Roger Dale Crain, a comic artist, colorist and editor, has passed away in Vietnam due to unreleased causes. Crain was active in the industry until 2010, pencilling issues of “Thor” and “The Twelve” in the mid 2000s, and inking and coloring all through his 25-plus year career.
Crain is most well known for his work as an editor, working studiously on the ‘Marvel Masterworks’ collection as well as DC’s ‘Millenium’ reprint editions, and ‘Archives’ volumes. The versatile creator collected and collated the works of Neil Gaiman, Marv Wolfman and Will Eisner, among many others.
There are few details related to Crane’s passing, as he seems to have been largely cut-off from friends and family for an extended period, with one making inquiries into where he could be found in 2012. Crane is survived by his son Sean.
Dale Crain’s family are currently working to repatriate his body back to the United States and have started a GoFundMe page to raise the US$3000 necessary. Industry figures including Scott Dunbier, Shaun McLaughlin, Jared K. Fletcher and Cliff Chiang have all contributed, helping raise the fundraiser to $3090 at the time of writing.
Fletcher in a comment said, “Dale was a special person. I had the pleasure of knowing him when we worked together at DC Comics. A smoke break with Dale outside the office was always a bright spot in the day. He was a great sounding board and offered a lot of wisdom to a young kid just breaking into comics. He was a talented designer with a great taste in comics as well. (We used to go on and on about how great ‘Love & Rockets’ was over beers). Conversation with Dale were always fun no matter what the topic. He was easily one of the best drinking partners I’ve ever sat next to. This is a sad day but I also feel very grateful for having known him. I’m sure a lot of other folks feel the same way.”
