted Science” (floppy version) with Jim Ottaviani. My chemistry-teaching Feynman-fangirl friend probably was not appreciative of Mireault’s expressive, dynamic art, as she quickly gave away to a student the copy I had given to her.
RIP, Mr. Mireault.
Don’t forget his wonderful story in the Comico Christmas Special. It was where I discovered his work. I have to reread that book every year before Christmas. There was so much humanity in his work. He will be missed.
I’m saddened to hear of Bernie Mireault’s passing. I always loved his distinctive art style and read all of his Jam comics back in the ’80s. I think that artistically he had something in common with Los Bros. Hernandez in terms of his storytelling abilities.
I will dig out those Jam back issues later today and read them while I listen to some old albums by The Jam (the band which inspired him to create the character the same name) and Paul Weller, to celebrate Mireault in spirit!
Well, that sucks!
“Super Col Color-Infused Turbo Adventure from Hell #1”.
I meant to buy this after reading a Preiview in CGB, but never got around to it!
AND he was the basis for the character Kirby Hero in the second MAGE series (The Hero Defined) as I recall…
I’d never heard of Mireault but picked up the About Comics compilation and love it.
I ended up buying a lot of About’s stuff from the website catalogue and I realized that your blog has introduced me to so much comics material that I enjoy and never would’ve found.
Thank you for that.