By Matthew Price

From the Friday, June 24, 2022, edition of The Oklahoman

A noted comic-book artist whose work was featured across a variety of media in his nearly 40-year career has died at age 66.

Eisner award-winning comic book artist Tim Sale died June 16 after a brief hospitalization.

Sale drew a string of best-sellers for both Marvel and DC Comics after starting his comics career in independent comics back in the 1980s. He became best-known for his collaborations with writer Jeph Loeb, which began with the 1991 revival of “Challengers of the Unknown.” They followed with “Batman: The Long Halloween,” an arc that has inspired multiple cinematic takes, a toy line and a generation of creators. Loeb and Sale continued on “Batman: Dark Victory,” and “Superman For All Seasons,” as well as series for featuring the Hulk, Spider-Man, and Daredevil. Sale’s artwork was also featured in the TV series “Heroes.”

“The entire DC family is heartbroken at the news of Tim’s passing,” said Jim Lee, DC Chief Creative Officer and Publisher in a news release. “Tim was an extraordinary artist, who was masterful at storytelling and panel layouts and his compositions were second to none. I was always so impressed and inspired by his use of lighting and shadows which infused his work with foreboding gravitas and dramatic noir sensibilities.”

More recently, Sale had drawn variant covers for some of DC’s top titles, including “Batman” and “World’s Finest.” 

Matthew Price, matthew@matthewlprice.com, has written about the comics industry for more than two decades. He is the co-owner of Speeding Bullet Comics in Norman.