Seth Kushner (photographer, comics creator, and member of the Hang Dai Studios crew) passed away yesterday at the age of 41 after an extended battle with cancer.
Although I never met Seth personally (I was looking forward to getting the chance at this year’s Baltimore Comicon), his name was one always coming up in conversations with other creators. They were either friends or collaborators (past, present, or future) and it seemed like everyone knew him. If you’ve seen a portrait of your favorite creator looking a million times better than the standard press headshot, I guarantee you Seth took that person’s photo. He may not have had a cartoonist’s skill with the pencil (although that’s certainly debatable), but he certainly had a cartoonist’s eye for making images tell stories. He just used different tools in getting them, that’s all. From portraits to fumetti to his work with more traditional comix creators in such books as “Schmuck” or the just-released “Secret Sauce”, Seth was an extraordinary talent.
There are a number of tributes to Seth being posted today, but the eulogy from his friend Hannah Means-Shannon is the one that I think best captures what Seth brought to our community, and what we are missing now that he’s gone.
You can also hear the Robots From Tomorrow talk I had last year with Seth’s friend and collaborator Dean Haspiel about their creative relationship.
Once you’ve done that, please go to Seth & Terra Kushner’s gofundme page and consider making a donation to help Seth’s family offset the massive medical bills that still remain.
We here at Multiversity Comics extend our deepest condolences to Seth’s family and friends.
