Brazilian comic book artist Al Rio (b.1962) died on January 30, possibly a suicide. Rio, whose full name was Alvaro Araújo Lourenço do Rio, worked on Gen¹³, Dungeon Siege, X-Men Unlimited, and DV8. his art also appeared on album covers.
DC Comics has announced plans to launch seven mini series detailing the lives and backgrounds of the characters of Watchmen. The ground-breaking 1980s series was originally written and conceived by Alan Moore, who will not be involved in the new books. The new series will be written by Brian Azzarello (Rorschach and The Comedian), J. Michael Straczynski (Dr. Manhattan and Nite Owl), Len Wein (Ozymandias), and Darwyn Cooke (Silk Spectre and The Minutemen).
Italian author Carlo Fruttero (b.1926) died on January 15. Much of his work was done in collaboration with Franco Lucentini and the two men edited the science fiction magazine Urania from 1964 through 1985. The men also wrote science fiction, humor, and other genres. From 1972 to 1975 they also edited the comic Il Mago.
Author Howard Hopkins (b.1961) died on January 12 while shoveling snow. Hopkins edited the anthology Dark Harbors and wrote the novels Night Demons, Grimm, and The Dark Riders. He wrote the The Nightmare Club series for children and has also written for comics.
Richard Alf (b.1952) died on January 4. Alf began dealing comic books as a teenager and was able to provide a large portion of the capital needed to start the first San Diego Comic-Con. He was active in the con’s early years, chairing at least one event, before stepping away.
Comic artist Eduardo Barreto (b.1954) died on December 15. Barreto, from Uruguay, worked on titles including Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, The New Teen Titans, and his last work, DC Retroactive The 70′s: Superman, published earlier this year. Also in 2011, Barreto became the artist for the Sunday The Phantom comic strip.
Comic author Joe Simon (b.1913) died on December 14. Simon co-created Captain America along with Jack Kirby. The two men created numerous characters in the 1940s and helped pioneer both the romance and horror comics fields. Simon was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1999.
Comic artist Jerry Robinson (b.1922) died on December 7. Robinson is best known for co-creating Robin, the boy wonder, and creating the Joker. Robinson also worked on the creation of Alfred and Two-Face. Robinson began working for Batman creator Bob Kane in 1939. In the 1970s, Robinson worked to get credit for his friends, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster for their part in creating Superman. Robinson is in the Comic Book Hall of Fame and has received lifetime achievement awards from the Cartoon Art Society and the National Cartoonists Society.
Comic book author Alvin Schwartz (b.1916) died on October 26. Schwartz began writing for comics in 1939 and became a writer for Captain Marvel before working on Batman in 1942 and, beginning in 1944, the Batman and Superman newspaper strips. He went on to write for many of DC’s top titles in the 1940s and helped create the Superman villain Bizarro. Schwartz retired from the comics field in 1958 and received a Bill Finger Award in 2006.
Author Les Daniels (b.1943) died from an heart attack on November 5. Daniels has written five historical novels about the vampire Don Sebastian de Villanueva. In addition to his fiction, Daniels has written about the history of comics.