great artist passed away

Micheal Turner: comicbook’s greatest

When I started to love American comickbooks, there are few artists that caught my attention with their awesome artworks. One of them was Micheal Turner. One of the best of the best artists in comicdom ever lived, he resembles dynamic style, edgy details and sexual appeal with his works. Yesterday, while I was web-surfing around Marvel.com, I read an article about his death. I told myself that this was a hoax. But it’s not. It’s real, Micheal Turner, one of my inspirations to draw was dead at the age of 37. He took the final rest leaving only comicbooks legacies that younger artists would look up to. I was sad thinking that I would love to met him in person someday. But that dream is gone and I wish him eternal peace for his soul and his family.

American comicbooks and budding artists saw how great he was. He always give radiant life in his artworks which combined both modern and classical approach in drawing. Next to Jim Lee or Whilce Portacio, Micheal Turner is a legend. He has inspired me to chase my dream and that death itself cannot erase what a creative soul has sowed for his passion.

Here are the best articles I got from Marvel.com and Wikipedia.com about Micheal Turner. Read on…

Marvel Mourns Michael Turner

Michael Turner, beloved comic book artist, passed away in Santa Monica, Calif. on June 27 at the age of 37 after years of battling chondrosarcoma, a form of cancer that affects bones and cartilage.

"A nicer guy never lived," said friend and frequent collaborator Jeph Loeb. "A better friend you could never want. And he loved my Sam."

"In this all access world, very little remains that one could consider truly rare," said Marvel Editor in Chief Joe Quesada. "Mike Turner was one of those things. One of those rare individuals who come around once, maybe twice in a lifetime, a cut above the rest of us, special in every way, undeniably touched by god or whatever higher power you believe in.

"I had the good fortune of knowing and working with Mike and because of this, I consider myself incredibly privileged as it allowed me the opportunity to have been touched by his talent and grace. And for that, I will always be thankful.

"Mike, it was a rare pleasure, Godspeed!"

After getting his start on Witchblade for Top Cow, Turner not only launched his own publishing company, Aspen, but brought his dynamic art style to both Marvel and DC. His work has graced dozens of Marvel comics, most notably on covers to CIVIL WAR.

Everyone at Marvel Entertainment extends heartfelt condolences and deepest sympathy to the friends and family of Michael Turner.

Michael Turner (April 21, 1971 – June 27, 2008) was an American comic book artist born in Crossville, Tennessee and primarily known for his work on Witchblade, Black Panther, and Fathom. He was also the president of his own entertainment company Aspen MLT. Michael Turner died at Santa Monica Hospital, California, after a long battle with cancer, at the age of 37.

Biography

Michael Turner was discovered by Marc Silvestri at a convention, and hired by Silvestri's Top Cow Productions as an artist. He initially did background illustrations for Top Cow titles before co-creating Witchblade. In the summer of 1998 he debuted the creator-owned Fathom, having also worked on his new series Soulfire.

As well as an artist, Turner was an award-winning water skier, held an instructor level red sash in martial arts, and was an avid video game player.

In March 2000, Turner was diagnosed with cancer, specifically chondrosarcoma in the right pelvis. He was treated at UCLA Medical Center with surgery in which he lost his entire hip, 40% of his pelvis, and three pounds of bone. The surgery was followed by nine months of radiation therapy.

Turner departed Top Cow in late 2002 to found his own comic book publishing company, Aspen MLT Inc. (where MLT stands for Michael Layne Turner), located in Santa Monica, with a studio in Marina del Rey, California. The release of comics from Aspen was delayed by a year-long lawsuit with Top Cow Productions over the rights to Fathom, and over the rights to the unreleased titles Soulfire (initially called Dragonfly) and Ekos, both of which Turner had begun development on before leaving Top Cow and before his diagnosis of cancer. Aspen and Top Cow settled the lawsuit out of court in 2003.

In 2004 Turner contributed covers to various DC Comics titles, including The Flash and Identity Crisis. He also provided cover art and co-wrote the "Godfall" story arc that ran in the three main Superman titles in early 2004. He also illustrated the six-issue "Supergirl from Krypton" story arc in Superman/Batman. His creator-owned title Soulfire also began publication in 2004, and Fathom resumed publication in that year as well, though this time with Aspen MLT rather than Top Cow.

On August 6, 2005, Marvel Comics announced the signing of Michael Turner to a work-for-hire deal for a 6-issue project and covers. This would turn out to be at least the variant covers for the miniseries Civil War and the new Wolverine ongoing series Wolverine: Origins.

In addition Turner had been announced as the artist on Ultimate Wolverine.

On Friday June 27th at 10:42 Pacific Daylight Time at the Santa Monica Hospital in California, Turner passed away at the age of 37 after his long fight with cancer.^[1]

Check out one of his creations and its wesbite

Soulfire website:

http://www.aspencomics.com/soulfire/soulfire.html

[edit] Comics

• Codename: Strykeforce - #14 (Image 8/1995)
• Ballistic #1-3 (Top Cow). 3-issue solo miniseries of the female character of the Cyberforce series.
• Witchblade #1-8, 10-22 & 25 (Top Cow)
• Tomb Raider/Witchblade and Witchblade/Tomb Raider (Top Cow)
• Fathom (vol. 1) #0, 1/2, 1-14 (Aspen Comics, 2003)
• Superman/Batman #8-13 (DC Comics, 2004)
• Soulfire (Aspen Comics, 2004-)

[edit] Covers

[edit] DC Comics

Variant incentive cover for Justice League of America #12, by Turner.

• Teen Titans #1 variant cover (DC Comics, July/2003). Two covers were published for this issue in a 50/50 split. The Turner cover was also later used for the first trade paperback of the series, and was the more sought after cover of the issue upon release. This is reflected at ComicsPriceGuide.com, where the Turner cover is worth $5 more than the Mike McKone cover. [1]
• Action Comics #812-813, Adventures of Superman #625-626 & Superman #202-203 (DC Comics, January-February/2004). 6-part story arc "Godfall" running for two months in the three main series of Superman, with covers and script (co-written with Joe Kelly) of Turner. The art (pencils, inks and colors) of the six issues were handled by other artists of Aspen MLT.
• Superman #205 (DC Comics, 2004). Variant cover for the second issue of the For Tomorrow story arc in this series. Jim Lee, the story's artist, also drew one variant cover for an issue of the Turner story arc in Superman/Batman (in addition to his duties as regular artist for the Supergirl story).
• Identity Crisis #1-7 (DC Comics, 2004). Turner drew all covers for this series.
• The Flash #207-211 (DC Comics, 2004). Turner drew five covers for this series written by Geoff Johns, who also works in a creator-owned project with him, the series Ekos.
• Wildstorm Winter Special (DC/Wildstorm, November/2004). Cover with the characters Zealot, Apollo, Midnighter, Jack Hawksmoor and Deathblow.
• Supergirl (DC Comics, 2005). Turner drew variant covers for the first issue of this new series, featuring the Kara Zor-El Supergirl's return to continuity in his Superman/Batman story arc.
• Justice League of America #0-12 (DC Comics, 2006-2007). Turner drew various covers, shifting between regular and variants, for the first thirteen issues of the series.
• Superman/Batman #8-13,26 (DC Comics, 2004/2006). Turner drew a first and second print for #8 as well as a variant for #8. He drew one of two covers for #10, the other being drawn by Jim Lee. He drew two covers for #13. He drew both covers for #26, the issue dedicated to the passing of Jeph Loeb's son Sam.

[edit] Marvel Comics

Cover of Wolverine: Origins #1, by Turner.

• Wolverine: Origins #1 variant cover (Marvel Comics, 2006). The "regular" cover of this issue was done by Joe Quesada.
• Civil War #1-7 (Marvel Comics, 2006-2007). Each issue of the miniseries has three covers, one "regular cover" by series penciller Steve McNiven, one "variant cover" by Turner, and one "sketch variant cover" by Turner.
• Civil War #1 "Aspen Comics exclusive variant cover" (Marvel Comics 2006). Turner also did another cover featuring Iron Man, Captain America, and Wolverine printed as an Aspen Exclusive Variant, much like Civil War: X-Men #1.
• Black Panther #18, & Ms. Marvel #1 (Marvel, 2006). Turner drew variant covers for these two comic-books, that had both regular covers drawn by Frank Cho.
• Ultimate X-Men #75 (Marvel Comics, 2006) To introduce Ultimate Cable in 2006, Marvel commissioned Turner to to the cover for the first book of the story line.
• Incredible Hulk #100 (Marvel Comics, 2006) Turner drew a "green hulk" variant as well as a "gray hulk" variant for this issue.
• Onslaught Reborn #1 (Marvel Comics, 2006) Turner drew a "B" cover with Rob Liefeld drawing the "A" cover for this issue.
• Black Panther #23 (Marvel Comics, 2006) Currently Turner is working on covers for the Black Panther tie in to the Civil War, starting with #23
• Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America #1-5 (Marvel Comics, 2007) Turner drew the variant covers for this entire series in a 50/50 split with the various artists of the individual issues.
• Ultimate Wolverine Turner was set to pencil the covers and interior art for this series, written by Jeph Loeb
• Sub-Mariner #1 and #5 Turner draws the regular cover for these issues.
• World War Hulk Turner drew an Aspen Comics exclusive variant cover for the first issue available at AspenComics.com
• Hulk #1 (Marvel Comics, 2008) Turner drew a "RED" variant cover for the first issue that was only available to advance ticket holders of Wizard Magazine's 2008 Wizard World Comic Convention in Los Angeles, CA.

Writer’s note: Before I end this post, I have three words to describe Micheal’s artworks--- dynamic, awesome and detailed! I wish I could be like him, a visionary artist by heart.