Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Mission Monitor Board RIP Steve Lightle

Um... he um... his son Matthew posted this on facebook:

"This is Matthew Lightle, Steve lightle's son. This morning my father passed away from Cardiac Arrest. I wished to thank you all for your friendship to my father, and also to ask that if you are a patreon follower, please cancel your account as we are just beginning to take care of his affairs."

Oh no!

This is devastating.

OMG! No!

I'm heartbroken.

Not only an outstanding draftsman (to my mind, THE BEST the Legion has ever had, and ever will have,) but also a nice guy -- during my late-2010s dance with FaceBook, friending Steve was one of the highest points. And I'm grateful I got to thank him for restoring Shadow Lass's long hair, and that he replied with a "LIKE." I also remember he appreciated that I had followed his career and his artistic evolution long-term.

Rest in peace -- THE GREATEST LEGION ARTIST OF ALL TIME.

I'm gutted.

This was a visionary artist who brought the Legion to new heights. I remember always loving his work (even though it was before I knew to follow the artist).

I have been wanting to commission a piece from him and always put it off. Agh

I'm devastated. As much as this hurts, I know his beloved family is just shattered right now.

Oh no... This is heartbreaking.

From Steve's wife:

"This is Marianne, Steve's wife. I wish I could tell you all how much Steve enjoyed your friendships. I am in shock and at a loss. I just lost my best friend and my husband. I don't know what to do! The hospital notified us that Steve tested positive for COVID which led to heart failure.
I look around my home and all I see is my husband.
Our entire household has to be in quarentine for 14 days, I do not
know what to expect or where to turn. I am lost. I love you Steve, why am I alone?"

Now I'm angry.

Damn COVID, damn all the stinking politicians and every other stupid person who fucked up and got the whole world in this mess!

I don't know what to say ..... I feel like I've been punched in the stomach.
May God rest his soul. Such a great guy and a special, talented artist. When I think of his art I think of the Legion. I know he did a LOT of other great things too, but ..........
So many feel-good memories for me of the times when I picked up a new Legion comic that he drew!!

If this isn't yet another reason to despise Covid, I don't know what is.

I only spoke to Steve a couple of times on facebook and I regret I never took the initiative to commission him.

I can safely say I will always love that one issue of LSH involving the try-outs where Sensor Girl, Quislet and Tellus were introduced. I own both versions of the issue because of all those applicants Steve drew. Steve was nice enough to answer my questions about the one fish-like applicant who wasn't named, the one who had those weird things growing out of their neck. I got the nickname "Billiard" thanks to Steve.

And always and forever, his Sensor Girl design was genius and I will forever loathe whoever the hell ruined that design when Jeckie was brought back in the "New Krypton" story.

Here's a link to the post on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/steve.lightle/posts/3643872668992183

So sad...

Dammit 2021.

Awful...

Agreed, and agreed again!

I've followed him on Facebook for years. For sure, Steve was a very passionate man. Passionate about his art. Passionate about his love of the Beatles. Passionate about creators' rights. Passionate about the Legion. Passionate about being a liberal and his reasoning for being one clearly being a fundamental love of humanity and equality.

Most of all, he was passionate about his family. He was a fiercely loving family man and was never afraid to share this with relative strangers. This is really why hearing about his passing made me want to cry. He was such a rock for his family and loved them with everything he had. I hurt for them because they have lost so much in this one person, and I mourn for their lives being prematurely without him.

I don't know if it's been mentioned yet on this thread, but he made it very clear that his wife Marianne was and is the model for tragic Legion hero Mentalla. He has always been very proud to have had her immortalized in this way.

And since I haven't seen a post or link here yet to Paul Levitz's FB eulogy of Steve, here it is:

So sad. Too young. Great artist.

Surprised and saddened at the loss of a truly original creator. What Levitz said, think of him and smile.

I never knew that! Thanks, Lardy! More proof of Steve's awesomeness.

Just a bit stunned by the news. My thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues.

The Legion has been fortunate to have may top tier artists on the book since its inception. The very best have been inspirational to the heart of the group itself. Steve Lightle was certainly one of those. Being dropped into a title already well behind schedule, his talent and collaboration with Levitz still made the book shine. The gripping drama of the battle against the LSV; the end of Nemesis Kid; Mon El's terror of the Phantom Zone and Brin's journey to Lythyl are simply gorgeous issues. Lightle was a part of the creative process, as well as penciller, for many of them. The obvious standout is the membership drive issue, where his art captures so much of the Legion's essence. As a result, his run in the book is one of the ones I reread the most.

He's drawn the Legion in later years, but he was an artist you'd expect to have seen a lot more of, across the big two, over the years. He was an artist you'd have followed across books, knowing the quality you'd get. At any point, you'd always hope for a return of Lightle to the legion. Not as any slight to the incumbent artists, but knowing just how strong his connection to the core of what made it tick was.

I also remember looking forward very much to the Doom Patrol relaunch, that followed his run on the Legion. Drake and Premiani's Doom Patrol held a very singular spot in DC's universe. It looked very much as though John Byrne had earmarked himself for the book, having drawn the Secret origin issue. Joe Staton had drawn their Showcase appearances, while George Perez had been the one to show the Titans track down their killers. It was a book with a fair amount of expectation on it, with big artistic boots to fill. Lightle's art on the opening five issues of the book were an absolute treat. It was another title where his storytelling talents and grasp pf the title's essence shone through in the art.

The loss of someone who could make the future look so bright and optimistic, makes our world that bit darker.

He had a long stint at Marvel from the end of the 80s through the middle of the 90s, but it was mostly on promotional art which he was rarely allowed to sign. Still, the quality and distinction of his style stood out. Steve also had a run as the Classic X-Men reprint book's cover artist. And when Greg Capullo abruptly left Mark Gruenwald's Quasar series (to draw the more lucrative X-Force,) Lightle stepped in for two gorgeous issues (39 and 40.)

It would be super-cool if we could get sort of tribute story for Steve. It would be even cooler if somehow that story would feature a bunch of characters from v3 #14.

Would you be interested in collaborating with me on it?