He was one of my all time favorites. I tend to be writer-focused (which, I know, is a little silly given that comics are a visual medium), and I rarely buy something for the artist if I don't follow the writer. But Dillon was an exception to that. In fact, it was the strength of his art on Hellblazer back in the early '90s that led me to discover Garth Ennis, who has since been one of my favorite writers in comics.
I always loved how weighty and real Dillon's characters were. How grounded. Which would make a moment of horror, magic, or violence in his work seem that much more vivid and shocking. And not shocking in the cheap way, rather, shocking like, 'this thing just happened in a world that feels grounded and real'. He also had such an amazing range of expression and body language. The "acting" in his books was always so excellent.
I don't remember if I saw Dillon’s “Judge Dredd” or “Rogue Trooper” work first, or his Animal Man work. Either way, I liked his stuff from the start. He was never flashy, and wasn't an innovator, but his work was always solid and interesting. As David mentioned, his work was very grounded, but he used just enough caricature in his drawing to keep it from ever feeling stiff. I was not a Preacher fan, but I picked up mainly because of Dillon, and I stayed with it a few issues longer than I otherwise might have because of Dillon. He’ll be missed.
People this weekend was posting art that he was doing professionally at the age of 17 for Marvel. He was so good at such a young age. I read his run on Wolverine.
What a shame. Never easy to hear news of industry pros passing away... especially when they aren't very old. His Punisher issues are my favourites for that character.
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I always loved how weighty and real Dillon's characters were. How grounded. Which would make a moment of horror, magic, or violence in his work seem that much more vivid and shocking. And not shocking in the cheap way, rather, shocking like, 'this thing just happened in a world that feels grounded and real'. He also had such an amazing range of expression and body language. The "acting" in his books was always so excellent.