Tom Luth will be best-remembered among comics fans as being part of the Groo the Wanderer creative team, coloring most Groo stories through that book's history (Groo writer Mark Evanier eulogiezes Luth here and Groo artist Sergio Aragones eulogized him as well). But though I've never cared much for Groo, I am a huge Usagi Yojimbo fan. Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo was usually presented in black and white stories, with the covers supplying the only colour. Luth coloured the cover of Critters #1 in 1986, when the series was just starting out, and continued to colour Sakai's covers from the Fantagraphics era, to Mirage, to Dark Horse and then to IDW. Along the way there were occasional Usagi Yojimbo Color Specials in which the character appeared in full-colour comics. Luth was the interior colorist on every Color Special both at Fantagraphcis and Dark Horse.
The move to publishing at IDW in 2019 resulted in Usagi Yojimbo switching to a full-colour format. From then on, Luth was tapped not only for the covers but the interiors as well. That seemed to be too much for him; in 2020 he announced his retirement from comics. Although Usagi Yojimbo has continued on as a full-colour comic (usually coloured by the studio Hi-Fi Design), 2020's Usagi Yojimbo #14 was Luth's farewell to the series. Luth did terrific work on Usagi Yojimbo for 35 years and left behind an excellent body of work.
Rest in peace, Mr. Luth.
No comments:
Post a Comment