Steve Dillon, co-creator and artist of the best comic series ever made – Preacher – has passed away over the weekend at the age of 54. Dillon was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, in 1962 and started his career at the age of 16. He’s created some of the greatest and most memorable comic characters ever and drawn definitive versions of classics like Judge Dredd and The Punisher.
Steve Dillon was one of my favorite artists. He had the most distinguishable art style and I loved picking up a comic featuring his work. The way he drew action, comedy and just the incredible technique he had emoting faces made him truly one of the best ever. Everyone loved Dillon primarily for his co-creation alongside writer Garth Ennis which spawned DC: Vertigo’s Preacher series (now a hit AMC TV series). But the artist has consistently been doing stellar work right until the end, currently on yet another Punisher series with writer Becky Cloonan.
Dillon’s work on Punisher MAX, alongside writer Jason Aaron, is one of the major reasons that series is hands down my favorite Punisher story. Ever. He gave such life through his artwork and created amazing and original characters, even ones we’d seen before but never in such a way that Dillon had put down in our comic books. Every famous hero or villain, was reborn when Steve Dillon put pen to paper and for that I adored his work. I’m deeply saddened that I’ll never get to meet one of the best artists of our time but I’ll always have these legendary stories to revisit.
“The last time I saw Steve was late last Saturday night in New York, walking down fifth avenue to his hotel after saying goodnight outside Foley’s. It could have been the end of any one of a thousand nights. It’s not a bad last memory to have. Steve was best man at my wedding and my good and dear friend. I think he probably taught me more about what that word means than anyone else.” Garth Ennis via Facebook & DownTheTubes
https://twitter.com/beckycloonan/status/789853015402348545
Devastated by the loss of Steve Dillon. My favorite comic artist who drew my favorite comics. RIP.
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) October 22, 2016
For Steve Dillon pic.twitter.com/yO4WXI5jJG
— Liam 'Sharpy' Sharp (@LiamRSharp) October 22, 2016