According to a post from his son on Facebook, American comic book artist Steve Lightle (“Doom Patrol,” “Legion of Super-Heroes”) has died of cardiac arrest, aged only 61.
Lightle was born in Kansas on November 19, 1959. He attended Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas, and began his professional career in 1983, drawing a back-up story for the AC Comics series “Black Diamond.” He debuted at DC Comics the following year with a 10–page story in “New Talent Showcase” #4, and subsequently took over from Keith Giffen as artist on the first arc of 1984’s “Legion of Super-Heroes” relaunch (penned by Paul Levitz). He continued to pencil the title until 1986, and drew covers for it until 1988.
He penciled the first five issues of the 1987 relaunch of Paul Kupperberg’s “Doom Patrol” run, but reportedly declined to continue with the series as he disliked Kupperberg’s take, and was not involved in plotting the comic despite an editor repeatedly promising that he would be. By the early ’90s, Lightle was mainly working for Marvel, drawing stories in “Marvel Comics Presents,” as well as “Quasar,” “Excalibur: XX Crossing,” “Generation X ’95,” “Web of Spider-Man Super Special,” and 1992’s “Marvel Holiday Special.” He was a regular cover artist on the reprint title “Classic X-Men.”
He returned sporadically to DC, including a reunion with Levitz on 2012’s “Legion of Super-Heroes” #8, and had been self-publishing his comic books and original artwork through his company Lunatick Press since 2001. He is survived by his wife, Marianne, and their children.
