i just randomly found out that one of my favorite modern comics artists, mike wieringo, passed away just over a month ago (sunday, august 12). at 44, and in great health, he fell to a sudden heart attack. more details can be found here.
it was 1994, and i had stopped reading comics for a few years. i was at a drug store one night with my mom, and decided to peruse the comic rack as i waited for her to run her quick errand. i came across flash #97 (shown above). it was both mike's inspiring cover (which drew me in to pull it off the rack), and mark waid's phenomenal story, that drew me back into comics in a much more permanent and meaningful way. i still remember raving about the book later that night on the phone to one of my friends (laura, who probably cemented her suspicions that i was a weirdo).
mike later went on to draw some great books like robin, spider-man, the fantastic four, and his creator owned comic tellos. i read all but the latter (but now plan to pick up and find it), following him as an artist (which is something i rarely chose to do in my second renewal of comics collecting. i enjoyed his art that much. something that i just learned, was that over the years, he drew every day, often posting his sketches to his blog. this was clearly someone that loved his work. you can find more on his life & career here.
mike, thanks for catching my eye, and getting me back into comics. it meant more than you'll ever know.
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