Industry mourns deaths of retailer Root, artist Elder

The deaths of comics professionals have always seemed especially sad, at least in part because their personalities and real lives are rarely well known or celebrated — even when their work is. The past week has seen the deaths of two important figures in comics, retailer Rory Root and artist Will Elder.

Root, owner of the influential Berkeley comic shop Comic Relief, died yesterday at the age of 50. Cause of death was complications from recent hernia surgery. The Comics Reporter has the most detailed obit for Root, who was by all accounts a tireless advocate for getting the best comics into the hands of readers. I wish I could say I had more than the most minor of interactions with him — I bought some EC reprints from him at the Comic Relief booth at WonderCon in 2006; he also defended that show in a comment on this blog regarding a post about convention scheduling. The store he founded is marching on, with a minisite celebrating his life and contributions to comics. The site also invites fans to make a donation to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund in Root's name.

Elder, who was 86, was one of the original contributors to EC's great Mad back when it was still a comicbook, and stuck with the publication's founder, Harvey Kurtzman, through the rest of his career. Elder worked with Kurtzman on everything from Help! to the classic Little Annie Fanny strip for Playboy. Mark Evanier has plenty of info on Elder at his blog, including a recounting of a panel in Elder's honor he hosted at the 2000 San Diego Comic-Con. That alone should serve as an excellent reminder to check out Evanier's annual panels with the greats and appreciate the folks who gave life to comics while we can. Meanwhile, Mad sent out a press release (read it in the jump) honoring Elder's contributions the magazine.

William “Willie” Elder, the successful cartoonist and commercial illustrator whose work helped launch MAD Magazine, died Thursday morning, May 15th, 2008. He was 86.

Born Wolf William Eisenberg in the Bronx, New York, Elder changed his name after returning in World War II. During his time of service, Elder was part of the map-making team that was instrumental in the invasion of Normandy.

When Harvey Kurtzman launched MAD Magazine in 1952, he hired Elder along with Wally Wood, Jim Severin, and Jack Davis to produce content for the first issues.

“Willie Elder was one of the funniest artists to ever work for MAD. He created visual feasts with dozens of background gags layered into every MAD story he illustrated,” says John Ficarra, Editor of MAD Magazine, “He called these gags “chicken fat.” Willie’s “anything goes” art style set the tone for the entire magazine and created a look that endures to this day.”

“Willie's passing saddens all of us here at MAD,” says Sam Viviano, MAD Magazine Art Director, “Everyone who has attempted to draw a funny picture over the course of the last fifty or sixty years owes an enormous debt to Willie, who taught us all how to do it -- and no one has ever done it better than he did.”