| John Paul Leon | |
|---|---|
 Leon at theNew York Comic Con inManhattan on October 9, 2010 | |
| Born | (1972-04-26)April 26, 1972 New York City,New York,US |
| Died | May 2, 2021(2021-05-02) (aged 49) |
| Area(s) | Artist |
Notable works | Earth X Static The Winter Men |
| http://www.johnpaulleon.com | |
John Paul Leon (April 26, 1972 – May 2, 2021)[1] was an Americancomic book artist, known for his work on theMilestone Comics seriesStatic, and theMarvel Comics limited seriesEarth X.
Leon also provided artwork for a number of style guides for feature film adaptations of comic books, includingSuperman Returns,Batman Begins,Green Lantern, andThe Dark Knight.
John Paul Leon was born on April 26, 1972, in New York City.[2]
Leon first began working professionally at the age of 16, with a series of black and white illustrations forTSR'sDragon and Dungeon magazines.[3]
He majored in illustration at New York'sSchool of Visual Arts, studying under artists such asWill Eisner,Walter Simonson, and Jack Potter. It was during this time that he received his first professional comics job, illustrating theDark Horse Comics miniseriesRoboCop: Prime Suspect (October 1992).[4] By his junior year he was given the job as the inaugural artist on theDC Comics/Milestone ongoing seriesStatic (June 1993), his first breakout work,[5] which Simonson agreed would serve as Leon's course work for that semester.[6] He would drawStatic until its ninth issue (February 1994).[5] Leon graduated from SVA with aBachelor of Fine Arts[7] in 1994.[8] Regarding this milestone, Leon would relate toNewsarama in 2019:[9]
"When I graduated SVA, I remember they had us fill out a form, for what purpose, I don't recall. But among the questions asked was something along the lines of, where do you see yourself in 20 years, or what are your goals for the next several years. I remember my answer was, '...To build a body of work and to be highly regarded among my peers.' Something like that."[9]
As Leon's popularity rose, he became a sought-after artist for both DC and Marvel, projects. He drew the miniseriesLogan: Path of the Warlord andThe Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix (both in 1996), and the 12-issue miniseriesEarth X (1999), written byJim Krueger andAlex Ross, another signature work of Leon's that depicted a dystopian future of theMarvel Universe,[5][6] and which spawned multiple sequels. Leon also contributed to regular ongoing series such as multipleBatman-related books,Superman, andChallengers of the Unknown (1997).[5]
By the early 2000s, Leon's work caught the notice of DC Comics' parent companyWarner Bros.,[5] through which Leon would provid artwork for a number of style guides for the studio's feature film adaptations of DC properties, includingSuperman Returns,Batman Begins,Green Lantern, andThe Dark Knight.[3][5]
Leon also illustratedSuperman Returns: Be a Hero, a children's book published byMeredith Books as a tie-in to the 2006 feature filmSuperman Returns.[2][10]
Leon's other career-defining works of the 2000s included two issues ofNew X-Men in 2002, and two DC Comics miniseries:The Winter Men, which was written by Leon's SVA classmateBrett Lewis and published under DC'sWildstorm imprint, and the DC miniseriesBatman: Creature of the Night,[5][6] a four-issue miniseries written byKurt Busiek that, due to Leon's third diagnosis of stage twocolorectal cancer, was published over the course of four years, with the final issue being released in 2019.[9]
In April 2021, Leon was announced as the artist on the upcomingBatman/Catwoman Special #1, aretelling of the origin of Catwoman, written byTom King.[11]
Leon's last interior artwork was the "memory sequence" in the first issue ofJupiter's Legacy: Requiem (June 2021), which writerMark Millar dedicated to Leon's memory.[12]
In 2008, Leon was diagnosed withcolorectal cancer, for which he would be treated several times, with a combination ofchemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. By 2012 he was in remission. In January 2018, he was diagnosed with the disease a third time, which had again spread to his lungs. He underwent chemotherapy again in January 2019, and indicated in an interview that November that he was responding well to the treatment, and was exhibiting promising energy levels. Though he continued to work throughout this process, it hindered the timely release of the bookBatman: Creature of the Night.[9]
As of 2018, Leon lived with his wife and daughter[4] inMiami, Florida.[8]
John Paul Leon died May 2, 2021, at age 49,[13][14] after a 14-year battle with cancer. He was survived by his wife, daughter, and older brother. Leon's colleague,Tommy Lee Edwards, set up aGoFundMe page to create a trust fund for the education of Leon's then-17-year-old daughter, and help fund her education in engineering.[4]
Marvel Comics and DC Comics ran tributes to Leon in books they published in the first week of June 2021.[15] Marvel's featured a eulogy by Marvel Entertainment EVP Creative DirectorJoe Quesada, who stated, "John Paul Leon was truly a unique talent, admired and envied by all of us in the industry for his ability to convey the complexities of the world with a distilled simplicity of line and mastery of the craft that few can ever hope to achieve. He’s passed much too soon, leaving us to wonder what further heights he would have achieved, but thankful for the work he’s left behind that will inspire generations of artists to come. Our hearts at Marvel go out to his family, loved ones, friends, and fans. Godspeed."[16] In DC's books, Publisher and Chief Creative OfficerJim Lee wrote, "One of the greatest artists of our generation, he was also one of the nicest and most talented creators one could be lucky enough to have met." On its website, DC also published tributes by Leon's collaborator Tom King, and DC vice president and editor-in-chiefMarie Javins.[17]
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