Eisner award winning comic book artist Tim Sale, best known for drawing “Batman: The Long Halloween,” which inspired the “Batman” takes of both Christopher Nolan and most recently Matt Reeves, has died. Sale was 66.
“The entire DC family is heartbroken at the news of Tim’s passing,” Jim Lee, DC Chief Creative Officer and Publisher, said in a statement. “Tim was an extraordinary artist, who was masterful at storytelling and panel layouts and his compositions were second to none. I was always so impressed and inspired by his use of lighting and shadows which infused his work with foreboding gravitas and dramatic noir sensibilities.”
The news of Sale’s passing was first announced by his widow on Twitter. No cause of death was given.
According to DC Comics, Sale was born in Ithaca, New York, in 1956. He attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City and started his comics career in 1983, working for independent publishers. At DC he would eventually team up with writer and producer Jeph Loeb on a revival of “The Challengers of the Unknown.” The pair formed a long-lasting partnership and created a memorable series of Batman stories, including “Batman: The Long Halloween,” an era and character defining arc.
Sale and Loeb went on to collaborate on some of DC’s top-selling comic books, included “The Long Halloween” sequel “Batman: Dark Victory,” and “Superman For All Seasons.” For Marvel, Sale and Loeb created successful comics series featuring the Hulk, Spider-Man, and Daredevil.