Cover: Identity Crisis #1 (2004)
Michael Turner RIP June 27, 2008
Michael Turner
Survived by: His mother, Grace Crick, his brother, Jake Turner, and his fiancé, Kelly Carmichael.
Michael was an American comic book artist born in Crossville, Tennessee and primarily known for his work on Witchblade, Fathom, Superman/Batman, and various covers for DC Comics and Marvel Comics. He was also the president of the entertainment company Aspen MLT.
Michael Turner was a pre-med student at the University of Tennessee. Shortly before graduating, he moved to Aspen, Colorado, then moved-on to San Diego, CA, where he taught martial arts. It was in San Diego that he developed an interest in comics. As well as an artist, Turner was an award-winning water skier.
Witchblade 1/2 1995
Mike was discovered at the San Diego Comic-Con in 1993 by Marc Silvestri of Top Cow Studios when he brought five pages of artwork for a portfolio review. His first work was doing background
illustrations for Top Cow titles before getting his first project, a three issue mini-series titled, “Ballistic”. He followed that up by co-creating Witchblade, which quickly elevated his status to a top-selling artist.
Michael drew Witchblade through issue #25, then in the summer of 1998, he debuted his creator-owned series, Fathom.
Fathom Preview 1998
In March 2000, Turner was diagnosed with chondrosarcoma, a form of cancer, in the right pelvis. He was treated at UCLA Medical Center with surgery in which he lost a hip, 40% of his pelvis, and three pounds of bone. The surgery was followed by nine months of radiation therapy.
Turner departed Top Cow in late 2002 to found his own comic book publishing company, Aspen MLT Inc., located in Santa Monica, with a studio in Marina del Rey, California. The release of comics from Aspen was delayed by a year-long lawsuit with Top Cow Productions over the rights to Fathom, and over the rights to the unreleased titles Soulfire (initially called Dragonfly) and Ekos, both of which Turner had begun development on before leaving Top Cow and before his diagnosis of cancer. Aspen and Top Cow settled the lawsuit out of court in 2003.
In 2004 Turner contributed covers to various DC Comics titles, including The Flash and Identity Crisis. He also provided cover art and co-wrote the “Godfall” story arc that ran in the three main Superman titles in early 2004. He also illustrated the six-issue Supergirl story arc in Superman/Batman.[4] His creator-owned title Soulfire also began publication in 2004, and Fathom resumed publication in that year as well, though this time with Aspen MLT rather than Top Cow.
On August 6, 2005, Marvel Comics announced the signing of Michael Turner to a work-for-hire deal for a six-issue project and covers. This would turn out to be at least the variant covers for the miniseries Civil War and the Wolverine ongoing series Wolverine: Origins. In addition Turner had been announced as the artist on Ultimate Wolverine.
Please stop by the Michael Turner Shrine to remember him.
Miachel Turner’s Art
Interior art
Aspen
Soulfire #0-6 (2004–05)
DC
Superman/Batman #8-13 (2004)
Image/Top Cow
Ballistic #1-3 (1995)
Codename: Strykeforce #14 (among other artists) (1995)
Fathom #0-14 (1998–2002)
Tomb Raider #25 (2002)
Tomb Raider/Witchblade, one-shot, (along with Brian Ching) #1 (1997)
Witchblade #1-8, 10-23, 25 (1995–98)
Witchblade/Tomb Raider Special, one-shot, (along with Keu Cha) #1 (1998)
Covers
Variant incentive cover for Justice League of America #12.
DC
Action Comics #812-813 (2004)
Adventures of Superman #625-626 (2004)
Flash, vol. 2, #207-211 (2004)
Identity Crisis #1-7 (2004)
Justice League of America, vol. 4, #0-12 (2006–07)
Supergirl, vol. 4, #1-3, 5 (2005)
Superman, vol. 2, #202-203, 205 (2004)
Superman/Batman #26 (2006)
Teen Titans, vol. 5, #1 (2003)
Marvel
Black Panther, vol. 3, #18, 23-25 (2006–07)
Civil War #1-7 (2006–07)
Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America, miniseries, #1-5 (2007)
Fantastic Four #544-553 (2007–08)
Hulk, vol. 2, #1, 6 (2008)
Incredible Hulk, vol. 3, #100 (2006)
Ms. Marvel, vol. 2, #1 (2006)
Onslaught Reborn #1 (2006)
Spider-Man/Red Sonja, miniseries, #1-5 (2007)
Sub-Mariner, miniseries, #1, 6 (2007–08)
Ultimate X-Men #75 (2006)
World War Hulk, 5-part miniseries, #1 (2007)
Wolverine: Origins #1 (2006)
Wolverine, vol.2, #66 variant cover (2008)
Uncanny X-Men #500 (2008)
Image/Top Cow
Darkness #7, 11 (1997–98)
Tomb Raider #9 (2000)
Witchblade #26-27, 50, 86, 100, 103 (1998–2007)
Image/Hurricane Ent.
Violent Messiahs:lamenting pain #1B – actor edition
Superman/Batman #8
Action Comics #812
