Jim Aparo ... 1932-2005

Aquaman #40 (Jul/Aug 1968) featured a new regular artist on the book. Some guy named Jim Aparo. The response was generally positive, although one disappointed letter writer told DC to "Drop Dead!" for taking the book from Nick Cardy. Jim Aparo stayed with Aquaman for almost ten years, drawing all his main stories during the time, including the famous "Mera Quest" storyline, and the Death of Artie Jr. After he left the main stories, he continued to draw Aquaman covers for a time... just like Nick Cardy before him.

Jim Aparo died last night, a month shy of 73 years old.

The world has just a little less style now.

• Fred Sez: "Jim Aparo was a tremendous talent, and I miss him already."
  
• Mark Evanier's Obit.
  
• Shane Bailey posts Spencer Beck's notice of Jim Aparo's death.
  
• Matt says: "I'll always remember Jim as the artist on the Batman/Aquaman fight, but the man drew a whole lot of comics."
  
• Ethan Van Sciver.
  
• Fanboy Rampage: "I loved his stuff, when I was a kid."
  
• Tom Spurgeon.
  
• The Beat.
  
• Johnny B: "Aparo was a huge influence on what I laughingly refer to as my artwork, and was one of my absolute favorite illustrators (and letterers, too) in the '70s and early '80s."
  
• Comicon.
  
• Bags and Boards.
  
• IGN: "Jim Aparo is survived by his wife Julie, three children, four grandchildren and two step-grandchildren. He'll be missed by all."
  
• Dark, But Shining: "If I'm ever browsing through back-issues and I see something with his name on it, I buy it. No questions asked."
  
• Websnark: "I'm going to miss him."
  
• The Comic Treadmill: "It's a sad day for the Aparo family and Jim's many fans."
  
• Mike Sterling.
  
• The Great Curve: "He was a solid artist and I hope his work will be appreciated by future generations. Goodbye Jim Aparo, Gotham will never be the same."
  
• Motime Like the Present: "This is a guy who (in the pages of The Brave and The Bold, along with the remarkable, and already much-missed, Bob Haney) made Batman palatable to me--a die-hard Bat-hater..."
  
• Ethan again: "I’m very sad. I loved his work dearly. Rest in peace, and tell Kirby hello from us suckers still here on earth."
  
• Will Pfeifer: "Aparo was my first "favorite" artist."
  
• Tom Peyer.
  
• Jim Aparo at Wikipedia.
  
• Bob Greenberger: "He was gracious and self-deprecating, and a thorough professional. He never missed a deadline nor complain about the work."
  
• Elayne Riggs.
  
• Tom Smith.
  
• Spatula Forum: "Aparo never quite got the kudos that a Kirby, Romita or Adams got, but I bet he was a lot of kids' first exposure to some fun old comics back in the day."
  
• Neil Gaiman: "So I got to write one page of comics for Jim Aparo, and it had the Phantom Stranger on it, and I was happy. He was my first "favourite artist", before Neal Adams, before Bernie Wrightson... I wish I'd met him."
  
• Trusty Plinko Stick: "His Batman is the one I see in my mind when I think of Batman, the same way I think of Curt Swan's Superman, Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four or John Romita's Spider-Man."
  
• Tom Spurgeon.
  
• The Aquaman Website goes black.