RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Comic Books RIP Steve Lightle

He was one of my favorite Legion artists and not really that old. LLL

.

Wow!

I didn't see that one coming. His first pro work was only published in LEGION 3rd series (beginning 1984), so you're right, not that old, only 61.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Lightle

Lightle's art is very detailed and beautiful. I first recall him doing about a year's worth of LEGION after Giffen's first 5 issues on the 1984 Baxter series. And his 4-issue DOOM PATROL miniseries, and BATMAN 400. There's a checklist of Lightle's work at the Wikipedia link.

.


https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Legion-of-Super-Heroes-1984/Issue-7?id=85229

A link to Lightle's earliest LEGION run, (vol 3, 1984 series), issues 3–5 (over Gifffen layouts), and 7–10, 12–14, 16, 23 (full Lightle pencils) .
I linked to issue 7, that begins with Lightle's full pencils.

.


https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Batman-1940/Issue-400?id=18059#1

BATMAN 400, a great artist-jam anniversary issue, with the opening 6- page chapter by Steve Lightle. In great company with the remaining story by George Perez, Paris Cullins, Bill Sienkiewicz, Arthur Adams, Tom Sutton, Steve Leialoha, Joe Kubert, Ken Steacy, Rick Leonardi, and Brian Bolland. With pin-ups by Grell, Wrightson, Kaluta and Rude.

Here's a photo of Lightle on his birthday in 2016, from a Legion blog, with a lot of nice covers and pages by Lightle over many years.

http://legionofsuperbloggers.blogspot.com/2016/11/happy-birthday-steve-lightle.html

TALES OF THE LEGION 342, one of my favorite LEGION covers by Lightle, poster-worthy.

Thanks WB, he was a great talent.

He definitely was.

I was surprised by how relatively little comics work Lightle did over the last 36 years. Outside of his LEGION work, he often suffered from inkers whose style was not compatible with his, and mask his decorative linework. But his LEGION, DOOM PATROL, and DETECTIVE 400 work are beautiful examples of how good his work is.

I wasn't aware Lightle did work for Marvel till now, and I noticed he did a long run on MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS, hopefully some other great Lightle work to explore.

I was looking again at the checklist of Lightle's work, and came across this X-FACTOR 32 issue (1988) that was pencilled and inked by Lightle, and is consistent with the work he did in LEGION and DOOM PATROL in the same period.

https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/X-Factor-1986/Issue-32?id=40725#1

As I said above, it was disapponting how many stories he did have artists whose inking style blunts and goes completely against Lightle's clean and very detailed linestyle. This one is an example of how all Lightle's work should look, when an editor didn't destroy his work by pairing Lightle's pencils with the wrong inker. (Some truly awful stories are in WORLD'S FINEST 304 and 306, if I recall inked by Sal Trapani, a complete mismatch) .

.



This looks like a convention sketch by Steve Lightle. Or maybe an unused cover.





And this cover from X-MEN CLASSIC 52, another sampling from Lightle's wwork on the Marvel side of the fence.

Lightle did covers and inside-cover illustrations on issues 30-42, 44-52, and 56.
https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=97241

https://viewcomiconline.com/classic-x-men-issue-30/ ( titled CLASSIC X-MEN, issues 1-45 )
https://viewcomiconline.com/x-men-classic-issue-52/ ( titled X-MEN CLASSIC, issues 46-up )

At the latter viewcomic links, you can view each cover in a larger size, and also the inside-cover illustraions by Lightle, that in many cases are as nice, or nicer, than the covers by Lightle.

.




One of my favorite single issue stories from Steve Lightle's run, in LEGION 13, August 1985. A great issue, by both Levitz and Lightle.

Here's a link to the full issue, where you can read it online.
https://viewcomiconline.com/legion-of-super-heroes-1984-issue-13/

Again, Lightle did work on LEGION issues 3–5 (over Giffen layouts), and 7–10, 12–14, 16, 23 (full Lightle pencils) .

.

Steve Lightle's DOOM PATROL, art on issues 1-5
https://viewcomiconline.com/doom-patrol-1987-issue-1/



And X-FACTOR 32
https://viewcomiconline.com/x-factor-1986-issue-32/

And LEGION by Lightle, (vol 3, 1984 series), issues 3–5 (over Gifffen layouts), and 7–10, 12–14, 16, 23 (full Lightle pencils) .
I linked to issue 7, that begins where Lightle began doing full pencils.
(Lightle covers on 6-16, 23, 25-35, 37, 39-44, 51-53, 55-63. So of 63 issues in Vol. 3, Lightle did covers on 42 of the 63 issues.)
https://viewcomiconline.com/legion-of-super-heroes-1984-issue-7/

And here's TALES OF THE LEGION, that reprint the vol 3 issues beginning with issue 1 in 326
So the Lightle issues in TALES would be 328-330, 332-335, 337-339,341 and 348. With many new Lightle covers on these and other issues from 330- 342.
https://viewcomiconline.com/tales-of-the-legion-issue-330/

Here's the cover for 342 again, in a larger size where you can see the detail, on that beautiful poster-worthy cover :
https://viewcomiconline.com/tales-of-the-legion-issue-342/

The BATMAN and LEGION issues by Lightle remain my favorites of his work.

.

It's a few years after the fact, but I just ran across this article about Steve Lightle's death by Covid-19, and how he fell ill and unexpectedly had to be rushed to the emergency room.
With a lot of quoted accounts by Lightle's wife, about that sudden illness, and about his overall personality during their 35 or so years together, about his work habits, and his interaction with fans at conventions.
And similarly, commentary by Paul Levitz, about his years working together with Steve Lightle.


Comic book artist's sudden death a shock: 'We had no idea he had Covid'
Steve Lightle, who worked for both DC and Marvel, died on Jan. 8, just three days after coming down with what he thought was a cold.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/obituaries/comic-book-artist-s-sudden-death-shock-we-had-no-n1254399

• Jan. 18, 2021, By Ethan Sacks
  
  
  As the artist for the popular comic "Legion of Super-Heroes" in the early 1980s, Steve Lightle made a living dreaming up the future, but his own was cut short by Covid-19.
  
  Lightle, 61, died from cardiac arrest in a Kansas City, Missouri, hospital on Jan. 8, just three days after coming down with what he thought was a head cold and just hours after he was rushed to the hospital.
  
  "Covid stole my husband's life and our future together," said Marianne Lightle, his wife of 38 years, by email. "We wore masks, social distanced, washed our hands. ... It appeared as a cold and became death.
  "I will never forget the helpless feeling of not being able to save him," added Marianne Lightle, who now has Covid-19 herself.
  
  Best known for his runs on "Legion" and "Doom Patrol" for DC and "Classic X-Men" covers for Marvel, Lightle became a fixture at conventions, never too busy to mentor the next generation. He came across as larger than life and drew visuals that were just as grand.
  "My memories of him are that he was just a very enthusiastic, very warm guy who was excited about everything he was doing," said Paul Levitz, the writer on Lightle's "Legion" run and a longtime friend. "He was happy to be contributing in any way that he possibly could, had a bunch of ideas and was just enjoying the hell out of what he was getting to do."
  
  Born in Kansas City, Kansas, on Nov. 19, 1959, as the youngest of four children in a working-class family, Lightle had his work cut out for him to break into the comic business. He hailed, after all, from a part of the country that was more Smallville than Metropolis at a time when the comic book industry was centralized in New York City.
  
  "When he was a teenager, he self-published," Marianne Lightle said. "He was always an artist and always drawing."
  
  With the rise of overnight delivery services in the early 1980s, however, an artist like Lightle could work from anywhere. His first professional credit came with AC Comics' "Black Diamond" #4 in 1984, and within months he was tapped to draw "The Legion of Super-Heroes" for DC. It was a giant leap in a single bound for a young artist.
  
  The gig was an especially sweet plot twist for a kid who grew up doodling that team of superheroes from the 31st century.
  
  "I try to give my all to each assignment that I take on," Lightle told Comic Book Resources in 2002. "With the Legion it's really easy to find that personal connection, because I've been a fan of the series since my childhood. The first Legion drawing that I can remember ever doing was created at my school desk in 2nd grade."
  
  Levitz, then the established writer of that series, remembers his new artistic partner as always thinking ahead — 1,000 years into the future to be exact. Lightle, for example, came up with the design for the fan-favorite hero Tellus, a hulking aquatic creature that proved surprisingly human at heart.
  
  "As a creative person, he was an unusually thoughtful artist about coming up with new characters and new elements," Levitz said. "He was very comfortable trying to figure out how to depict the future, which is always an interesting question."
  
  "An awful lot of the things that we came up in the comics in those days, we only got right [in] 20 years, not 1,000, and some we may not get for the full 1,000 years. It's hard to tell," Levitz said.
  
  By the time he landed the "Legion" job, he was working on a more traditional kind of future, having married his childhood sweetheart, Marianne, whom he met when he was 19 and she was 16. The couple went on to have two children together: a son, Matthew, in 1986 and a daughter, Nina, in 1994.
  
  In 1988, Lightle drew the first five issues of DC's "Doom Patrol," a superteam that would inspire a TV series just over 20 years later.
  
  Marvel tapped him to draw the covers for the series "Classic X-Men" in 1989. He drew more books for the publisher through the '90s, including several issues featuring the popular hero Wolverine.
  
  The experience of working with the claw-popping "X-Men" character would come in handy when he drew a birthday announcement for his grandson Logan, who shares the same name as the hero.
  
  "My husband drew an illustration of my very pregnant daughter-in-law with the word 'snikt' and claws coming from her belly," recalled Marianne Lightle, referring to the word for the sound effect of Wolverine's claws being extended.
  
  Lightle continued to draw up until his death, channeling his passion into his own online comic series, "Justin Zane." He also enjoyed meeting fans on the comic-convention circuit, where his original fans who enjoyed his work in their childhoods were bringing their own children along.
  
  "He also liked talking with young aspiring artists," Marianne Lightle said. "He made some lasting friendships with a few he had mentored."
  
  Though he never achieved the superstardom of some other artists, people in the industry appreciated his dynamic style. After learning of Lightle's death, Jim Lee, one of the most popular artists in the business and now chief creative officer at DC, tweeted that he was "a huge fan of his work on Legion of Superheroes growing up."
  
  There should have been more issues of comics, more laughs with fans at conventions, more time with his five — soon to be six — grandchildren.
  
  "He loved people. He loved animals. He was just such a gentle soul," Marianne Lightle said. "He felt deeply and was never one to mince words. He was the most honest human being I have known."
  
  "He was my best friend," she said, "and I can't talk about him without losing my grip, because he was my strength."

It also lists several works by Lightle that even up to this point I was still unaware of.

And has 2 more photos of Lightle, one with his wife Marianne.

.

I also meant earlier to post a link to Lightle's MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS work (1992-1995), so here it is :


issues 109–116 (Wolverine and Typhoid Mary); https://viewcomiconline.com/marvel-comics-presents-v1-109/

issues 123–130 (Ghost Rider and Typhoid Mary); https://viewcomiconline.com/marvel-comics-presents-v1-123/

issues132–136 (Wolverine); https://viewcomiconline.com/marvel-comics-presents-v1-132/


issue 150 (Vengeance, Wolverine, Daredevil, Typhoid Mary); https://viewcomiconline.com/marvel-comics-presents-v1-150/

and
issue175 (ttwo stories: Steel Raven, and New Genix) https://viewcomiconline.com/marvel-comics-presents-v1-175/

.

And a self-publishing character by Liightle, JUSTIN ZANE, that apparently doesn't exist as a published comic, only as a web comic on the internet :

https://stevelightle.wixsite.com/justin-zane/home

https://stevelightle.wixsite.com/justin-zane


And a lengthy interview of Steve Lightle about his work across 35 years for DC and Marvel, and the above JUSTIN ZANE series.
He goes into a lot of detail on his work process and creative collaborations on the series he worked on.
And he sure doesn't hold anything back about why he left the DOOM PATROL series. Lightle expresses a deep understanding of the Doom Patrol characters from their Drake/Premiani creation and original series, and how they should be intelligently developed based on that going forward, and yet he was promised plot collaboration participation but was ignored, not as promised, after he agreed and contracted to do the series.

http://www.dcinthe80s.com/2016/05/steve-lightle-talks-about-his-1987-run.html

Lightle expresses a similar deep understanding and appreciation of LEGION from its Silver Age roots as well.
I'm impressed with the clarity, detail and intelligence Lightle expresses about the series and characters he worked on.

DOOM PATROL (original Drake/Premiani series, 1964-1968, and 1973. Was MY GREATEST ADVENTURE, issues 1-85)
86-124 https://viewcomiconline.com/doom-patrol-1964-issue-86/

DOOM PATROL (1987 series)
1-87 (1-5 ly Lightle) https://viewcomiconline.com/doom-patrol-1987-issue-1/



And another Steve Lightle tribute link, that could turn you on to stuff you might have missed the first time :
http://legionofsuperbloggers.blogspot.com/search/label/Steve%20Lightle