John Cassadayone of the most acclaimed and successful comic book artists of his generation, a cartoonist on The Amazing X-Men and co-creator (and artist) of Planetarydied at the age of 52.
Cassaday was a self-taught artist who attended film school and worked for a time in television news. His first comic book work appeared in 1994 for Hart Fisher’s Boneyard Press, and later in a story written by Fisher in Caliber Press’ Negative burn #28 in 1995…
Cassaday began sharing his portfolio and began receiving commissions from larger publishers, including an issue of Ghost for Dark Horse in 1996.
This led to his biggest comic book assignment yet, as he and Jeff Mariotte created the Western series, Desperadosfor Wildstorm Comics (then still known as Homage Comics)…
He began working for DC and Marvel during this time, but in 1998 he was part of a new line of books by Warren Ellis at Wildstorm. Authority by Ellis and Bryan Hitch, and Planetaryabout a group of interdimensional archaeologists, by Ellis and Cassaday…
Cassaday’s style evolved during this period, becoming increasingly realistic, without losing any of the dynamic character of his early work. Combined with his excellent storytelling skills, he is now one of the best artists in the entire comic book industry.
He launched a new Captain America series in 2002 for Marvel, with covers inspired by classic World War II propaganda pieces…
He continued to draw Planetary throughout this time, but it was sporadically, as he was working on a number of other projects. His most important during this period was the launch The Amazing X-Men with Joss Whedon in 2004….
The series earned Cassaday two Eisner Awards for Best Penciler/Inker.
Cassaday drew I am Legion for humanoids during this period, as well…
Planetary ended in 2009. Since then, Cassaday has worked primarily on special projects, such as the launch The Strange Avengers for Marvel in 2012…
and then the long-awaited return of Star Wars at Marvel in 2015…
Cassaday has all but stopped doing interior pages, instead delighting the comic book industry with his consistently stunning comic book covers, particularly a striking series on Lone Ranger covers for Dynamite Comics…
while working in film and television (doing design work for The Watchersand directing an episode of Whedon Dollhouse TV series).
In 2018, Humanoids hired Cassaday as its chief creative officer.
Cassaday has continued to produce covers for various publishers in recent years, including a stunning series of connected covers for the Star Wars War of the Bounty Hunters event…
Cassaday’s older sister announced her son’s death earlier today, writing: “My little brother John passed away at 6:51pm TX time. Please keep my mother and I in your prayers.”
Our condolences to the friends and family of John Cassday.