In Memoriam

John Cassaday passed away today at 53. His work on Planetary changed my life. I'm gutted. 

I've passed him working comic cons a dozen times and was always too much of a coward to say how much I appreciated his work. Take the moments when you have them, I reckon. 

Posted by: @docsilence

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John Cassaday passed away today at 53. His work on Planetary changed my life. I'm gutted. 

I've passed him working comic cons a dozen times and was always too much of a coward to say how much I appreciated his work. Take the moments when you have them, I reckon. 

Very saddened to see talent like his and Carlos Pacheco's pass all too soon.  Always stop to smell the roses and tell someone their stuff meant something to you.  I passed Len Wein at a comic convention sitting behind an empty folding table with a literal handwritten cardboard sign.  Once I saw his name, I uttered "oh you're the Wolverine guy."  He seemed genuinely happy that anyone knew who he was and was very down to earth.  I told him I was going to go find something of his to buy to have him sign but my group ended up pressing me to leave with them before I ever got back to him.  Within a year he had passed, but I was glad to see on social media the day I left the con that some other X-Men fans had taken him to dinner.

You never know when a chance at something will be your last.

RIP John and thanks for the incredible art.

John Cassaday has passed. 🤨 😕  He was only 52. His run on Astonishing X-Men, Planetary and his Lone Ranger covers will stick with me forever. Heck, if you are a Batman fan and you didn't read the crossover with Planetary, that's a must read.

Between the gut punch from James Earl Jones and this, what a terrible couple days!

edit: Missed page 2 when I posted this.

Honestly, his work on Planetary is Hall of Fame level stuff. the range and relentless creativity he brought to that book was astounding. 

I was gutted to hear about James Earl Jones, but I found myself thinking: he lived a long and might life, one that no one will forget. But man, Cassaday was five years older than me. The shadow that hangs over comic book artists, with their relentless deadlines and lack of safety nets, scares the hell out of me.