RIP: Dave Taylor 1964-2025 — Another Great Artist Lost To Comics

Last week, the comics world mourned the loss of another of their own, as we heard news that artist Dave Taylor passed away at the age of 61.

Damn, I’m sick of writing these. Far too many talents are leaving us far too early. The latest, Dave Taylor, was just a brilliant artist, of that there can be no doubt. More than that, though, the outpourings of love and tales of friendship that have come out since his death show that he was a man who impacted so many people’s lives. His passing all too soon at 61 comes in the wake of his prostrate cancer diagnosis, something he wrote about, in typical Dave fashion, as something terrible, yet, in the next breath, he was thankful that it was caught in time so that it merely meant he’d lost the use of his legs and was still able to do what he loved doing. Sadly, that optimism was misplaced, with the cancer taking his life a few weeks later.

His life in comics wasn’t an easy one, right from the beginning. His dyslexia meant there could be no art school for him. But there was always that desire…

The first thing I’d ever wanted to be was a comic book artist and I was going to try and do it again. Art had failed, music seemed boring. Something else would catch my eye for a bit but I’d always end up coming back to comic books.”
From an interview with Judge Dredd Megazine in 2008.

Perserverance (and not a little luck) was on his side. Clutching just a 20-page b&w self-published comic, he badgered Moebius‘s agent, Jean-Marc Lofficer, at a convention in 1988, eventually getting to show his work to Moebius. That meeting was the thing that kickstarted Dave’s comic career. The encouragement of one of the all-time greats was the enough to convince the young Taylor to enrol in art college, and his obvious talent soon got the attention of Marvel UK, in its early ’90s short-lived expansion into publishing its own titles. He got work doing a Zorro adaptation, followed by co-creating Gene Dogs with John Freeman. That short-lived boom in Marvel UK apeing the trends in US comics didn’t last, but it did give Taylor his foot in the door, and again, luck (or maybe just stubbornness) played its part. He headed Stateside to another convention and picked up work with DC, drawing Matt Wagner‘s Batman: The Riddle Factory in 1995, Alan Grant‘s Shadow of The Bat, and Marvel’s Force Works.

But, as the saying goes, you can get what you want and still not be happy. Increasingly frustrated with drawing to a house style that simply wasn’t what his idea of artistic freedom was, he pushed. This led to Tongue Lash for Dark Horse in 1999, in collaboration with Randy and Jean-Marc Lofficier, a comics-noir thing hugely influenced by Euro stylings in general and Moebius in particular.

And then came the first health setback, a double hiatus hernia that seemingly ended his comics career. But of course, it didn’t. It was just another pause, another fork in the artistic road. Artist Peter Doherty, one of so many friends in comics Dave had, reminded Dave that one of his first wishes in comics was to draw Judge Dredd. And that led to Dave finding a home at 2000 AD, beginning in 2004 and continuing until the end of his life. His work at 2000 AD included Judge Dredd and Judge Anderson, and the Ken Niemand-written Megatropolis, an alt-world Dredd tale that he was still working on Book 2 at the time of his death. He even went back to DC, on his own terms, to work on the Chip Kidd-written Batman: Death By Design graphic novel, a New York Times bestseller published in 2012.

Sadly, he was taken by prostrate cancer, diagnosed too late, the cancer had already spread into his bones, paralysing him from the rib cage down.

Yet still his positivity shone through, his determination to continue doing what he loved obvious to all who talked to him.

When he died, he was still working on both the second series of Megatropolis, something he loved doing, and a short Judge Death series for this year’s Judge Death Special. That he never got to finish either is a terrible thing.

Dave Taylor was a wonderful artist. His style was this delicious melding of so many influences, his finished art full of British and European stylings, incredibly detailed, beautiful both at a distance and close-up, an artist’s artist who also managed to entrance generations of readers.

His love of what he did was infectious. I had the good fortune to speak to him and interview him a few times, and he was always such a gent, so obviously in love with and amazed by the fact that he got up every single day and got to do the thing he loved to do.

So, raise a glass to another great artist lost to us to young. A unique talent. His life was all about perseverance and not a little luck, combined with far too many difficulties. But his life’s work stands in the wake of his tragic death as the fulfilment of his dreams to create art. We’re fortunate enough to be able to enjoy all the art he created. And it’s my pleasure, in tribute to Dave, to be able to show you just some of that art.

Finally, echoing the words he used on a social media post regarding his cancer diagnosis, please, please, please, go get checked out. If you’re 45 or older, if you’re experiencing urination problems, pain in the lower back or pelvis, or other symptoms (see this Mayo Clinic article for more) then go to your doctor. Don’t let embarrassment stop you, The initial test is simple, your doctor will stick his finger in your ass to feel for abnormalities. That’s it, over and done with in seconds. Do it. It could well save your life – the prognosis for prostate cancer is generally good, especially if it is detected early. You know that’s what Dave would want you to do.

So, I’ll leave you now, as I raise a glass to Dave, with just some of his magnificent artwork. To Dave Taylor, a wonderful artist, and an even better man.