Steve Dillon was a British comic book artist from Luton, Bedfordshire, best known for his work with writer Garth Ennis on Hellblazer, Preacher and The Punisher.
Biography[]
Steve Dillon first realised his potential as a serious comic book artist during the production of a school comic book called "Sci Fi Adventures" with school friends Neil Bailey & Paul Mahon in 1975. Dillon's first strip in this comic was "The Space Vampire". This was followed by the "Escape from the Planet of the Apes" series which was drawn to an increasingly high standard well beyond his years. In the late seventies Dillon wrote and illustrated a strip "Pi" in a fanzine produced with Bailey called "Ultimate Science Fiction".
Dillon got his first professional work at the age of 16, drawing the title story in the first issue of Hulk Weekly for Marvel UK, later working on the Nick Fury strip. In the 1980s he also drew for Warrior and Doctor Who Magazine, where he created the character of Abslom Daak. He did a considerable amount of work for the comics 2000 AD and Warrior.
Along with Brett Ewins, Dillon started the comic magazine Deadline in 1988, which continued for another seven years.
Together with author Garth Ennis, Dillon worked on Hellblazer and, later, on the very successful (and critically acclaimed) Preacher which wrapped up in 2000 after 66 issues. Dillon also created the character Dogwelder, featured in Ennis's series Hitman.
Recently, Dillon has done mostly work for Marvel Comics, pencilling for the relaunched Punisher series and new miniseries (also with Ennis), Supreme Power: Nighthawk, and Wolverine: Origins.
Dillon's younger brother, concept artist Glyn, announced on social media on October 22, 2016 that Dillon had died in New York City. The cause was complications of a ruptured appendix. His last comic was Six Pack, in which John Constantine was a guest character.