See you in Valhalla, Carlos Ezquerra #RIP

So sad to read about the loss of legendary comics artist Carlos Ezquerra. I was lucky enough to be his editor off and on for a decade while working on 2000AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine. His contribution to the last five decades of British comics is beyond description, creating the look of such iconic characters as Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, Major Eazy, Rat Pack, El Mestizo, Fiends of the Eastern Front, Al's Baby, Durham Red and more.

Add to that the fact Carlos was a geniunely lovely person. There are great talents who work in comics, but that doesn't always make them great people. Carlos was one of the good guys, the best of people, and I'm proud to have worked with him over the years.

'Jesus Christ, you give me no time!' Carlos would joke in his glorious Spanish accent when a rush job was needed. The aroma of his cheroots that imbued every page of artwork he drew. Even when he shifted to computer - one of the first artists to embrace new technology, an artist always looking to challenge himself - the CDs on which his art used to arrive still had that telltale scent.

Such a devastating loss, and so many wonderful pages we'll never get to see. But his art lives on, and so do the characters he helped create.

See you in Valhalla, Carlos.