I've been teetering back and forth for a couple of days about whether or not to do another blog and what to do one about. This morning.... the choice became obvious.

Michael Turner of Aspen Comics, acclaimed creator of Fathom and artist of Witchblade, Superman/Batman, and cover artist for both Marvel and DC respectively, passed away last night at the age of 37. For any that know of him, know that he's been battling cancer for a number of years now and has been seen as an inspiration to a lot of people through his struggles.

Now, before I go any further, I want to point something out: no, I've never had the pleasure of meeting Michael Turner, on many occasions, I wish I'd had, but it never really worked out that way. I'm not one of those types to make it seem like I lost my best friend or something whenever someone prominent dies. But, being an aspiring comic creator myself, I can't help but feel a certain degree of sadness to see the medium lose one of its own. I've been an admirer of his work for years and, while he wasn't one of my favorites, I still very much enjoyed his works and seeing his interpretations on different characters. It's definitely an event that tugs at the heart-strings.

It saddens me seeing so many from the creative community pass at such young ages, of course, I am referring to Mike Wieringo (someone who's work I grew up admiring) who passed from a heart attack a while back and Erik Wujeck, not even two weeks ago. In a lot of ways, I can say that I'm not entirely sure what to say at a time like this, I just felt the need to say something, you know. In a lot of ways though, it reminds us that life is too short and that there are no guarantees, that we need to make our time count and strive for all that we can in the time that we have.

If nothing else, this has served as an affirmation for me, further solidifying my desire to work in comics and creative fields. Many of these people we lose have served as inspirations to me and it'd be disrepectful to them and their memories to not follow through on my dreams, as they did.

We have definitely lost a great talent and my heart goes to his family in this time of mourning.

P.S.: My mood is actually morose, but my damn mood emoticon won't change for some reason, so yeah, just figured I'd clarify.