We were saddened to hear of the passing of our friend Dave Taylor earlier this week.
A wonderful man with a kind heart and an amazing style, one thing that always amazed us with Dave was his ability to change his style if needed to fit the comic he was working on. Comparing his delicate pencilling illustrations for Batman: Death by Design and the much looser, Moebius-esque style of Judge Dredd stories for 2000 AD, it's sometimes hard to believe it all came from the mind and hand of one man.
Dave's first professional comic book work came in 1989 for Marvel UK where he worked on titles such as Zorro and Force Works before heading over to DC to draw for various Batman related titles. At the end of the 90s Dave became somewhat disillusioned with the comic book industry, unable to keep up with the ever shifting goalpost, tight deadlines and constant artwork changes. He decided to quit despite being halfway through a Grant Morrison graphic novel called "Human Target".
Dave picked up other work for a while before returning to comic book illustration in 2005 with 2000AD where he stayed for the remainder of his career while still accepting work from DC, IDW, Image and other publishers.
World of Superheroes founder and president Steve said
"It was with great sadness that I heard of the passing of our good mate, Dave Taylor. Over the last few years we have worked closely with Dave, buying and marketing his wonderful original art and shipping it out all over the world.
I always enjoyed our chats, discussing the comics industry and wider issues, punctuated with bouts of commercial jousting, which taught me time and again he was no pushover.
As time moves on, comic book art becomes more digitised but Dave was truly one of the last of the great British masters of his craft, producing physical art on a daily basis until illness stilled his hand.
Rest in peace my friend."
We're so thankful we were able to get to know Dave, see his original hand drawn work before it often received a sometimes 'over-processed' digital treatment, and offer it to a wider audience who might not have known his work existed otherwise. Rest easy, Robot Dave, you'll have a better view of those UFOs up there.
The below information is taken from a DownTheTubes.net article
Prostate Cancer: A Cautionary Tale
Back in June, Dave gave a not so gentle reminder to guys in their 40s and 50s to go get tested for prostate cancer, asking people to circulate his story.
“I didn’t in time, and my GP’s failed to notice the obvious signs and so, like so many prostate cancers, it spread into my bones. I was lucky in that it only spread into my bones. It could have gone anywhere it wanted, but … it settled in my upper spine and caused irreparable damage. Again, I was lucky that it didn’t settle higher up, which would have paralysed me completely, instead of just from my rib cage down. Bad enough, but not completely devastating.
“My point is that if I’d recognised the symptoms and pushed my GP’s into action, this nightmare of mine wouldn’t have happened. Save your life by simply telling your GP that you want a prostate cancer test (digital exam and PSA blood test). Please do it.”
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. 1 in 8 men will get it, and if you’re Black, your risk is double. Prostate Cancer UK raises awareness, funding lifesaving research, campaigning for change and providing helpful support and information. You can support them here prostatecanceruk.org.