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02-24-2008, 01:03 AM
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Champion of the Balance
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Death of Steve Whitaker
With great sadness I must announce the death of one of my oldest friends, the artist and comics historian Steve Whitaker.
Steve drew the first two issues of the Man-Elf comic, and though he had been replaced by the third issue, when Jerry Cornelius entered the story, Steve had enjoyed creating his version of Jerry for promotional material. I really liked his Jerry! Steve’s cover of Trident Comics’ promo booklet can be seen here:
http://www.multiverse.org/imagehive/v/bookcovers/comiccovers/Heroes/album36/album114/
The guitar Jerry is holding is an example of Steve’s obsessional sense of detail. He reasoned that Jerry might have one of Hendrix’s left hand guitars, but as a right-handed player, play it upside down. Touches like that enriched everything he did. (I’ll take credit for the vibragun that looks like a tin toy ray gun, beautifully rendered by Steve!)
The Jerry you see here looks very much like a “Swinging London” image; I hope those who know the comic will recall that we did our best to undercut that kind of cliché in our depiction of Jerry. (It made a fun promotional image though!) Steve understood completely why I wanted to use that kind of image and then screw with it. (So did Richard Weston; hence the dirty, tattered flag on the cover of issue 3!)
Steve was a very talented colourist; his major contribution to the mainstream was in the DC comics colour version of V for Vendetta. He was one of two assistants taken on by David Lloyd. David knew that Steve was one of the few people who could grasp and apply the limited palate he wanted.
He also loved mazes and labyrinths. An underground maze would have been an important part of Man-Elf book 2, if we had got that far. Miss Brunner would have been driven entertainingly insane in it. It was entirely inspired by Steve. He had a far richer cultural life as a lover of fine and popular art, music and film than I will ever have.
Steve was the kind of fellow who inspired tributes like “gentle giant”, and he was a kind and generous man. In the field of comics history he had few peers. The conversations we used to have about comics had a depth and breadth which will be irreplaceable, and it was approximately 98% his knowledge that we were sharing. On those few occasions that I was able to inform him of something he didn’t know, I felt I was adding to a great archive. How much of that survives his death we don’t yet know.
Steve died suddenly on Friday February 22 2008, almost certainly from a stroke. He will be hugely missed.
Guy Lawley
London
Feb 24th 2008
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02-24-2008, 01:18 AM
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Eternal Administrator
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___________________________________________________________________________
_"He drifted through infinite jungles. Brightly coloured jungles in which vast, grotesque birds flew, obscuring the sky. The birds turned on him, their huge beaks wide. Lions prowled, their bodies green and their manes orange, turning into blindingly bright, abstract patterns that were no less terrifying.
_For an eternity Allard was alone in an icy limbo where all the colours were bright and sharp and comfortless.
_For another eternity Allard swam through seas without end, all green and cool and deep, where distorted creatures drifted, sometimes attacking him.
_And then, at last, he had reached the real world – the world he had created, where he was God and could create or destroy whatever he wished.
_He was supremely powerful. He told planets to destroy themselves, and they did. He created suns. Beautiful women flocked to be his. Of all men, he was the mightiest. Of all gods, he was the greatest."
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02-24-2008, 01:26 AM
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Champion of the Balance
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Thanks David. I should add that Steve was 52, which makes this extra-sad; he could have had so much longer.
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02-24-2008, 02:39 AM
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Champion of the Balance
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Sad news Guy, 52 is no age. Condolences to Steve's family and friends...
___________________________________________________________________________
'I distrust people that write books and people that read books. I cannot understand people who have enough time to sit down and read about other people's experiences. I find myself far too busy talking or lying in wet fields drunk.'
Oliver Reed
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02-24-2008, 02:16 PM
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Champion of the Balance
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Thanks Marca. Some of us had a very low-key get-together today to honour Steve's memory. Lots of great stories and a feeling that a rich life was being celebrated. But yes, 52 years is too short a span.
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02-24-2008, 05:44 PM
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What a loss, Guy--for you and for others. Best wishes at a difficult time.
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