Mike Wieringo Passes Away

[PhotoJones]

I'm literally shocked by this news. This is incredibly sad. I've been a fan of his since I was 12 years old, and have been following his blog since it's inception. From Newsarama:

The comics industry lost a luminary this weekend – Mike Wieringo passed away Sunday of a sudden heart attack. Details are still sketchy as of this time, but according to close sources, the acclaimed artist had chest pains at some point during the day and called 911, but the responders did not make it in time.

Wieringo was 44 years old. He was a vegetarian, and “one of the healthiest ones of us in the bunch,” as his longtime friend and collaborator Todd Dezago described him.

Wieringo worked every day, updating his blog and website with a constant stream of sketches at http://www.mikewieringo.com/. His last sketch was posted on Friday.

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=125110

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Holy ****.

 

[Anubis]

What the F**k?!? Ringo's dead?!?

 

[PhotoJones]

A brief biography:

Wieringo was born June 24th, 1963 in Venice, Italy, and first caught the attention of comic book fans when he joined writer Mark Waid on DC’s The Flash with issue #80 in 1993. Together, the two co-created the character Impulse, the future speedster brought back to the present. Wieringo (or, ‘Ringo as he was better known by then) moved on to Robin at DC, and then moved to Marvel, where he settled in on Sensational Spider-Man with writer Todd DeZago.

The pairing with DeZago was something of fate, as the two co-created and launched their creator-owned property Tellos, which saw several projects and miniseries published over the years. Ringo moved back to DC for a run on Adventures of Superman, and then, in 2002, reunited with Waid for a run on Fantastic Four that was perhaps best known for fan outcry when Marvel announced that they were going to replace the team. Marvel quickly reversed their decision, and the two completed their run on the series.

Ringo then moved to Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man with writer Peter David, and most recently, completed a Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four miniseries written by Jeff Parker. His next project had not been announced, although, as readers of his blog knew, he was very excited at the prospect of doing more Tellos work, with an eye on being able to debut something at next month's Baltimore Comic-Con.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Jesus Christ, this is awful. He was a fantastic artist. My condolences to his family.

 

[Anubis]

Damn man, this is seriously messed up.

 

[PhotoJones]

I still have drawings I copied of off Ringo's Sensational Spider-Man work in a box in my mom's basement.

 

[Carlo Comicus]

Oh my god.

 

[Harlekin]

Damn, that really sucks. And so sudden too. He was a great artist.

My condolences to his family. Rest in peace, Mike.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

I believe that this is the last panel that he ever drew.

 

[Dangerous]

Sad news rest in peace Ringo.

 

[VICTORVONDOOMX]

Not that his family or friends would ever see this, but condolences.

A darned shame to lose such a talent, who, for me at least, captured the spirit and activity of Ditko. He truly brought his love of the character's form and function into our hearts.

We miss him.

 

[Darthphere]

My heart literally sank when I heard the news on this. I'm literally tearing up right now.

 

[Anubis]

Me too.

 

[PhotoJones]

My heart literally sank when I heard the news on this. I'm literally tearing up right now.

Me too.

At first I thought it had to have been a typo. I know it probably seems silly, but I actually had to quit what I was doing at work and get up to walk around for a bit.

I still can't believe it.

 

[Darthphere]

It's things like this that make you step back and appreciate life and the fact that it could all end in an instant. I'm sitting here in shock still. I seriously, don't believe it.

 

[VICTORVONDOOMX]

Life is a moment by moment proposition without promise. None of us gets out alive.

 

[SenseiofCheese]

Damn. I read the news a few times over, and the whole weight of it hasn't really hit me yet.
This is just so weird, it doesn't make sense to me

 

[Themanofbat]

I only knew him for his Spidey work and his Wally West Flash stuff... but he was a pretty talented artist.

I just picked up his Spidey/FF mini the other day... I'll read it with a bit of sadness in my heart.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

Terrible news. I saw the thread title and the first thing I thought was "WTF what an awful joke."

Godspeed, 'ringo.

 

[CConn]

Damn, that's a shame. He was one of my favorite artists.

 

[Ray-Fu]

Such sad news...I only followed him on his Spidey and Tellos stuff. I just fininshed reading his Spidey/FF last night and this news is so out of the blue.

I guess I'm in shock too

 

[PWN3R]

Terrible shame. He was still pretty young when you think about it.

 

[Darthphere]

Terrible shame. He was still pretty young when you think about it.

Indeed he was. You gotta start wondering about the stress levels these guys are putting on themselves. He's not the first artist to have a heart attack after being generally healthy. Matthew Clark about a year ago comes to mind.

 

[PhotoJones]

Indeed he was. You gotta start wondering about the stress levels these guys are putting on themselves. He's not the first artist to have a heart attack after being generally healthy. Matthew Clark about a year ago comes to mind.

It's the stress. For anyone who was reading Ringo's blog you know there was no shortage of it. The guy literally worked 10 hours a day, 7 days a week. He's never been a fast artist, and the monthly deadlines are incredibly stressful. Still, he was supposedly in good shape, physically, so I guess you never know.