Bernie Mireault, a Canadian animator, musician and comic book artist best known for his creation of the comic book series The Jam, died on Monday, September 2nd. The cause was suicide. He was 63 years old.
From
Howard Chackowicz's page on Facebook:
"I am completely heartbroken to say that my dear, dear friend, the great artist/cartoonist Bernie Mireault has passed away, by his own hand, this Monday.
"I'm devastated, so I will keep this brief (while I hope many out there, fans and comic book historians will never stop writing and talking about him):
"Bernie was a wonderful friend (truly like a brother to me). I can't tell you how much he's helped me over the years, what a great, great person, I love him so much. My heart and soul goes out to his two sons and his three sisters, his family and friends.
"Bernie was an incredible, important and influential artist -there should be and there will be lots written about him now, you'll see. It's cruel that this happens to great, under-appreciated artists after they die. I think many of us feel that there could have been much, much more support and respect for Bernie while he was alive. Thanks to the many, many of you who did love, appreciate and support him and his work.
Bernie was a great songwriter, too. One of my great pleasures in life was drumming with him in his band Bug-Eyed Monster (as did the wonderful painter and drummer Mark Lang); Bernie wrote such beautiful, catchy tunes (you can find 'em on Youtube).
"Bernie Mireault, like Henriette Valium (two GIANTS of comix and art in Canada/Québec) died in poverty. That's one of the main reasons Bernie gave for taking his own life - poor health, no money, no hope.
"Both these great artists did everything right: they mastered their craft, they worked VERY hard and put out a ton of great and important work over decades, they worked hard at promoting themselves and being good "community" members... it's criminal that internationally well-known and respected artists like these died in poverty.
"Bernie always championed other artists, too - he was just such a great, great, wonderful human being and all of us who knew him will miss him so, so very much. Bernie's work was very important to him, so please everyone - feel free to search out his work, read his comics, write about him, talk about him, publish his work, play his music, call his name from the mountain-top... THE GREAT BERNIE MIREAULT, rest in peace my dear pal."
Wikipedia has an extensive record of his comics work and collaborators:
"Among his comics works are Dr. Robot, Mackenzie Queen, Bug-eyed Monster, The Blair Witch Chronicles, Left Alone: The Rustin Parr Killings, Two Fisted Science: Safecracker, When is a Door? The Tragic Though Amusing History of Clay Face II, and the creator-owned comic The Jam, first published as a backup feature in Northguard from Matrix Graphic Series, and then published in its own title in 1985 by various publishers starting with Matrix Graphic Series and then Comico, Slave Labor Graphics, Tundra Publishing, Dark Horse Comics, and Caliber Press.
"Mireault served as the artist on the story arc The Devil Within for Matt Wagner's Grendel comics in the late 1980s – notably coloured by Joe Matt. Mireault coloured several Grendel
story arcs: Warchild, Devil's Hammer, Devil in Our Midst, Devil Tracks,
Devil Eyes, Devil by the Deed, and The Devil's Apprentice. As a
colourist he had a long-standing collaborative relationship with Salgood Sam a.k.a. Max Douglas, a fellow Canadian artist. Together they worked on Realworlds: Wonder Woman, Muties #6: The Patriot Game, and Revolution on the Planet of the Apes.
"Another long-standing collaborative relationship was with Mike Allred, with whom he produced Madman Jam: The Fall of the House of Escher, Creatures of the Id, and The Everyman. Mireault's character Dr. Robot first appeared as a back-up in Mike Allred's Madman."
Bernie Mireault was inducted into the Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame at the 2020 Joe Shuster Awards.
Matt Wagner quoted at Downthetubes:
“Sadly… Bernie was a genius creator who just never quite found the
broader audience he so richly deserved. He apparently died in poverty,
devoid of much hope. Many readers hailed his talents and held him in a
lofty position of artistic honor and respect, but the quirky aspects of
his drawing that so delighted the rest of us just never connected with
most comics buyers.
“Sadder still, considering the diversity of talent and visual styles
that flourish in the industry today… I can’t help but think that if he’d
only been born 25 years ago, he’d be a mega-star nowadays – widely read
and frequently imitated. I hope that this sad event serves to spark a
belated interest in Bernie’s work and exposes his narrative brilliance
to an all-new generational audience. But for now, I’m just heart-broken
that such a deserved renaissance could only occur too little and too
late.”
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