Michael Turner: April 21, 1971- June 27, 2008

1726031-worlds_of_aspen_by_michael_turner — photo courtesy of comicvine

Today marks the 8th anniversary of the passing of the late legendary superstar comic book artist Michael Turner. Nearly a decade after his death, his groundbreaking artwork is still in high demand. Recently numerous exclusive variants featuring his coverart sold out within hours.
Michael Turner, who came to fame in the mid-90s is best known for creating two sexy female lead characters; Witchblade and Fathom. Turner also rose to stardom with his work on Supergirl, Superman/Batman, and various covers for DC and Marvel comics. Most would agree that he drew the most beautiful female characters. Turner was by far my biggest influence artistically. His work was such a huge inspiration to me, and definitely had an influence on my style of drawing.

00bc-ASSS-07(line) Swimsuit ‘Splash’ 2007 Comic-con / Wizard World Chicago Double Cover

At the age of only 37, he sadly passed away on June 27, 2008 at the Santa Monica hospital in California. The cause was due to complications from treatment for bone cancer.

Originally, Michael never intended on becoming an artist, he mostly drew for his own amusement. He wasn’t into comics when he was little, but he always loved to draw. He had wanted to follow in his stepfather’s footsteps and become a doctor. Eventually realizing that his wish of becoming a doctor was more for his stepdad than for himself, he finally decided to pursue his love of art. In 1993 He visited San Diego Comic Con with some sample pages of his work, where he first met the staff of Top Cow.

This is where Turner was first discovered by Marc Silvestri (one of the founding artists of Image Comics in 1992). Eventually hired by Silvestri’s Top Cow Productions, Turner went from waiting tables to being a top-selling artist. In 1995 He started as a background artist for top cow titles before co creating his best-known character Witchblade. In 1998 he debuted Fathom and also worked on his new series Soulfire.

“We gave him his first shot,” Mr. Silvestri said. “That will always be important: that we had a little something to do with bringing Mike to the world of comics.”

(New York Times article)

In late 2002 he departed Top Cow to found his own comic book publishing company, Aspen MLT. (Michael Layne Turner)

michael_turner__s_fathom_by_kenjisan_23 — Photo courtesy of Aspen Comics

ASPEN COMICS

“Aspen MLT, Inc. is an entertainment publishing company founded in January 2003 by superstar comic artist Michael Turner. Priding itself on producing entertainment properties of the highest quality visual and storytelling elements, Aspen MLT, Inc. quickly carved its mark on the comic book industry.”

Michael Turner’s (Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi; written and illustrated by Turner) “Fathom debuted as the best-selling comic book of 1998 and is still going strong fifteen years later with five subsequent volumes and a number of popular mini-series!”

http://aspencomics.com/books/

SOME BEAUTIFUL TURNER ARTWORK

My Turner Fan Art

(some old artwork tributes I did in high school/college)

My first sculpture:

Sculpture I made in college

poster I own courtesy of M.L.T.

My first digital piece:

My first digital piece! -2008

Supergirl courtesy of M.L.T.

046d1ed1-742b-4f47-9a90-5198bb01d145 — Old sketch trying out markers inspired by Michael

SOME OF MY MICHAEL TURNER COLLECTION!!

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There is a great documentary on Michael Turner. His mother, and fellow coworkers/friends share some great memories about their time with Michael. He was such a talented, friendly and caring soul that touched millions.

My philosophy is smile more than you don’t smile.”

-MT

Recent Turner releases:

MICHAEL TURNER ART EDITION

THE ASPEN EXTENDED EDITION

Marvel Comics and Aspen Comics teamed up to present a never-before-used Michael Turner cover for the Amazing Spider-Man #15; Variants sold out with-in Hours!