Farewell, Jeffrey Veregge
We've lost a kind and generous soul who made comics better.
Wow, this is tough news. Last night I found out that artist Jeffrey Veregge had passed away after a long struggle with health issues.
We never met in person, but I will forever be grateful for what he did for my comics career. Paul Allor, TLSS editor and a personal friend of Jeffrey, was gracious enough to contact him on my behalf regarding a variant cover for my first comic. I can’t tell you how validating it was to have such a talented artist—one who has worked with Marvel and the Smithsonian—say “Yes” to doing a variant cover for “rookie” me. Jeffrey’s “Salish Geek” interpretation of my character, Pilot, is proudly mounted on my wall as I type this.
He leaves behind a grieving family who could use our support. Please donate to the family’s GoFundMe campaign. (If that means cancelling your pledge to the current Kickstarter to make it happen, so be it.) If, for any reason, the GoFundMe campaign goes away, a donation to a suitable Lupus charity in your country would be in order.
His family, his tribe, the Pacific Northwest, and the entire comics world have lost an innovative, talented, generous, and kind soul. Jeffrey, you will be missed!
JEFFREY VEREGGE
Jeffrey Veregge is an award-winning Native American artist and writer from the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe near Kingston, Washington. He is best known for his use of form-line design with pop culture inspiration which his fans dub "Salish Geek." He has over 100 comic book covers working for Marvel, IDW, Valiant, Dynamite, Boom! and Darkhorse Comics.
Along with his comic work, gallery shows, and public artworks, Jeffrey had a 15-month solo exhibit in 2018 at the Smithsonian in New York City that featured his favorite Marvel characters: “Of Gods & Heroes: The art of Jeffrey Veregge.” The end result was two 50-foot murals that were purchased for the Smithsonian's permanent collection.
A large exit mural he created adorns Climate Pledge Arena, the home of Seattle’s NHL team: The Kraken
Click here for a YouTube playlist with some of this talented artist's key media appearances.
To see more of his amazing work, visit JeffreyVeregge.com.
I’m so sorry for the sad news. He left us far to young and we have to few underrepresented artists as it is.