For comic books, it was artists Neal Adams, George Perez, Tim Sale, and Carlos Pacheco.
Adams was a legendary comic book artist who reinvigorated Batman and other superheroes with his photorealistic stylings and championed the rights of creators.
Comic book icon Perez was famous in part for his artwork on New Teen Titans and Wonder Woman.
Eisner-winning comics artist Sale was probably best known for Batman: The Long Halloween.
The most famous Spanish cartoonist of superhero comics, Pacheco, was a world legend thanks to his illustrations of the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Thor, Spider-Man, Batman, the Avengers and Superman.
In TV, it was Nichelle Nichols (Uhura on the original Star Trek), Power Ranger Jason David Frank, and Kevin Conroy, the voice of the caped crusader in Batman: The Animated Series.
Nichols played an important role in pioneering how Black women were represented in media. She also was famous for being part of American television’s first interracial kiss.
Frank had been affiliated with the Power Rangers for about 20 years before revealing his retirement from the franchise in 2022.
Many who were kids and teens in the 1990s were there to hear that now familiar gravelly voice he gave to Batman. Conroy would hold the role for nearly 30 years, portraying Batman in several DC animated media and for the first time in live action on the CW’s Arrowverse crossover event, “Crisis on Infinite Earths.”
Those are just seven of the nearly 100 figures in nerd culture who passed away in 2022.
Some of them we grew up with and others discovered late in their careers but they all – every single one – left behind a legacy that will continue to enrich our geek world for years to come.
Our very own Brian Misher has written about two of the dead here:
https://www.j1studios.com/batman-forever-remembering-kevin-conroy/
and here:
https://www.j1studios.com/power-rangers-star-jason-david-frank-dead-at-49/
If you are looking for a full account of those we lost in 2022, check out this site:
https://weheartmusic.typepad.com/gpz/comic-book-creators-who-died-in-2022.html
