Filipino comic book artist Tony DeZuniga has died from complications of a stroke.  Tony entered the Filipino comic book industry in 1957 and worked his way through college at the University of Santa Tomas by lettering and drawing comics.  Determined to break into the U.S. comic book industry DeZuniga came to the U.S. in 1970 and was eventually hired by DC Comics where his energetic and realistic style opened doors for other Filipino artists, some of whom like Alfredo Alcala and Nestor Redondo had been his mentors in the Philippines. At DC DeZuniga co-created Jonah Hex and Black Orchid with John Albano and Sheldon Mayer respectively.

 

DeZuniga worked for DC and Marvel (where he drew X-Men and Spider-Man) for 18 years, before taking a job with video game producer Sega as a designer for a decade.  In April DeZuniga suffered a massive life-threatening stroke.  As is the case for many freelance comic book artists DeZuniga did not have health insurance and his financial situation quickly became desperate as his life savings were soon exhausted. The international comics community made efforts to raise funds for his treatment (see "DeZuniga Health, Money Troubles"), and during the recent Free Comic Book Day on May 5th, Filipino artists launched a t-shirt sale, a sketch drive, and auction to help raise funds to pay DeZuniga’s medical bills, which were $1,500 a day.

 

DeZuniga’s success at DC paved the way for a succession of Filipino artists that included Alcala, Redondo, Alex Nino, and Ernie Chan.  It was a first step towards the increasingly global nature of today’s mainstream American comics industry, which features many talented creators from all over the world.