I was sad to learn that one of my favorite illustrators, Jeffrey Catherine Jones, died today. I first came across her work in the 1970s when she was doing a regular one page comic strip for National Lampoon called Idyl. It was light hearted and whimsical and nothing like the rest of the magazine.
Jeffrey Catherine Jones, the fantasy artist who helped introduce fine art and illustration influences to comics in the '70s and beyond, has died of complications from emphysema and bronchitis, according to numerous reports. She was 67.
In the early 70s, then known just as Jeffrey, Jones helped form The Studio, a group of cartoonists/illustrators that included Mike Kaluta, Bernie Wrightson and Barry Windsor-Smith. Jones was known for her lyrical linework and ethereal paintings, which prompted Frazetta himself to say that Jones was "the world's greatest living painter." Although she produced the comics strip Idyll for National Lampoon in the '70s, Jones was best known for her book covers, prints, and painting, with only a brief dabbling in comics.
