Artist Ric Estrada passed away last week — there’s an obit retelling his remarkable life at the Salt Lake Tribune. His life included going to school with Fidel Castro, help from Ernest Hemingway, as well as many fine comic strips and comics, mostly for DC, where he drew such things as KARATE KID and OUR ARMY AT WAR. You can read more about his career at The Comics Reporter and Mark Evanier’s blog.
I actually worked with Estrada many moons ago on a project for Disney Adventures. He was a total pro and real “natural” — everything that came out of his pen was flowing, confident and beautifully drawn. He was also a fine storyteller…in short, one of those cartoonists who brings a craft to even tired genre stories that elevates them and gives them life.
There’s a website run by his son, where, we learn, a movie about his life is being made.
