Artist on Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men Was xx

John Cassaday, the artist who helped create the influential comic of the turn of the century Planetary and then drew an award-winning X-Men Marvel comic book writer Joss Whedon has died. He was 52.

His sister, Robin Cassaday, announced his death on Facebook on Monday. She had previously written that he was admitted to the intensive care unit at Mount Sinai West in New York on September 3. The cause of death was not disclosed.

Cassaday also oversaw the relaunch of star Wars which became the best-selling comic of 2015.

“How [fellow artists] Neal Adams, Jim Steranko or Michael Golden, he is a touchstone, a reference point for the dozens and dozens of artists whose work was influenced by him,” said comic book writer and editor Mark Waid. “Most people are lucky if more than a dozen people are still talking about them a month after they die. My friend John will be talked about and remembered by an entire industry forever.”

Born in 1971, Cassaday was a self-taught artist and film school graduate who worked on his craft while working in construction and directing local television news in Texas. He showed Waid his portfolio at a comic book convention in the mid-1990s.

Waid then referred the artist to writer and editor Jeff Mariotte, and that opened the door for Cassaday to be hired for illustration jobs that paid well enough for him to quit his day job and devote himself to drawing full-time.

In the late 1990s he collaborated with author Warren Ellis for Planetaryan exploration of the superhero and pulp hero genres, centering on a trio of adventurer-archaeologists who were part of an organization attempting to track the worldwide activities of superpowers.

The comic initially appeared bimonthly before Ellis' health complications – and Cassaday's penchant for accuracy – led to several delays. However, the 27-issue run, published by the Image imprint Wildstorm, explored comic book tropes before such a thing was popular and gained a cult following. The comic also received several Eisner Award nominations.

Cassaday’s commercial breakthrough came with Amazing X-Mena 25-issue series in the mid-2000s that helped bring the mutant group back to prominence among Marvel titles. His cinematic style proved to be a perfect complement to the stories of Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer And Fireflies. The critics loved it, the series won the Eisner for best comic in 2005 and 2006 and Cassaday won the award for best artist in 2005. One of the storylines also influenced Brett Ratner's X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).

The artist worked on titles for several publishers, including I am Legion for the French-based Humanoids and continued to draw for Marvel, where he also worked on a Captain America comic. He also tried his hand at Hollywood, serving as a concept artist for Zack Snyder's adaptation of Guardianincluding performances.

When Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012 and Marvel a year later, the license for star Wars Comics returned to the latter. Marvel relaunched the title in 2015, marking the first time that a star Wars The comic has been published by the company since the 1980s.

Cassaday was chosen to draw the book's first story arc, which boosted sales. The title became the best-selling comic of the year, with the first issue selling over a million copies.

“We are devastated by the loss of our dear friend, artist and comic book legend John Cassaday,” Marvel said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter“His art was a master class in emotion, action and storytelling and he captured the essence of every character he drew. John was one of the best and he will always be part of our Marvel family.”