Dillon came up, like many British comic creators, through the pages of 2000 AD. He co-founded Deadline magazine, an influential comic anthology that ran for eight years, in 1988. But his most well-known work was published by DC imprint Vertigo, where he collaborated with British writer Garth Ennis on a portion of the Hellblazer run, and with whom he created Preacher (see "'Preacher' Renewed"). Dillon was an executive producer on the first season of Preacher. Dillon also collaborated with Ennis on two Punisher series at Marvel in the early 00s. At the time of his death, Marvel was publishing a Punisher series on which Dillon was collaborating with writer Becky Cloonan (see "Preview: 'Punisher' #1"). Dillon also worked on numerous other Marvel and DC titles over the years.
Marvel said of Dillon’s passing, "Marvel is saddened by the passing of Steve Dillon, a great storyteller. We offer condolences to his family and remember his incredible work."
And DC Comics released a statement on behalf of its Vertigo imprint. "We lost a giant among creators and artists today," it said. "Steve Dillon will be missed by us all here at DC and Vertigo."
