Chad Burdette
Last week the comic industry lost another legend with the passing of English comic book illustrator Kevin O’Neill following a long illness. O’Neill was best known for his contributions as one of the co-creators of Nemesis the Warlock, 2000 AD’s Marshal Law along with writer Pat Mills, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen with Alan Moore.
Creator KEVIN O’NEILL ( 1953 – 2022)
Beginning his career at 16 as an office boy for a children’s humor series before he began publishing his personal side project, the fanzine Just Imagine The Journal of Film and Television Special Effects in 1975, running for five regular issues and one special issue. In 1976 he began working as a colorist on comics for children such as Monster Fun and Whizzer and Chips along with Disney comics reprints.
He would eventually join the 2000 AD title providing art for pin-ups and cover art before working on an ongoing feature beginning with issue 88. O’Neill did some work for DC Comics as a fill-in artist and on short stories for Omega Men. He also provided the controversial artwork for Alan Moore’s Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual No. 2 in 1986, which would establish continuity points for the DC Universe 2009 storyline “Blackest Night.” DC decided to print the comic without the Comics Code Authority stamp due to the fact that the Authority found O’Neill’s work “objectionable.”
He would go on to co-create Marshal Law for Epic Comics (later collected by Dark Horse) and join Moore again for a six-issue series for America’s Best Comics called The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
We here at Comic Watch send condolences to family, friends, and fans of Kevin O’Neill.
REST IN POWER
