Colorist Jonny Rench passed away this weekend of a heart attack at the insanely young age of 28, it was reported via Twitter. Rench was a Wildstorm mainstay and colored such books as The Authority, The Highwayman and many, many more. More of his art can be seen here.
He’s being fondly remembered as Chris Gage wrote:
I was lucky enough to have Jonny Rench’s awesome color work grace my books and luckier to have met the man. Terrific guy. He’ll be missed.
Our condolences to his friends and family.
Ouch. Why do so many comic pros die at such a young age? Lack of exercise, bad eating habits? I know I’m just stereotyping, probably? But man, scary!
Very sad news, condolences to friends & family..
As far as why do comic pros tend to go early I would say having incredibly long work hours, not enough sleep, having a job(s) that doesn’t provide good/any health care insurance (depending on the situation, of course) and too much stress..
I think we should lay off on blaming the job until we know that it wasn’t something congenital. But all the same, it’s wickedly sad that such a talent had to go so soon. Add my condolences to everyone else’s.
Sorry to hear of Jonny’s death. My condolences to those who were close to him.
Hm, yeh- fair point, Alistair. He really had some awesome talent, very sad, but at least he got to work on some awesome books.. will be missed..
My condolences to the friends and family of a great young talent.
I almost died from a stroke at 27 and I was in the best shape of my life. I’ve known people who have had heart attacks in their 20s for reasons ranging from their marrow making too many platelets to substance abuse problems.
Unfortunately, strokes and heart attacks are much more common for young people than most realize.
Terrible, terrible news. Johnny was the colorist for our latest run of Welcome to Tranquility and he elevated every page he worked on. I am so, so saddened to hear this.
I don’t know any more detail than this story at this point. My condolences go to his loved ones and he will be missed terribly.
Very sorry to hear the loss of this very exceptional talent.
Damn! Heart attack at 28? WTH?
My deepest condolences to Jonny’s family and friends. He was a wonderful talent lost far too soon.
It was a blood clot in his lung. Not a heart attack as was initially thought. This from his family today after the autopsy. Great talent, great man. In heaven now!
A Pulmonary embolism, sorry.
I grew up with jonny. he had a talent from day one. it was wonderful to hear that he was going so far with it. he will be greatly missed and my heart goes out to his family.
Jonny was a life long friend of mine. I had know him since first grade. He was a gifted artist and friend. Everyone around him knew from a young age that he would live to do great things. I am thankful for all the joy he has brought me and for the future tears of remembering those good times. He will be forever missed.
Wow, just read about him in X-Files, 30 Days of Night.
Condolences to the family and friends.
Thanks for the tribute in the books. Otherwise, I never seem to know about these things.
Jonny Rench was a good friend. He was an amazing artist. The man was a genius with his work. So Jonny, Rest. In. Peace
My condolences to the family. Rest in peace, Jonny Rench.