[Header image by Kelly Froh]
Bleeding Cool reports that Seattle-based alternative comics creator Mark Campos has died after taking his own life. A fund going towards his family for funeral expenses has already reached its $5000 target.
According to Lambiek’s Comiclopedia, Campos was born in Reno, Nevada, in 1962. His comics appeared in magazines like Hyena, Gay Comix, Itchy Planet, and Naughty Bits, as well as several Seattle newspapers. He also worked for a comic publisher called Cartoon Loonacy. Before his death, Campos was working on an autobiographical project called “Casino Son,” for which he raised $805 on GoFundMe to travel and promote the book at last year’s Latino Comix Expo.
Paul Tumey of The Comics Journal named “Casino Son” as one of his favorite comics of 2017, and has updated his piece to acknowledge Campos’s passing. He wrote:
Mark Campos was a sensitive, brilliant, and complex person. It was my honor to spend a little time with him. One Thanksgiving he and David Lasky were at my house and we started drawing comics. I watched Mark draw and create fully realized characters and scenes out of thin air with the same sort of fascination I’ve watched skilled cartoonists like Charles Schultz draw in documentaries. His hand was sure, never hesitating, and his wit was keen. Mark Campos was the real deal.
If you have been affected by this report, please remember that organizations like the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or Crisis Text Line offer free, 24/7 support in the United States. Councilors at the Trevor Project and Trans Lifeline also specialize in helping LGBTQ people. If you’re outside the US, Lifeline and Beyond Blue can offer assistance in Australia, as will Samaritans in the UK.
