Veteran letterer Albert Deschesne passed away unexpectedly at the age of 54 this past Tuesday, May 30. Deschesne got his start in the industry working for Heroic Publishing in 1991, and quickly established himself as one of the premier letterers in the industry, doing work for many publishers, but most notably Marvel. Some of his notable works includes “Nova,” “New Avengers,” “Wolverine,” and “Astro City.” While primarily a letterer, he did ink and color a number of books throughout his career.
Deschesne joined Richard Starkings’s Comicraft lettering and graphic design collective in 1994, and remained there until his passing. Starkings described him as “proud to be a geek LONG before it was fashionable.” Comicraft became a real force in the industry with their innovative use a digital lettering, as well as their development of lettering fonts, many of which are used by letterers outside of Comicraft. In his statement, Starkings also mentioned Deschesne was working on “Justice League” as recently as the week before his death.
While the cause of death has not yet been revealed, Deschesne had been diagnosed with, and defeated, cancer in the past, and Starkings’s statement mentioned that he had been struggling with some health issues as of late. Deschesne lettered over 200 series in his career, and leaves behind an impressive legacy. We wish our best to his family, friends, and fellow fans.
