It's been confirmed today that prolific comic book artist John Cassaday has died aged just 52. Details are scarce as we write this, though we know he was admitted to the ICU at Mount Sinai West Hospital in New York last week.
His sister shared the news of his passing in a Facebook post that read, "My little bro John passed away at 6:51pm Texas time. Please keep me and my mom in your prayers."
Cassaday began his career in the mid-1990s working on Image Comics titles like Gen¹³ and Wetworks. However, we're sure many of you will know him best for his contributions to the Marvel Universe where he redesigned Captain America (with a look that heavily inspired the MCU) and his work alongside Joss Whedon on the critically acclaimed Astonishing X-Men.
The latter series redefined the characters and Cassaday's work was a massive part of that.
The artist also co-created Planetary alongside writer Warren Ellis and helped Marvel Comics launch a new wave of Star Wars comics shortly after Disney acquired Lucasfilm.
Cassaday's art is praised for its clean lines, attention to detail, and cinematic quality that makes his pages look like stills from a movie and, over the years, he's been nominated for and won several industry awards, including Eisner Awards, for his work on Astonishing X-Men and Planetary.
As you can imagine, countless tributes have poured in for Cassaday, though Mark Waid has shared one of the most touching. You can read that in its entirety below.
"My dear friend John Cassaday passed today at the absurdly young age of 52 and I miss him already."
"I met John in, I believe, 1996--Google will not give up the secret of exactly which year the Big Apple Comic Con was held at Madison Square Garden. John was pleasant, he was polite and well-mannered, and when he showed me his portfolio, I also knew he was tremendously talented for a newcomer. The next morning, I was having breakfast with writer Jeff Mariotte, who mentioned he was looking for an illustrator for his next series, Desperadoes. Boy, did he say that to the right guy, because I had just the artist in mind."
"Outside of that fortuitous referral, I refuse to take any real credit for 'discovering' John Cassaday. I can’t take credit for having functioning eyeballs. But we were friends forevermore after that, and watching his quick ascension to becoming one of the most gifted, most sought-after comics illustrators of his generation was a blast. John had a memorable stint on X-Men and another on his favorite character, Captain America, but it was Planetary that rightfully put him on the map. He was meticulous, he wouldn’t turn in a single piece of art until he’d worried it to death, and as his publisher for a brief time at Humanoids, I had the great and now melancholy pleasure of watching magnificent pages, his best ever, come in slowly on his dream project, an unannounced creator-owned multimedia series that will now be his unfinished symphony."
"Men in comics, as a general rule, are not exactly blessed with leading-man looks, but John was. Ask anyone. Between his handsome appearance, his charming manner, and his perfect blend of confidence and humility, he was quite the favorite of many, many ladies in his youth. Many. Effortlessly. To walk into a room of women with John was a reminder that the rest of us really, truly needed to work on our game. My single favorite memory with John was when he and I and a bunch of other comics dudes were standing around at a big convention bar-party when actor Michael Rosenbaum walked in. Every woman’s head turned, instantly, every eye upon Rosenbaum. It was like throwing a magnet into a box of iron filings. Conversely, every man in the bar who’d been there with a date was suddenly holding two drinks. In the tumult, I had the presence of mind to look at John and say, 'Now you know how WE feel.'"
"John Cassaday, I will say without hesitation and with very little fear of disagreement, was one of the very best illustrators and storytellers to ever work in the comics medium. Like Neal Adams, Jim Steranko, or Michael Golden, he is a touchstone, a reference point to the dozens and dozens of artists whose work was influenced by his. Most people are lucky if more than a dozen people are still talking about them a month after they pass. My friend John will be talked about and remembered by an entire industry for ages. And rightfully so. Rest in peace, sir."
Our thoughts go out to John's friends and family at this challenging time.