John Cassaday, the iconic book artist known for his work on Astonishing X-Men, Planetary, and more, has died at age 52. The news was reported by Robin Cassaday, his older sister, earlier tonight.
While no cause of death is known at this time, Robin posted on Facebook on September 3, “My little brother, John is in the ICU at a New York hospital. We don’t have all the information yet, but I’ll keep you all notified. Please pray for him.” That was followed with a note on September 5 explaining that Cassaday was at Mount Sinai Hospital. “He’s still stable. His organs and heart are functioning normally. His brain is the main concern. An MRI is supposed to happen tomorrow which will give an even clearer picture. And pinpoint exactly what’s going on.”
Then earlier today, Robin posted that John had passed. “My little bro John passed away at 6:51pm Texas time,” Robin stated. “Please keep me and my mom in your prayers.”
Cassaday got his start in the early ’90s working for independent publishers. However, he made his mark through his work for Marvel and DC Comics, from Teen Titans and Flash to X-Men comics. In 2005, he won the Eisner Award, the highest honor in comics, for Best Penciller/Inker for Astonishing X-Men, Planetary, and I Am Legion: The Dancing Faun, tying with artist Frank Quitely. He subsequently won the same Eisner Award, solo, in 2006, as well as the Eisner Award for Best Ongoing Series for Astonishing X-Men.
While Cassaday has mostly stuck to covers in recent years, his hyper-detailed work was impactful in so many ways on the comic book industry as a whole. An upcoming omnibus collection from Marvel of X-Men cosmic stories will have a wraparound cover featuring a bevy of his characters.
Cassaday is survived by his sister and mother. Our thoughts are with them at this time.
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