I received this notice from Canadian cartoonist, Bernie Mireault’s publisher yesterday:
“Word has come from those close to Bernie that he died on Monday. His death was apparently self-inflicted, at least in part for his lack of a current place in comics and the poverty that resulted.
This is a terrible loss.
For all of you who signed up for The Jam Campaign, I can tell you that your response to the announcement of the The Jam material that About Comics published brought a clear joy to him, and the money generated was, while not what it would've been at a more robust publisher and certainly not what was deserved for the work involved, still was helpful to him and appreciated by him at a difficult time.
I know this is going to hit some of you hard. Comics is a tough field not laden with justice. Be sure that when you find something good in comics, you share it, as there are many other people whose talent painfully outstrips their success. (It's too late to help Bernie in this way beyond supporting his legacy.)
Bernie was slowly working toward a second The Jam reprint volume (with talk of possibly reprinting the first color special as well.) Questions of whether that will be done will have to wait (although not due to any lack of willingness here; I was honored to keep Bernie's work in print.)
Peace to all, find kindness... and reach out for help if you need it, please.”
Bernie was a masterful cartoonist for many of us who came of comic book age during the early-to-mid eighties independent black and white comic book boom, particularly if you were a Canadian.
His own books, Mackenzie Queen and The Jam, were warm, relatable and deeply human genre books, but with a sly sense of humour and self-awareness that separated them from most of the other stuff back then, right up there with Love and Rockets, The Silent Invasion, and Wordsmith as books that opened my eyes to the possibilities beyond the mainstream.
His illustrations and incredible colours can be found in Grendel and the Nexus/Jam special, and revisiting The Jam Urban Adventure from its recent rerelease brought back a beautiful wave of nostalgia for me.
You will be missed, Bernie.
“Word has come from those close to Bernie that he died on Monday. His death was apparently self-inflicted, at least in part for his lack of a current place in comics and the poverty that resulted.
This is a terrible loss.
For all of you who signed up for The Jam Campaign, I can tell you that your response to the announcement of the The Jam material that About Comics published brought a clear joy to him, and the money generated was, while not what it would've been at a more robust publisher and certainly not what was deserved for the work involved, still was helpful to him and appreciated by him at a difficult time.
I know this is going to hit some of you hard. Comics is a tough field not laden with justice. Be sure that when you find something good in comics, you share it, as there are many other people whose talent painfully outstrips their success. (It's too late to help Bernie in this way beyond supporting his legacy.)
Bernie was slowly working toward a second The Jam reprint volume (with talk of possibly reprinting the first color special as well.) Questions of whether that will be done will have to wait (although not due to any lack of willingness here; I was honored to keep Bernie's work in print.)
Peace to all, find kindness... and reach out for help if you need it, please.”
Bernie was a masterful cartoonist for many of us who came of comic book age during the early-to-mid eighties independent black and white comic book boom, particularly if you were a Canadian.
His own books, Mackenzie Queen and The Jam, were warm, relatable and deeply human genre books, but with a sly sense of humour and self-awareness that separated them from most of the other stuff back then, right up there with Love and Rockets, The Silent Invasion, and Wordsmith as books that opened my eyes to the possibilities beyond the mainstream.
His illustrations and incredible colours can be found in Grendel and the Nexus/Jam special, and revisiting The Jam Urban Adventure from its recent rerelease brought back a beautiful wave of nostalgia for me.
You will be missed, Bernie.
statistics: Posted by jazzo — 9:05 AM - Today — Replies 1 — Views 45