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Goodbye Carlos

Started by JayzusB.Christ, 01 October, 2018, 03:57:12 PM

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Tjm86

Words fail .....

Like so many others, I have savoured his work over the last forty odd years.  As much as this comes as little of a surprise considering his age and recent health scare, it is still a bitter blow.

Pride of place in my collection will always go to the Stainless Steel Rat piece that I purchased from him.  Like many other fans, his artwork will always have a special place.

Like so many other Tooth creators, his generosity and patience with those who admired him is simply one more reason to honour him.  I think it's fair to say that we have been truly blessed by the majority of those who have graced the pages of Tooth over the years.  The number of tales from those who met him in the flesh and spoke with respect for him as an individual and awe at his artistic talent speaks volumes.

IndigoPrime

Quote from: Tjm86 on 02 October, 2018, 07:15:29 PMAs much as this comes as little of a surprise considering his age and recent health scare
I dunno. For me, it was a bolt from the blue after that Facebook update. So cruel after he clearly thought he was out of the woods.

Dan Kelly

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 02 October, 2018, 07:21:27 PM
I dunno. For me, it was a bolt from the blue after that Facebook update. So cruel after he clearly thought he was out of the woods.
I think that's what made it worse for me too. So cruel to have him taken away after that brief moment of hope.

broodblik

When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

user2000

Sad, sad news.

Just lost my Great Aunt to lung cancer last month, so thoughts are foremost with his family and friends at this difficult time.

Broke the news to my 12yo who is currently getting through my progs at breakneck speed (553 at the moment) and he was also saddened by this news (he's already read the entire SD up to the last series).

But as others have said, what a grand body of work he has left us so I was able to console my boy somewhat that there is PLENTY more Carlos for him to have the enviable experience of enjoying fresh and brand new!

And myself too; I think it's time to start ploughing through that Battle collection I have amassed over the years but never read too much of.

Also, a fine cover coming up on the Sniper Elite finale...



Blue Cactus


Woolly

My facebook feeds nothing but Carlos right now. Such an incredible influence for so many people.
I lost my Dad to lung cancer a few years ago, and I'm probably projecting some of that loss here, but still.
I just can't quite take this in yet.

My heart goes out to all that loved him.

JamesC

I've only just heard about this as I've been off on holiday.
Terrible news.
What a legacy though - such a fantastic and prolific* artist , still knocking it out of the park right up to the end.

Surely there can't be many artists who've published more pages of work over their careers? Carlos must have racked up hundreds of pages of strip work and countless covers.

JayzusB.Christ

We're lucky, too, that we never lost him to the Americans - amazing really, for such an incredible artist.  He was Dredd and Alpha all the way.
The things he did for American comics were great too, of course, and only the decent, none-cheesy stuff (while I can't imagine a Carlos Superman, he absolutely made the already-brilliant design of the Saint of Killers his own).
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

AlexF

Unbearable news, at the loss of a great and by all accounts wonderful person, and of course the thought that all too soon the Prog and Meg will no longer have that guaranteed boost of Carlos to elevate the levels of thrill power. As influential on Brit comics readers as Jack Kirby was to the US crowd, and so utterly unique that for all that people have tried to emulate his style, no one really comes close.
So long, and thanks for all the ink.

CalHab

Another well written tribute to Carlos focusing on the subversive element to his work:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/03/judge-dredd-carlos-ezquerra

Dandontdare

There  are very few people who have consistently given me pleasure on an almost weekly basis, for four-fifths of my life. I must admit I didn't really appreciate him as a kid - I was more taken with the precise realism of Bolland or the crazy aliens of Bellardinelli or O'Neill, but Carlos was quietly winning me over through sheer good storytelling and over the years I gradually came to realise just how bloody good he is.

My own interactions with Carlos were few, but memorable and charming - the first two were facilitated by our own Legendary Shark - firstly when he persuaded Carlos to join his Wednesday night Chat room and the master generously spent several hours chatting and answering our questions*. When he was first diagnosed in 2010, Sharky organised a wonderful single-printing 'get well soon' comic to which both professional colleagues and fans contributed - having a page in that remains one of my proudest moments.**

I only met him in the flesh twice - at the 40th his queue was too long but I lurched over and drunkenly burbled something at him as he was leaving the hotel in the evening, which he tolerated with good humour, but I got to chat with him more when he and John attended a free con in Oldham Library last year - a true gentleman, generous with his time, kind and funny, and an absolute fricking genius with a pen.



*I actually recycled the question I asked in the chatroom a decade later at the panel he did in Oldham last year - I don't think anyone noticed!

** Also at Oldham, he said he remembered my page - I don't know if he was just being kind, but either way, it made my day

Banners

#87
Lots of people have said and shown it better than me, but I'm pretty sad about this so wanted to get something out.

Carlos had it all. Talent, guts, and a truly distinct style which saw loads of kids at my school copying the little notches on his outlines – much to the annoyance of our art teacher! I'm heartened by stories from those lucky enough to meet him.

No other artist has given his images such weight, such power and presence. His drawings don't sit on the pages, they stand on top of them – and what could be more important for Dredd and Alpha? He has been brilliant in terms of what he's produced, and in his loyalty to 2000 AD – even through bad health and all the changes the comic has seen in 40 years. He has been a constant companion, never far away, and his name has represented an absolute mark of quality. When Ezquerra was in the Prog, you knew it was going to be a good one – zarjaz in fact! So many pages, so many stories, so many memories and lessons learnt. It's an unparalleled body of work. His family must be justly proud. I hope they are doing okay.

When you close your eyes and picture Dredd, Ezquerra's right there straight away. Bang! As such, just as Carlos has been with us since the start, he'll always be there for us now – on our shelves and in our thoughts. Each time we read 2000 AD now and into the future, he and his influence will be there.

To The King. Thank you. Truly.

Dark Jimbo

That's really nicely expressed, Banners.
@jamesfeistdraws

norton canes

Quote from: Banners on 03 October, 2018, 10:05:48 AM
Lots of people have said and shown it better than me...

I'm not sure they have! That's a wonderfully eloquent tribute. But there's been so much unalloyed love and respect for Carlos on these pages, it really is a mark of the man's genius and humanity.

All I want to add is this quote from the Guardian's tribute, which underlines the fact that the man was at the top of his game throughout his career:

"Ezquerra was an absolute workhorse, drawing countless stories for 2000AD until just weeks before his death. He never declined artistically. As he entered his eighth decade, his work was still a riot of grim flamboyance"

RIP Carlos.