Remembering Comic Book Creator Michael Turner on His Birthday, April 21
We try very hard to focus on the positive with these monthly remembrance pieces at The Splintering, but some pieces are tougher to write than others. Due to how young Michael Turner was at the time of his passing, this is one of the toughest. Michael Layne Turner was born April 21, 1971 in Crossville, Tennessee. Were he still with us, Michael would’ve been celebrating his 51st birthday today. Sadly, Turner passed away on June 27, 2008 after a long battle with cancer.
Turner got his start as an artist in comics in the mid-1990s, working for publishers like Top Cow and Image. Even his earliest works garnered attention from fans and creators alike. His wrap-around cover to Witchblade #8 (1996) is still talked about and referenced to this day.
Never one to be short on creative ideas, Turner started his own comic book company in 2003, Aspen MLT. Aspen still publishes comic books and has several titles popular with comic book collectors and readers, including Fathom and Soulfire.
Even after founding his own publishing company, Turner found time to work for mainstream publishers like DC and Marvel. From 2004-2008 he contributed covers to what is likely three of the most popular comic book events at the time; Identity Crisis (DC), Civil War (Marvel) and Old Man Logan (Marvel). Sadly, on June 27, 2008 Michael Turner would lose his battle with cancer, but not before leaving a lasting mark on the comic book industry. We are here today to celebrate his massive contributions to the art form, and we welcome everyone to leave comments below discussing some of their favorite Michael Turner works.
“I don’t make a big deal out of life’s obstacles. To me, they’re just there to be overcome.” – Michael Turner
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Mike was the best. It was a thrilling time for comic art when he was alive. I was busy with life in the early 2000’s and fell behind on collecting, but picked it up in spurts in the years following his passing. On the 10th anniversary year, I drained the eBay well closing up my collection.
My favorite cover of all-time is the Witchblade Spring Pin-Up Museum cover. Thanks for writing this piece.
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