JIM APARO PASSES AWAY

**MattBrady** · 07-19-2005, 02:18 PM

From Spencer Beck

The Aparo Family has asked me to send this information out to all parties. It is with the deepest regret I have to inform you of the passing of the legendary Jim Aparo early Tuesday Morning, July 19, 2005. Mr. Aparo, who was 72, died from complications relating to a recent illness. All Funeral arrangements will be a private ceremony for Family and Friends of Jim.

Aparo, born in 1932, was primarily self-trained as an artist. After years of working in commercial fashion design in Connecticut, his first break in the comics field was with a comic strip called "Stern Wheeler," written by Ralph Kanna, which was published in 1963 in a Hartford, Connecticut newspaper for less than a year. In 1966, editor Dick Giordano at Charlton Comics hired him as a comic book artist, where his first assignment was a humorous character called "Miss Bikini Luv" in "Go-Go Comics." Over the next few years at Charlton, Aparo drew stories in many genres--Westerns, science fiction, romance, horror, mystery, and suspense.

Aparo was notable for being one of the relatively few artists in mainstream comics at that time to serve as penciler, inker, and letterer for all of his work. These tasks were typically divided between two or more artists.

In the late 1960s, Aparo moved on to National Publications/DC Comics, which is where he came to fame in the Comics Community. Originally starting at DC on the Aquaman title, he then moved on to also work on the Phantom Stranger and DC's horror titles.

In 1971, Aparo worked on his first Issue of Brave & The Bold. Issue 98 featured the Phantom Stranger teaming up with Batman. Beginning with Issue 102 Jim was then the regular artist on the series and provided pencils & inks on almost every issue from 102 until the end of the series with Issue 200. Jim's work on Brave and the Bold was his favorite work of his time at DC as he truly considered the series his "baby." Also during this period Jim did one of the seminal runs on The Spectre, where his realistic style made the Ghostly character truly come to life.

After the end of Brave and the Bold, Aparo was co-creator for Batman & The Outsiders and also worked on the regular Batman and Detective Comics Series throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. most notably doing the Pencils on the "Death in The Family" storyline, which featured a phone-in vote deciding the fate of Robin II, Jason Todd.

Following a run on the regular Green Arrow Series, Aparo moved into semiretirement, contributing an occasional special or cover and doing a few private commissions before he eventually decided to move into full retirement.

He is survived by his wife Julie, his 3 children, his 4 Grandchildren and two step-grandchildren.

The Aparo family has asked that in lieu of Flowers or gifts, anyone wishing to honor Jim's legacy make a contribution to any worthy charity, as Jim believed that all charities were worth donating to.

For those wishing to send along their condolences and best wishes to the family, a P.O. Box has been set up for the family to receive cards. The address is:
THE APARO FAMILY
P.O. BOX 28
NORWALK, CONNECTICUT 06852 - 0028

Thanks to all who have loved Jim's work and have supported his career.

Spencer R. Beck
THE ARTIST'S CHOICE
http://www.theartistschoice.com

HowAreWeToLive · 07-19-2005, 02:24 PM

Big loss for comics. Condolences to his family and friends.

Hunter · 07-19-2005, 02:25 PM

Condolences to his family and friends.

Fazhoul · 07-19-2005, 02:27 PM

Aparo was one of the best Batman artists ever but he always seemed to be underappreciated. At least we have the upcoming B&B Archives to look forward to.

tralfaz · 07-19-2005, 02:27 PM

Very sad news. He will always be my first Batman artist

Cousin Cory · 07-19-2005, 02:27 PM

Condolences to Jim's family. Batman never looked so good as when Jim drew him.
The upcoming two-part Outsiders story reuniting Batman and his original Outsiders would be a great place to put a well-deserved tribute to Jim. I'm sure it's too late to squeeze it in the first issue, but hopefully DC can get a nice tribute page into the second.

BOBBOLICIOUS · 07-19-2005, 02:28 PM

One of the best artist EVER!...My condolences, he will be missed.

rocketscientist · 07-19-2005, 02:28 PM

Very sad. Jim Aparo and Norm Breyfogle did the art on Batman and Detective Comics, the first two books I collected, in 1989. They were the ones who got me into comics. Aparo had such a clean, classic style. His rendition of Batman is one of the iconic ones imo.

It'd be great if DC did a TPB of his best work. That, and maybe a statue of his Batman (I'd buy it).

Condolences to his family.

Johnny Smith · 07-19-2005, 02:28 PM

This is sad news!

One of the greatest Batman artists!

lex luthor · 07-19-2005, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Fazhoul
Aparo was one of the best Batman artists ever but he always seemed to be underappreciated.

Aparo was one of the alltime best Batman artist, a true professional in this game.

This is truly a damn shame. I wish the Aparo family all the luck in the world in dealing with Jim's passing.

Looks like I'll be reading some old school Aparo when I get off work tonight.

XpucknationX · 07-19-2005, 02:33 PM

*bows head*

Márcio Takara · 07-19-2005, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by rocketscientist
Very sad. Jim Aparo and Norm Breyfogle did the art on Batman and Detective Comics, the first two books I collected, in 1989. They were the ones who got me into comics. Aparo had such a clean, classic style. His rendition of Batman is one of the iconic ones imo.

It'd be great if DC did a TPB of his best work. That, and maybe a statue of his Batman (I'd buy it).

Condolences to his family.

I tottally agree with you. One of the best Batman I´ve ever seen. Too sad.

MoneyMelon · 07-19-2005, 02:37 PM

I'm really sad to read this. I loved his art when I was a kid, growing up reading Batman books.

the4thpip · 07-19-2005, 02:38 PM

He was THE Batman artist and THE Aquaman artist and THE Spectre artist of my youth.

I'm really broken up about this. 72 is too young. My thoughts are with his family.

The Formula · 07-19-2005, 02:39 PM

RIP.

jedifish · 07-19-2005, 02:39 PM

Truly a sad day.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

CUAllen2187 · 07-19-2005, 02:40 PM

Along with the talented (and underused, I might add) Norm Breyfogle, Jim Aparo stands among my most favorite comic artists. When I first got into DC Comics, those 2 were the team to beat for me--on Batman and Detective.

Mr. Aparo remains amazing (even in his passing). He, Neal Adams, Breyfogle, (and yes Jim Lee) will always remain special in my appreciation and my collections.

Best wishes to Mr. Aparo's loved ones.

Kolimar · 07-19-2005, 02:42 PM

My first comic penciled by Jim was Batman #417, part I of the Ten Nights Of The Beast.

I will aways remember you, Jim.

Note: the cover is by Mike Zeck.

Guys, as a little homage, which one was your first comic by Jim?

Arsenal3 · 07-19-2005, 02:42 PM

Very sad news. I was just thinking about how much I enjoyed his work, as his name came up in the thread about the new 'Brave & the Bold' series. That would also be a very good place to insert a nice tribute.

ALIEN_freak_jimbo · 07-19-2005, 02:44 PM

Sad sad news.

My first Aparo comic was also Batman #417 "Ten Nights of the Beast". I picked up those storyline issues and went back for more the next week, which happened to be the week "Death in the Family" began.

He will forever be remembered for a definitive era of great Batman stories and inspiration to generations of creators.

lex luthor · 07-19-2005, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kolimar
Guys, as a little homage, which one was your first comic by Jim?

More Aparo Hottness

cncoyle · 07-19-2005, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kolimar
Guys, as a little homage, which one was your first comic by Jim?

Egads, I don't know. My older brother read Batman and would pass them on to me, so I have no idea. I guess the first issue that I made a conscious effort to see who did the great art would be on Batman & The Outsiders.

Besides being THE Batman artist for me, I absolutely LOVE his rendition of Halo. I'm hard-pressed to find a more beautiful gal in all of comicdom.

FireLight · 07-19-2005, 02:48 PM

This is horrible. Aparo is to me what Neal Adams is to a lot of folks - THE definative Batman artist.

Wow - from the Outsiders to Brave & The Bold to the regular Batman titles ... man, he will be missed!

RichCsigs · 07-19-2005, 02:52 PM

I once got into a rather heated argument with Mr. Aparo.
It was a couple of years after "Death in the Family" and he was doing a signing at a local store. When I handed the series to him he asked me if I had voted. When I said yes he asked me what I had voted for. I admitted with no shame to having voted for Tim's Death.
Mr. Aparo was rather against the storyline and its final outcome. We argued for over 10 minutes, both of us increasing in volume and passion as it went (to his credit, Mr. Aparo continued signing as we argued). He was of the opinion that we should never wish death on anyone, especially those we hate. My counter argument essentially amounted to "He was a whiny sniveling pain in the ass." The owner of the store told me on my next visit that he was rather worried that Mr. Aparo and I were going to come to blows.
As a more mature adult I can now see the merit behind his argument. Despite the incident, I still respected him and still loved his work. I was sad to see him leave the business (or did the business leave him?) and am even sadder that he has passed.

My best wishes to his family and friends.

adaymerced · 07-19-2005, 02:52 PM

I just heard at the San Diego Comic Con on Sunday that Jim Aparo was ill from the guys at the TwoMorrows booth. I was going to get a card today to send him through them.

Jim Aparo was the first comic artist who's work I could recognize when I was a kid. He has long been my favorite artist, and I was hoping he'd be well enough to contribute to the new Brave and Bold series.

TwoMorrows has a book coming out in October called the Brave and Bold Art of Jim Aparo. When I saw the cover at the Con I literally stopped and gasped, and my brother had to ask me if I was okay. That's how affecting his art was to me.

I'm spending the next weekend going through every issue of B & B.

Godspeed Jim Aparo.