Ernie Colón (1931-2019)

The official Facebook page for comics artist Ernie Colón just announced that Ernie passed away yesterday after a struggle with cancer. Ernie's work on Arak, Son of Thunder (he co-created the character with Roy Thomas and pencilled the first twelve issues) was part and parcel of my early years in the tabletop RPG scene: Arak #1 was released in May 1981, ten months after I acquired the Eric Holmes Dungeons & Dragons boxed set. I don't think any Quontauka warriors showed up in my D&D games, but I do know that Colón's vision of a mythical Carolingian Europe was central to the way that I saw D&D in my mind's eye. His cover for Arak #8 (December 1981) is one of my favorite pieces of his as are his covers for #9 (January 1982) and #10 (February 1982). That was a great three-month run! Thanks for all the great comics work, Ernie! RIP.