Karl Moline, fan-favorite artist known for his work at CrossGen Comics, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Rogue, and many more comics, has passed away. Moline’s studiomate at CrossGen, Ron Marz, announced the news on Twitter (X), Thursday morning. A cause of death is not known at this time, nor exactly when Moline passed away. The news of Moline’s death comes at an awful time for comic book fans, with Astonishing X-Men and Planetary artist John Cassaday also passing away earlier in the week. James Earl Jones, the iconic voice of Darth Vader, also died this week.
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“In a week of awful news, there is unfortunately more. I learned that artist Karl Moline has passed away. Lovely guy, beautiful artist, one of my studiomates at CrossGen. Gone much too soon, deepest condolences to his family,” Ron Marz wrote on X. He also included a black-and-white piece of Rogue artwork by Moline, displaying the talent that captivated the “Wednesday Warriors” each week as they headed to their local comic book store to pick up the newest release from Moline.
Some of Karl Moline’s most famous work came on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff, Fray, which he co-created with Joss Whedon. Fray was a futuristic take on the Buffy franchise, and starred a Slayer named Melaka Fray. She was different from other Slayers, having never suffered from prophetic dreams teasing her destiny. Instead, Fray had to figure it all out on the fly. Moline is also one of the many artists to contribute to CrossGen Comics, the publisher that lit up the comic book industry from the late ’90s into early 2000s. His CrossGen work included issues of Scion and Route 666.
Fans and creators have started to share their reactions to Moline’s death on social media. The Comic Tropes account wrote, “Artist Karl Moline has passed. No matter the project, I always felt he brought his A-game. Great, expressive characters. Dynamic action. Dark Horse, IDW, Crossgen, Valiant, Marvel… dude worked everywhere and made it good.”
Kevin Joseph wrote, “I’ll appreciate @karl_moline’s talent, kindness, & good humor for the rest of my life. I’m just so sad to hear he’s gone. RIP Karl. You were a Prince.I can’t find the photo of him w/my daughter at a convention, so I’m sharing the process shot of my favorite page he did.”
“We lost another great.Artist Karl Moline has passed.A great artist and storyteller, super nice guy every time we met,and a big part of our industry.Rest in peace,” Jimmy Palmiotti wrote.
ComicBook sends our condolences to Karl Moline’s family, friends, and fans.
