News-Record.com

It's being reported that popular comic book artist and North Carolina resident Mike Wieringo died of a sudden heart attack Sunday. He was 44 years old.

Wieringo, who was best known for his work on DC Comics' The Flash and Marvel's The Fantastic Four, has often been described by fans and fellow creators as one of the nicest guys in comics. Friends like comics writer Warren Ellis are expressing shock and regret at the news. A few pieces have mentioned that Wieringo was a vegetarian, not a hard living type and thought to be in great shape, which makes the news of his early death that much more shocking.

A few years ago I met Wieringo at a small local convention. Strangely, a lot of people seemed not to know who he was and he sat quietly at a table with his books displayed, sketching contentedly. I walked up and began chatting with him, telling him I'd really enjoyed his work on The Flash and Spider-Man. Even if you're just famous among comics geeks this kind of thing can get kind of tiring, and I've seen many artists and writers sort of smile politely at that kind of thing and wait for you to buy something or go away. But Wieringo seemed to really enjoy the praise and asked if I wanted to pull up a chair and chat. We talked about what the comics creation process is like (how much liberty do you take with a script, is it important to know and like the writer?), what the business is like (is it nearly impossible to make a living as a comics artist until you're in that very top tier) some of his favorite comics and mine.

There are plenty of times when you meet someone whose work you've enjoyed and realize too late that he/she is a complete jerk. This can sort of ruin their work for you -- which is the worst. Wieringo was a great antidote to that -- a terrific artist and a terrific guy.

Here is a Newsarama interview with Wieringo.

Here is his Wikipedia entry.

Here is his official webpage, to which he posted blog entries and sketches almost every day (high traffic today, may be down just now).