RIP Michael Turner

Michael Turner, popular comic-book artist and creator of “Fathom” and “Soulfire,” died last night, June 27, according to Aspen Comics’ Vince Hernandez.

Turner, 37, was widely considered one of the nicest people in comics, was always upbeat at convention appearances, even after his 2000 diagnosis with cancer.

The few times I met Turner personally, he fit the conventional wisdom about him — nicer than he had to be, more positive than anyone would expect.

Turner got his big break in 1997, as the initial artist on “Witchblade.” In 1998, he followed that up with his creator-owned title “Fathom,” which he moved to his own company, Aspen Comics, in 2002. He drew a multitude of covers and variant covers for Marvel and DC Comics, on projects including “Identity Crisis,” “Superman” and “Wolverine.” He and Jeph Loeb reintroduced Supergirl to the DC Universe in “Superman/Batman.”