Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics, Titan, X-Men | Tagged: Josh Cassara, rip
Marvel Stormbreaker Artist, Josh Cassara, Died Yesterday
Marvel Stormbreaker Artist, Josh Cassara, Died Yesterday… Rest In Peace
Josh Cassara, comics artist best known for his work on X-Force, X-Men, and Deadpool/Wolverine, died yesterday. His wife, Martha Cassara, posted to his social media saying, “I’m saddened to share the impossible news that Josh died on September 22nd of heart complications. You might know him for his celebrated work in comics, but he was also a good man, a wonderful father and husband, my best friend, and the love of my life. I’ll share more in the future, but for now that’s about all I can manage. If you knew Josh, you know that he approached the world with humor, sweetness, and kindness. He would not have wanted your condolences. He would have wanted your laughter and toasts. I would love it if you shared something below. Not your sadness, please, but any sort of happiness he brought you through his art, his friendship, or even a brief encounter. May he feel all the love he gave us all. He was one of a kind
Josh Cassara began his professional comics career with Titan Comics titles, including The Troop with Noel Clarke, Mycroft Holmes, Doctor Who, and Dark Souls. He later joined Marvel, contributing to series such as Falcon, Sentry, Secret Empire, and Venom. In 2020, Marvel named him one of its Stormbreakers, recognising a new generation of exclusive talent. He became especially associated with the X-Men family of titles during the Krakoan era, serving as the primary artist on X-Force with Benjamin Percy and later contributing to X Lives of Wolverine, the ongoing X-Men, and the 2025 Deadpool/Wolverine series, again with Percy.
Benjamin Percy posted “Josh Cassara and I spoke the same language. The secret language of friends who share a peculiar hard-wiring. We did impressions of actors (and fellow comics writers, artists, and editors). We texted memes of Rocky, Point Break, Predator. Every time I went to Costco, I took a photo of myself holding a $1.50 hot dog and sent it to him. Every time he smoked and grilled meat, he took a photo to send to me. One time we drove from LA to Vegas and laughed so hard we wept and nearly lost control of the vehicle. We sat on panels together (after which we were told we had “baseball manager energy”). We shared signing booths together. We shared many meals and drinks together, often joined by his wife (and best friend) Martha. Seafood tacos. Breakfast burritos. Double doubles from In-N-Out. DTW soup dumplings. Steaks. Cacio e pepe. Scallop sandwiches on a seaside dock. And oysters—always oysters. Josh and Martha believed in them religiously, often with a profane toast and tequila shooters to wash them down. Our last meal was a month ago: ribs and cold beers at Kansas City Barbeque (where Top Gun was shot, his favorite movie) in San Diego. He was a good dude. A really good dude. Kind. Joyful. Sweet with family, friends, and strangers. This is a counterpoint to his art, which is bloody, brutal, packed with mayhem. He was an awe-inspiring talent. Self-taught. Truly brilliant. His drawings hang framed above my desk, so even though we lived a thousand miles apart, it felt like we were always working together. Our last collaboration was Deadpool Wolverine, a ten-issue story we wanted to read like the eighties action movies we loved so much. We had plans for so much more. I thought we were going to be laughing and building stories together for decades.
We got close enough through our life and our work that we achieved that rarest of creative partnerships: the mind meld, a brain trust. He would suggest something, and I would know exactly how to script it; I would script something, and he would know exactly how to draw it. I could give you fifty examples of this, but here’s one of the more notable collaborations. The Green Lagoon. Josh was a bartender for many years, and when we were working on X-Force, he wanted to create a watering hole for the mutants. Since they were all living on the island of Krakoa at the time, we decided on a tiki theme. He drafted up a drinks menu. I drafted up a Russian roulette scene among the Wolverine family to introduce the space. Josh ended up spending two weeks working on a two-page spread of the Green Lagoon, and it’s one of the most meticulously crafted and iconic pieces of art in X-Men history, and a location that has appeared in dozens of other comics, as well as in video games and even an installation at San Diego Comic Con. It’s impossible for me to process Josh being gone, so that’s where I imagine him now—at the Green Lagoon, shaking up drinks behind the bar, serving Wolverine and Storm and any friend or mutant in need of a cold one and good company. Here’s to you, pal. I love you like a brother.”
Many creators and fans are expressing their sorrow, appreciation and memories.
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