The following is from X-World Comics email:
The biggest story in comics over the past week has to be the unfortunate passing of Mike Wieringo last weekend. It was shocking on all levels. How he died (considering his lifestyle), his young age, and the hole he left in the comic industry with his passing were a total system shock that some still aren't able to fully digest.
Mike Wieringo was the total package. In an industry culture that favored hyper- and photo-realism over storytelling prowess, he brought something much better to the table. His characters weren't overly detailed, but they looked like they could move - were moving. His layouts enhanced the story, as opposed to drawing a scene from a script. There was depth, emotion, motion - even if his art wasn't as detailed as some of the popular artists of today, the pages felt more real. And let's face it - even if his style wasn't photo-realistic, it still stood shoulder to shoulder with the best of today. His storytelling skills, however, pushed him right to the top of the heap.
Most people are going to remember his run with Mark Waid on the Fantastic Four. That team's work resonated so much with the fans that the first time Marvel tried to take them off the title, the fans revolted, and Marvel had to backtrack. But one look at Wieringo's resume and you will see that almost every item was memorable and important. His run on the Flash (also with Waid) which gave us Bart Allen, his time on Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man with Peter David - a run that was arguably better than the flagship Amazing title. Friendly Neighborhood showed that it was possible to write a fun Spider-Man story, even in the midst of tragedy, and Wieringo's artistic feel was an essential part of that formula.
Even some of his less-memorable stuff played an important part of my return to comics. His four-issue Rogue mini series was one of the first times I bought every single issue of anything, my comic reading prior to that point always having been the occasional issue whenever I happened by a place that sold them. Of course, that was also about the same time I started reading Spider-Man on a regular basis (right around the Clone Saga), shortly before he became the regular artist on Sensational Spider-Man. I've always been drawn to the stories in comics, but the look of Mike Wieringo's art helped draw me into comics and keep me here.
His loss is keenly felt - it is tough to imagine all the great work we will be missing now that he is gone.
