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A week after celebrating his 90th birthday, Silver Age great Dick Ayers has passed away, according to reports on Facebook. Vanguard’s David Spurlock passed along a brief obituary and the picture below:

Rest In Peace Dick Ayers. There have never been sweeter people than Dick and his wife Lindy. Here is a photo from one of my recent visits in which Dick and I collaborated on a few recreations of early, Marvel covers by the team of Kirby and Ayers. Richard “Dick” Ayers (born April 28, 1924) is an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby’s inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on some of the earliest issues of Marvel Comics’ The Fantastic Four. He is the signature penciler of Marvel’s World War II comic Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, drawing it for 10-year run, and he co-created Magazine Enterprises’ 1950s Western-horror character the Ghost Rider, a version of which he would draw for Marvel in the 1960s. Ayers was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2007.


Ayers was a regular figure at conventions up until recently, and as I was just writing last week about Al Feldstein, a living connection to the history books.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. this is very sad news. i used to see dick ayers all the time when he would do signings at local comic shops in white plains, more than a few years back. there would be a few folks hanging out and he would tell tons of stories about his days at marvel. i would score tons of prints that he did of the marvel western heroes or sgt.fury and the howling commandos or the original avengers. the most unique print was of sue richards of the fantastic four taking off her F.F. uniform in a provocative manner (who knew ayers had a naughty side). one day while my wife and i were going to yard sales in white plains , we stopped at a street where most of the folks in the neighborhood were having a yard sale, and who do we bump into having a yard sale along with everybody else? mr.ayers himself. i went up to him and explained who i was , seeing him at the local comic shops. he remembered me and we had a nice conversation about yard sales (i don’t remember comics coming up in that conversation). ever since then, any show i went to that he would be attending , i would always make a point of stopping at his table to say hello to him and his wife (a very sweet lady). they were always very gracious and kind. my deepest condolences to mrs.ayers, family, and friends.

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