Colorist and artist Paul Becton passed away last week at the age of 73, it was reported on Facebook. Becton was the staff colorist at Marvel from 1982-1996, a key creator in the Marvel Bullpen back when it actually was a bunch of artists working in an office and not an abstract idea. Becton had been living in hospital care after suffering a stroke in 2019.
Remembrances have been posted on Facebook, but Walt Simonson’s captured Becton’s key role in coloring coloring some of the most famed covers of all:
I’ve just learned that Paul Becton has caught the last train out. Paul was a Marvel bullpen guy back in the 80s (where I met him) who did coloring among other things. He became a friend and I would see him at cons from time to time, including the last time I saw him when a bunch of us grabbed dinner after a day at the New York Comicon. A really good guy in a body that betrayed him over time. His last few years have been years of ill health and I’m glad (if that’s the right word) that he’s not having to endure any longer. All that said, he colored what is probably the best known drawing of my career – the cover for Thor 337. I think he was pretty proud of that, too, and I could not have been more delighted with it. Thanks for the friendship, Paul, and the coloring. All our love. Godspeed.
Some other memories of Becton linked below, but among his other accomplishment, he was the coach of the Marvel softball team, and an enthusiastic participant in the Gotham Radio Players, where he performed at The Friends of Old Time Radio Convention. It’s from this that I‘ve taken the above photo, showing Becton doing something he loved.
