Recently I reported on the deteriorating health of Batman artist and friend Tommy Castillo. This morning Tommy passed away. He was a brilliantly talent artist, a great self-promoter and a fun guy to be around. I got to know him at various conventions over the years. Tommy always had a funny story to tell and he made you feel like he was sharing something with you that he wouldn't tell just anyone. One of my favorite nights back when there was a Wizard World Dallas show was a trip to a BBQ restaurant with Tommy, Tone Rodriguez, Michael Golden, Joe Jusko and Renee Whitterstaetter. Joe was telling everyone about this new beer he found called Blue Moon and everyone ordered one… this was many years ago, before Blue Moon got popular. We were taking to a back corner of the restaurant where we could be as loud as we wanted. And at a table full of people, Tommy became the center of attention telling story after story and making us all laugh.

Career wise I can tell you that Tommy worked on a heck of a lot of titles: Batman Detective; Legends of the Dark Knight; Toetags, with Horror legend George Romero; Evil Ernie; Tales From the Crypt; Alice in Wonderland; King Kong; and Dragons, Myths, and Mayhem. As well as doing storyboards and designs for films, art for books and games and even a cover for Rolling Stone magazine. His work was dark, creepy at times and highly detailed. He also passed what he learned on, taking in apprentices including artist Chris Moreno at one point.

But his art was only a part of the man. He is survived by his wife Sammy. He will be missed by his family, friends, fellow artists and his fans around the world. Be at peace my friend.