Taken from Newsarama.com:
"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. Currently, there are no details about services or a funeral."
Wow. Im failed for words. I don't usually write blogs on myspace or anywhere, but the tragic news of the untimely death of my favorite comic artist, Mike Wieringo has compelled me to write something. I never met Mike, and weird as it may sound, I feel I know the guy because of his artwork. He was the first artist in my comic collecting hobby that I followed. No matter what book he drew, I bought it. I remember during high school reading his Sensational spidey run. Then buying Tellos from Image, and I even read Flash because he was drawing.
After a few years away from comics, I came back when I found out he was drawing Fantastic Four. I never really liked FF before, but because of Mike, Fantastic Four became my favorite super hero team. I remember trying to get others to try FF, I even tried to get drew to read it, I let him borrow one of my hardcovers.
Just recently, I broke out his FF hardcovers and been rereading them on the el to and from work. I read his last comic, a team up series with Spiderman/Fantasic Four. Not once did the thought come through my mind that I was reading the last Mike Wieringo comic.
Here is just some of his vast artwork:
To me, his drawing style is what comics were and should be about. Fun. That is the best way to describe his style, Fun. But don't let the animated look fool you, Mike's range was awesome. He could draw comedy, drama, romance, action, you name it. In fact his FF run ranged from the more dramactic scenes to full on action packed.
One of my favorite moments in his FF run, was a story in which Reed, Sue, and Johnny traveled to heaven in order to bring Ben back. After finding out that Ben's death wasn't natural, Reed and the gang went to heaven to get him back. When they got Ben and were coming back to earth, they were informed they get to meet God for all of the good they did. Turns out that their interpretation of God was Jack Kirby (co creator of FF). See pic below.
To think that Mike and jack are in heaven now, they are probably having a laugh about that.
I'm just really sad at this news and don't know why some people are taken at a young age, but it is how things will be and always be. Rest in Piece, Mike and my condolences his friends and family.
In closing, here is his website: http://www.mikewieringo.com/. He posted sketches almost daily, his last one being, this past Friday.