A Sense of Doubt blog post #3505 - John Cassady RIP - Comic Book Sunday 2409.22
If my Dad had not just died, I would have posted about John Cassady's death on September 9th much sooner, like on Sept. 10th or 11th.
But I could see making an argument that John Cassady would top the list of all, even though this would negate my nostalgic and childhood fondness for Jack Kirby, John Romita, Gene Colan, Gil Kane, Neal Adams, George Perez, and John Byrne.
Damn.
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John Cassaday, my friend and collaborator of over twenty-five years, died on Monday 9 September at the age of 52. |
He had a heart attack on Tuesday 3 September and never woke up. |
I first met him in the Nineties, online: he’d done work on some indie project, I think one of Hart Fisher’s, that caught my eye and I made contact with him. We tried to set up a project back then, but it didn’t work out for some reason lost to the mists of time. But he used the pages he’d done as samples, which got in front of Mark Waid, who showed them to lovely Jeff Mariotte, who got him into Wildstorm to do Jeff’s DESPERADOES. |
If you read about John this week, I bet you anything that nobody will take the credit for “discovering” John, including me. John was always going to happen. He was just too good. I will use the word “defining” a couple of times. |
John and I met properly at San Diego in 1997. We sat down at the far edge of the convention floor and quickly established we wanted to try something together again, at Wildstorm. John said he’d love to try a monthly series, but hated the idea of having to draw the same thing every issue. |
That right there was the genesis of PLANETARY. Creating a book for John that wasn’t the same thing every month. That’s the book. Taking that wish right up to changing the covers completely every issue. |
(We quickly adjusted to six-weekly, which wasn’t unheard of back then, because John was meticulous.) |
“How will people find the book every issue?” they asked. “It’ll be the book that doesn’t look like anything else on the shelf,” we said. |
I believe I sent PLANETARY over to Wildstorm as a pitch, just to see if they were interested in the idea, without mentioning John. The story goes that Scott Dunbier saw the pitch and phoned John to say he’d found the perfect book for him. Scott had no idea about John and I’s conversations. He just knew. |
John went on to do that joyful, glorious run on ASTONISHING X-MEN with Joss, that defining CAPTAIN AMERICA run, the magnificent I AM LEGION and the STAR WARS comic that sold a million copies. |
John could do anything, and was constantly reaching for more in his art, storytelling and design. He made me better. He was a rare talent and a rarer human. |
We stayed friends despite the fact that he’d worked with me. He complained about me mildly, he took the piss out of me - he had a very dry sense of humour - but he remained my friend. We last talked about a year ago, I think. He was still trying to drag me out to NYC. He was working on a multimedia project and we were coming up on the time he wanted to pick my brain about animation writing and producing. If you were John’s friend, he supported you and had your back no matter what, and you did the same for him, because he was John. |
There are times in your life when you find out who your friends are. John was my friend. |
Defining. He was one of the few defining Western comics creators of the last twenty-five years. He should have had another twenty-five years. He was a titan of the form, and a wonderful human being, and I should not be writing this utterly inadequate note on my friend who left the room too early. |
Sending all best wishes and best hopes for the future to his loved ones and family. |
I know I’ve thanked you before, John, but thank you again, and good night, my good friend. |
In Memoriam: Comic Artist and Writer John Cassaday
We’re sorry to report the passing of multiple Eisner Award-winning American comic and concept artist, and writer John Cassaday, who died yesterday, aged just 52.
We understand John had been suffering from ill health for some time. Our sympathies to family and friends at this difficult time.
“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” writer Mark Waid said on social media. “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.”
“It’s always awful when we lose one of our own, but to lose someone so gifted at a such a young age just feels absolutely wrong,” fellow artist Bill Sienkiewicz has commented. “Deepest condolences to his family.”
Bleeding Cool reports he was admitted to the ICU at Mount Sinai West Hospital in New York, last week. His sister, Robin, announced his death yesterday. “My little bro John passed away at 6.51pm Texas time. Please keep me and my mom in your prayers.”
The co-creator of Planetary with Warren Ellis, Desperadoes with Jeff Mariotte and I Am Legion with Fabien Nury, John Cassaday, a popular, design-focused comic book artist, was the artist on Astonishing X-Men with Joss Whedon, Captain America with John Ney Rieber and Jeph Loeb, and Star Wars with Jason Aaron. He won Eisner Awards for his work on Astonishing X-Men, Planetary, and I Am Legion.
John was also a Member of the Society of Illustrators and the Directors Guild of America.
Although his working life began with directing television news after attending film school, he moved into comics while working in construction his work for various independent comics (Dark Angel with Boneyard Press and Negative Burn with Caliber Comics) attracting the attention of writer and editor Mark Waid, who actively promoted his work.
In his tribute, Mark recalled his first meeting with John in the mid 1990s, at Big Apple Comic Con.
“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,” he noted on Facebook. “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.”
“My friend John Cassaday and I were important parts of our respective careers in comics,” Jeff notes in his Facebook tribute. “Desperadoes was my first creator-owned title. It allowed me to work with a number of stellar talents. It sold well, and it helped ignite a boom in weird-western comics that’s still ongoing. It made a name for me as a comics writer.
“John was the first artist on the series. He developed the visual appearance of the characters. He wasn’t yet well known, but over the course of his run he became well known. I showed early pages to Warren Ellis, who tapped John for Planetary, which made him a superstar. Once I tried to introduce Joss Whedon to John, because Joss loved Desperadoes. Joss declined the offer at that moment, but later worked extensively with John, even hiring him to direct an episode of his TV show Dollhouse.
“Now John is gone, way too young. I haven’t seen him in five or six years, and now I won’t see him again. Happy trails, partner, and thanks for riding with me.”
After Desperadoes, published by WildStorm, John drew Ghost for Dark Horse, and his credits quickly mounted up on a huge amount of books – The Avengers, Flash, Gen 13, Teen Titans, Superman/Batman and X-Men among them.
1999 saw him co-create Planetary with Warren Ellis for Wildstorm/DC, one of the most critically acclaimed superhero comics of all time. He moved on to relaunch X-Men with Joss Whedon as Astonishing X-Men, redesigned Captain America, and enjoyed success in France, drawing Je suis légion (“I Am Legion”) by Fabien Nury from Les Humanoïdes Associés, also published in English.
His standout cover work includes Lone Ranger for Dynamite Entertainment, reflecting his love of classic pulp characters.
“I’ve lost a piece of my heart today. I can’t believe I’m saying this,” commented Dynamite Entertainment publisher Nick Barrucci, in an extensive tribute, recalling many of his encounters with the artist over 25 years. “John Cassaday has passed away and is riding into the sunset. I guess God needed to balance Heaven and have another great person there.
“John was not only one of the most talented person that I know, but he was one of the nicest people that I’ve ever known … He was more than a friend. He was a brother.
“I only got to see John about six to eight times a year whether at shows, or dinner or drinks in New York or his coming down to Philly a few times, but each time, it was like we never missed a beat.
“… We loved a lot of the same pulp characters,” he continues. “John was very happy when he got to draw The Green Hornet, Shadow, The Spider, Sherlock Holmes, and so many other great characters he grew up on. The one that made me the happiest, was his love for The Lone Ranger, and when we got that license, he not only did covers, but was part of the editorial, helping to work with Brett, and overseeing the art with Sergio and Dean’s colours.”
John also wrote for comics providing stories for, for example, Bela Lugosi: Takes from the Grave, Hellboy: Weird Tales, Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream, Rocketeer Adventures, Union Jack and X-Men: Alpha Flight.
In 2019, he became the Chief Creative Officer of Humanoids, a position he held for several years, including the launch of Humanoids’ superhero shared universe Ignition (H1), alongside his friend and then Humanoids Publisher, Mark Waid.
“Creating worlds and breathing life into characters as John Cassaday knew how to do is a very rare gift (and the fruit of immense labour),” notes Fabrice Giger, the head of Humanoids, who worked closely with the artist for over twenty years. “My friend John was a soul of infinite gentleness, with a heart as vast as his talent.”
At the time of his death John was working, slowly, on Madshadows, his dream project for Humanoids, “an unannounced creator-owned multimedia series that will now be his unfinished symphony,” Waid notes. Sadly, the project remains incomplete in the wake of his passing.
Editor and publisher Paul Levitz has also mentioned John’s unfinished project in his tribute.
“Too stunned by the death of John Cassaday at way too young an age to know what to say. Besides being a creative talent with a distinctive style, he was a charming guy, full of energy and seeming younger than his years. One of his ideas that we explored at Boom was among the most ambitious and original I heard in my career, and I’m sad that now it can never come to pass. His untold tales are a loss to us all. My sympathy to his family, loved ones and his many, many fans. What the hell?”
“This is pretty hard to take,” says artist and editor Kerry Gammill. John was incredibly talented and successful and a really good guy. I’d known John since he was about 15. I called him Johnny back then. He lived in Texas not too far from Dallas and Fort Worth and we met at a comic convention I was appearing at. We had a lot of likes in common and we hit it off right away. We were fans of the same artists and genres. For a teenager he was surprisingly aware of great stuff from many years ago like Republic serials… I looked forward to seeing John at the shows and talking about our mutual interests.
“The funny thing is, I don’t remember him ever showing me his art or even telling me he had any aspirations to work in comics. But several years later, suddenly he was a big name comics artist. I was so proud of him.
“When I started my own horror comics publishing venture in 2009, I asked John if he might be able to draw a short story for the first issue of our first comic, Bela Lugosi’s Tales from the Grave. Even though we had no money to offer up front, he was more than eager to do what he could to help us get started. He wrote and drew a story called “The Good Doctor” and also drew an alternative cover for the issue. I’ll always be grateful to him for that.”
“Gutted to hear about the death of our friend, John Cassaday,” commnented artist and writer Liam Sharp. “We met him at the Bristol Comic Con on the brink of his deserved stardom, and immediately hit it off. He looked like a surfer, or rock star, but he had a very gentle manner. And he never forgot that Christina and I took him under our wings back then, and he would always bring it up when we saw him – and whenever our paths crossed at conventions he made sure to grab a drink with us.
“In recent times we had felt concerned at his growing frailty, but he would brush any worries aside with a smile. Whatever he was going through was, it was clear, a private matter. You had to respect that.
“We’ll miss you, John! You staggering talent, and delightful man. The world feels a little darker today.”
“We’re devastated by the loss of our dear friend, artist and comic book legend John Cassaday,” US publisher Marvel commented on X. “His art was a master class in emotion, action, and storytelling, and he captured the essence of every character he drew. John was one of the best. He will always be part of our Marvel family.”
Also paying tribute, comic artist and friend Richard Friend, who first met John Cassaday around 2005, recalls: “Occasionally artists would come to Wildstorm to visit. But would also work for a day or two at the studio. It was really exciting knowing he was coming… John reminded me of the most popular guy you’d meet in high school. Talented, popular, good looking, he just had that quality. But he was also incredibly humble and nice. Years later when I’d see him at shows, he always had time to talk to me and it always felt real. He listened. Cared about what you were up to and just was a genuinely nice guy. Man. So sad I won’t get to see him again. I was always happy for all his success and his style was such a cool mix of influences.
“Rest in peace John. You were a great person. Thank you for your friendship and kindness.”
“… While Planetary was a watershed comic with incredible critical acclaim, John had even more commercial success with Captain America, then Astonishing X-Men, and then relaunched Star Wars with Jason Aaron at Marvel,” Nick Barrucci notes. “And regardless of the success John had, he never changed. He was still the awesome person he always was.”
• John Cassaday’s Official Facebook Page | Instagram
John Cassaday, 14th December 1971 – 9th September 2024
Web Links
• Wikipedia: John Cassaday Profile
• Albert Moy: The Art of John Cassaday
• Comic Art Fans: John Cassaday Art
Tributes
• AIPT: Comic book artist John Cassaday passes away at 52
• ComicsBeat: Artist John Cassaday has passed away at age 52
• ComicBook.com – John Cassaday, Astonishing X-Men and Planetary Artist, Dies at 52
This feature was last updated on Wednesday 11th September 2024 to add further tributes from John’s co-workers, fellow creators, and publishers
John Cassaday, Award-Winning Comic Book Artist, Dies at 52
In series like Planetary, of which he was a creator, and Astonishing X-Men, his drawings conveyed a sense of realism in situations that were often fantastical.
George Gene Gustines has been writing about comic books for The Times for more than two decades. More about George Gene Gustines
John Cassaday, an award-winning comic book artist best known
for his runs on Planetary, a series he helped create about a trio of
adventurers investigating strange events, and Astonishing X-Men, on which his
work offered readers a new entry point to a decades-old franchise, died on
Sept. 9 in Manhattan. He was 52.
Tara A. Martinez, his partner, said he died of cardiac
arrest in a hospital.
In a medium known for its often fantastical scenarios, Mr.
Cassaday’s drawings conveyed a sense of realism. Nowhere was that more evident
than in his work on Planetary, which he created with the writer Warren Ellis.
His work on that series “rightfully put him on the map,” Mark Waid, a comic
book editor and writer, wrote on Facebook.
Writing in his newsletter after Mr. Cassaday died, Mr. Ellis
recalled one of the first times he met with him about working together on
Planetary, which began in 1999.
 |
| Mr. Cassaday, who created Planetary with the writer Warren Ellis, worried about drawing the same characters in every story, but each issue provided him with different characters and situations. This cover, from 2006, shows Elijah Snow, one of the members of the Planetary team.Credit...DC |
“John said he’d love to try a monthly series, but hated the idea of having to draw the same thing every issue,” Mr. Ellis wrote. He rarely did: Within the first year of the series, Mr. Cassaday drew versions of pulp heroes like Doc Savage, an island of monsters reminiscent of Godzilla, the ghost of a Chinese police officer who had been wrongfully killed, and a doppelgänger of Marilyn Monroe who was subjected to scientific experiments by the government.
Perhaps the easiest character to draw was the Drummer, one
of the investigators, whom Mr. Cassaday modeled on himself.
The covers, drawn and designed by Mr. Cassaday, were like
movie posters, with the Planetary logo reimagined each time.
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| The members of the Planetary team of investigators include Jakita Wagner, Elijah Snow and the Drummer — perhaps the easiest character for Mr. Cassaday to draw, since he modeled him on himself.Credit...DC |
Mr. Cassaday received an Eisner Award, the comic book industry equivalent of the Oscar, for best penciler/inker in 2004. He tied for the award with Frank Quitely in 2005 and won it again in 2006, for Planetary and Astonishing X-Men. The writer of that title was Joss Whedon, the creator of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and the writer and director of several Marvel movies.
“There are basically three people that I would count as the easiest collaborations, the most natural, the best I’ve ever worked with,” Mr. Whedon said in an interview. “One is an actor, one is an editor and one is Johnny. He knew so much of what I was trying to convey that my scripts just got shorter and shorter.”
Their run on Astonishing X-Men began in 2004 — and came with
a dramatic change: In their first issue, they brought back the team’s colorful
uniforms, after the characters had worn black leather for many years. Mr.
Whedon addressed the new looks with his trademark wit, having Cyclops tell his
fellow mutants: “Sorry, Logan. Super heroes wear costumes” and “all the black
leather is making people nervous.”
Mr. Whedon and Mr. Cassaday also brought Colossus, a
character who was believed to be dead, back to the team. The reveal is a
testament to how well the creative team meshed.
“The best page I ever wrote in comics has no words,” Mr.
Whedon said. The page, which also has no sound effects, depicts Kitty Pryde,
Colossus’s lover, gazing at him with a stunned expression as she places a hand
over her heart.
“He didn’t swagger, he didn’t yell,” Mr. Whedon said of Mr.
Cassaday, but “he was very exacting” about his art — an approach that included
giving notes on the colors and lettering of his pages.
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| Mr. Cassaday collaborated with the writer Joss Whedon on Astonishing X-Men. For a sequence in which two members of the team, Colossus and Kitty Pryde, are reunited after many years, Mr. Whedon let Mr. Cassaday's art carry the moment.Credit...Marvel |
Laura J. Martin, the colorist on Astonishing X-Men, said that one of her favorite collaborations with Mr. Cassaday was the cover of No. 6 in the series, on which he depicted Kitty and Colossus caressing. The cover required extensive color work to convey texture and the silver sheen of Colossus’s metallic body. Mr. Cassaday gave Ms. Martin that cover as a wedding present.
Mr. Cassaday “was definitely a perfectionist,” said Chris
Eliopoulos, the letterer on Astonishing X-Men. “Our first issue of Astonishing
was like a class. I had to learn what he wanted.” One lesson: Mr. Cassaday
liked symmetry. Another: He did not like colored word balloons.
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| Marvel Comics No. 1,000, published in 2019, celebrated Marvel’s 80th anniversary by devoting a page to each year of its history. Mr. Cassaday drew this page depicting Captain America in 1944.Credit...John Cassaday/Marvel Comics, via Associated Press |
Mr. Eliopoulos applied this knowledge when he worked with Mr. Cassaday on a new Star Wars comic book series, written by Jason Aaron for Marvel in 2015. An editor suggested black word balloons for Darth Vader. Mr. Eliopoulos told the editor that Mr. Cassaday would not like that. Undeterred, the editor went and asked Mr. Cassaday, and he responded, “No, we’re not doing that.”
The first issue of that series sold more than a million copies.
Johnny Mac Cassaday was born on Dec. 14, 1971, in Fort Worth
to Johnny Mac and Latrell Cassaday. His father was a deputy fire chief, and his
mother was a hairdresser.
Mr. Cassaday studied film at the University of North Texas
but did not graduate. He then worked as a news director for a television
station in Denison, Texas, from 1990 to 1995.
“His love of news stayed with him. He’d often have it on
when he was drawing,” Ms. Martinez, his partner, wrote in an email. “I’d
chuckle when he’d get distracted and start backseat directing the broadcast.”
In addition to Ms. Martinez, he is survived by his mother
and a sister, Robin Cassaday. His father died of cancer in 1990.
Mr. Cassaday broke into the comic book industry in 1994 with
a one-page illustration and a short story for Boneyard Press. Other assignments
followed, and a portfolio review in 1996 with Mr. Waid, who was a freelancer
then, helped propel him to the next level.
Mr. Waid recommended Mr. Cassaday to the writer Jeff
Mariotte, with whom he would create the series Desperadoes, a weird take on the
Wild West, which was published the next year.
“I refuse to take any real credit for ‘discovering’ John
Cassaday,” Mr. Waid wrote on Facebook. “I can’t take credit for having
functioning eyeballs.”
In 2019, Mr. Cassaday became the chief creative officer of
the comic publisher Humanoids, where he began work on Madshadows, a passion
project about the pulp magazine stories and characters of the early 20th
century. Mr. Cassaday was writing and drawing the project and had completed
dozens of pages at his death.
“He considered it his magnum opus,” Ms. Martinez said. “I
hope the world gets to see it someday.”
https://www.instagram.com/john_cassaday/?hl=en
https://x.com/johncassaday?lang=en
OTHERS
https://www.comicsbeat.com/artist-john-cassaday-has-passed-away-at-age-52/
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/john-cassaday-dead-joss-whedon-astonishing-x-men-planetary-1235996404/
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/comics-artist-john-cassaday-planetary-co-creator-has-died-aged-52/
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- Days ago: MOM = 3369 days ago & DAD = 025 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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