RIP Richard Sala
Terrible news for comics fans and anyone who loves weird, gorgeous, gothic art. Artist/cartoonist/storyteller Richard Sala has died at the far-too-young age of 61.
Sala created comics that were a wonderfully weird blend of noir and horror in a unique and instantly recognizable style. His monsters, minions, and masterminds were twisted, grotesque, sometimes pitiable, and doomed. His heroes were nebbishes, everymen, braver than they should have been, and doomed. His heroines were beautiful, sexy, stronger than they looked — and not always doomed.
His stories were convoluted, bleak, eerie, full of dread, and frequently funnier than you were expecting. He embraced the tropes of horror, mystery, and noir while giving them his own special flavor.
If you want to read his books, look for The Chuckling Whatsit, Violenzia, Delphine, Mad Night, Hypnotic Tales, Peculia, Peculia and the Groon Grove Vampires, and numerous others. He’d just announced plans to create a webcomic called Carlotta Havoc Versus Everyone, which is a great title and a great concept, and it’s depressing we’ll never get to see it.
Let’s check out some of Sala’s art.
I’m honestly amazed I never spotlighted any of Sala’s work before on the blog. Probably because I usually focused on new releases and stuff I figured most people could find in their local comics shops or on Amazon. It’s probably way past time I started posting reviews of older works, though it’s gonna take me a month or two to dig my Sala books out of storage.