The artist of ‘X-Force,’ ‘Deadpool/Wolverine’ and more passed away yesterday.
Joshua Cassara, the artist whose detailed, kinetic work helped define Marvel’s Krakoa era, died Sept. 22.
Cassara’s wife, Martha Cassara, announced his death Wednesday on Instagram, saying he died from heart complications. She described him as “a good man, a wonderful father and husband, my best friend, and the love of my life.” Her post has been shared across multiple social media sites by Cassara’s friends and colleagues.
“If you knew Josh, you know that he approached the world with humor, sweetness and kindness,” she wrote. “He would not have wanted your condolences. He would have wanted your laughter and toasts.”
Cassara began his comics career with Titan Comics, working on projects like Doctor Who and Dark Souls. He illustrated Mycroft Holmes and the Apocalypse Handbook, written by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and The Troop, written by actor Noel Clarke. He subsequently moved to Marvel, where his early work included Falcon, Sentry, Secret Empire and Venom.
Cassara’s breakthrough came with X-Force in 2019, when he teamed with writer Benjamin Percy for the relaunch of the series as part of Jonathan Hickman’s new X-Men line. The series gave Cassara a particularly strong showcase for his detailed approach to superhero action, horror and science fiction. It was also the chance to work on characters he’d been a fan of since he was a kid.
“My brother got into collecting comics and he had Wolverine #1–the John Buscema cover where he’s just on a pile of dudes–and I was just like, ‘Whoa,’” he told AIPT. “I didn’t even know who this character was. I had gotten comics from the spinner rack at the local liquor store. The first book I ever bought was actually Groo #57 by Sergio Aragones, but Wolverine #1 was the first time I saw something and went ‘Whoa.’ From then on, we’d go to the comic store and I’d pick up some cheap X-Men back issues. My first real time was the Jim Lee-Chris Claremont X-Men #1, and that was when I really jumped in and took it all in, all the crazy characters. Jim Lee really blew away my young and impressionable mind.”
His collaboration with Percy would become one of the defining creative partnerships of his career. The pair subsequently worked together on X Lives of Wolverine and, most recently, the 10-issue Deadpool/Wolverine series in 2025.
“He was a good dude. A really good dude,” Percy posted on Facebook. “Kind. Joyful. Sweet with family, friends, and strangers. This is a counterpoint to his art, which is bloody, brutal, packed with mayhem. He was an awe-inspiring talent. Self-taught. Truly brilliant. His drawings hang framed above my desk, so even though we lived a thousand miles apart, it felt like we were always working together. Our last collaboration was Deadpool/Wolverine, a ten-issue story we wanted to read like the eighties action movies we loved so much. We had plans for so much more. I thought we were going to be laughing and building stories together for decades.”
One of the defining pieces he brought to Krakoa was The Green Lagoon, the bar featured in X-Force with a tiki theme. Percy shared how the two of them came up with it.
“We got close enough through our life and our work that we achieved that rarest of creative partnerships: the mind meld, a brain trust,” Percy said. “He would suggest something, and I would know exactly how to script it; I would script something, and he would know exactly how to draw it. I could give you fifty examples of this, but here’s one of the more notable collaborations. The Green Lagoon. Josh was a bartender for many years, and when we were working on X-Force, he wanted to create a watering hole for the mutants. Since they were all living on the island of Krakoa at the time, we decided on a tiki theme. He drafted up a drinks menu. I drafted up a Russian roulette scene among the Wolverine family to introduce the space. Josh ended up spending two weeks working on a two-page spread of the Green Lagoon, and it’s one of the most meticulously crafted and iconic pieces of art in X-Men history, and a location that has appeared in dozens of other comics, as well as in video games and even an installation at San Diego Comic Con.”
Cassara was named one of Marvel’s Stormbreakers in 2020. The company posted a tribute to him on Twitter. “The Marvel team is saddened by the passing of Joshua Cassara. A gifted artist, he brought energy, detail and emotion to his work on X-Force, X-Men, and many more. Beyond the page, Joshua was a wonderful friend and collaborator with a kind heart, and he will be deeply missed.”
Martha Cassara closed her post with a request that captures the way she wants her husband remembered:
“Not your sadness, please, but any sort of happiness he brought you through his art, his friendship, or even a brief encounter.
“May he feel all the love he gave us all. He was one of a kind.”
