Steve Dillon, co-creator of the Preacher comics, has died, his brother has confirmed.
The artist created the iconic comic with Garth Ennis back in 1995, gaining critical acclaim. It was most recently adapted into the Dominic Cooper-starring AMC TV series, which premiered earlier this year.
His death was confirmed by younger brother and fellow artist Glyn, who wrote on Twitter: "Sad to confirm the death of Steve, my big brother and my hero. He passed away in the city he loved (NYC). He will be sorely missed. Cheers x".
Dillon cut his teeth as an artist as a teenager, when he landed his first professional job drawing the lead story for the first issue of Hulk Weekly.
He then started to make a name for himself on a number of British comics, including Warrior, Doctor Who Magazine and 2000 AD, while in 1988, the artist co-founded Deadline with Brett Ewins, who passed away in February 2015.
(Brett Ewins and Steve Dillon)
Dillon later teamed up with writer Ennis in the 1990s for John Constantine series Hellblazer, a partnership that they continued when the pair went on to create Preacher, which earned Dillon an Eisner Award for his work on the series in 1996.
Dillon and Ennis also went on to lend their distinctive style to Marvel's iconic character The Punisher for the Marvel Comics' Marvel Knights imprint, starting with The Punisher: Welcome Back Frank in 2000.
He went on to continue with The Punisher in ensuing years, including work on Punisher: War Journal, Punisher vs. Bullseye and PunisherMAX.
(Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon)
Since the news of Dillon's death broke today (October 22), several key names in the comics industry have joined Dillon's many fans in paying tribute to the artist on Twitter.
