Ian McGinty, a gifted writer and artist working in comic books, animation and games, died Thursday, June 8 in Los Angeles at just 38 years old. His passing was announced by his mother in a post later shared by a family friend, describing him as “the kindest person to walk this earth, an extraordinary artist and lover of animals.” A cause of death was not disclosed.
his mom posted (i am a friend) pic.twitter.com/NFzypt2tqv
— Claudia ✨ (@desertdracula) June 9, 2023
McGinty was born in Annapolis, Maryland on May 6, 1985. He is best known for his illustration work on comics inspired by popular animated series, including Nickelodeon’s Rocko’s Modern Life, Invader Zim and Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus, Cartoon Network/Frederator’s Adventure Time, Bravest Warriors and Bee and Puppycat (BOOM! Studios), and Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty (Oni Press). He also illustrated for comedian Ben Katzner’s kids’ graphic novel Hello, My Name Is Poop, published by Simon & Schuster.
The artist gained a more individual following for his original comic-book series Welcome to Showside (2015-2016, Z2 Comics). The colorful and cartoony supernatural horror-adventure is set in the town of Showside — a typical Southern town plagued with demonic portals, whose only defense against random monster incursions is a little kid with a big secret named Kit.
Modern Prometheus, the production company co-founded by Z2’s Josh Frankel, optioned Welcome to Showside for an animated series in 2015, and McGinty wrote, designed and voice starred as Kit in a pilot episode which attracted over a million views. The pilot’s voice cast also featured Henry Rollins.
[H/T Gizmodo]
