Comics artist John Cassaday, co-creator of Planetary with Warren Ellis, Desperadoes with Jeff Mariotte, and I Am Legion with Fabien Nury, died September 3. He was 52. Noting that he was also the artist on Astonishing X-Men with Joss Whedon, Captain America with John Ney Rieber and Jeph Loeb, and Star Wars with Jason Aaron, Bleeding Cool reported that Cassaday "was a very popular, incredibly detailed, diverse and design-focused comic book artist with multiple Eisner Award wins to his name."
He began his career directing television news after attending film school, then pivoted to comics while working in construction. After some success with independent publishers, he was initially championed by comic book writer Mark Waid, who recalled their first meeting 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. 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."
Cassaday followed Desperadoes from WildStorm with Ghost from Dark Horse, before working on Teen Titans, Flash, X-Men, Gen13, Superman/Batman, Hulk, and The Avengers for Marvel and DC. In 1999, he co-created Planetary with Ellis for Wildstorm/DC. Subsequently he relaunched X-Men with Whedon as Astonishing X-Men. His redesign of Captain America "became incredibly influential and heavily informed the Marvel Cinematic Universe portrayal of the character," Bleeding Cool noted.
"My friend John Cassaday and I were important parts of our respective careers in comics," writer Jeff Mariotte noted. "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.... Now John is gone, way too young. I haven't seen him in 5 or 6 years, and now I won't see him again. Happy trails, partner, and thanks for riding with me."
Waid told the Hollywood Reporter: "Like [fellow artists] 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."
In a statement, Marvel said: "We're devastated by the loss of our dear friend, artist and comic book legend John Cassaday. 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, and he will always be part of our Marvel family."