Archie Comics is not one person. For over 80 years there have been hundreds of writers, artists, and production staff members who have helped Riverdale grow and evolve. We lost a member of the Archie family today with the sad news of artist Tim Kennedy’s passing.
For years Tim and his twin brother, Pat, have been a crucial – and beloved part – of Archie Comics: Industry mainstays whose abilities were unmatched. The pair worked as a sort of comics gestalt entity – two creative forces whose output showed a rich understanding of Archie history that wasn’t afraid to recontextualize the traditional look of the Archie characters for contemporary audiences. Tim was beyond gifted, and a pleasure to work with.
Archie Comics President/Editor-in-Chief Mike Pellerito responded to this news with the following statement:
“For decades, the Fabulous K Bros have dazzled fans around the world, bringing some of the funniest and most difficult stories from idea to the page. No matter the challenge of illustrating a difficult scene with a giant Ferris wheel, intricate architecture, spaceships, car chases or any other wild story idea, they handled it seemingly with ease. Over the past decade or so I think their work has become some of the best and most versatile at Archie.
“In addition to their work in the fun and bouncy classic Archie style, they excelled at more dramatic material like the hugely successful story, Archie: The Married Life. This led them to incredible work on the Archie Horror title Jughead: The Hunger and the more recent Archie Meets Riverdale where they combined the look of classic Archie and the realistic style of The CW’s Riverdale.
“The range of work during their career has been nothing short of truly fabulous. Beyond the gorgeous art, Tim and Pat were the most humble and funny pair of brothers I have ever met. The loss of Tim at far too young an age is so very sad. My deepest condolences to Pat, and the rest of their family, friends and countless fans.”
His sentiments are shared by other members of the Archie family.
“Every page the Kennedys would turn in was more beautiful than the last,” recalls Senior Director of Editorial Jamie Lee Rotante. “The eye for detail and sheer dedication to the craft was unparalleled. Tim was a tremendous talent that will be missed.” She continues, “My heart goes out to the whole Kennedy family, especially to his brother Pat.”
Associate Editor/Production Manager Stephen Oswald adds “I’ve always thought there is no such thing as being able to give more than 100% but if anyone could disprove that to me it would be Pat and Tim.”
While we grieve the loss of Tim, there is much comfort to be had in knowing that his work will endure and continue to delight future generations.
Source: Archie Comics
