Last year I had the honor of being asked to give a lecture at the Savannah College of Art and design. Myself and Dave Kellett were flown out to Savannah, put up in a wonderful old mansion and treated like cartooning luminaries. On Monday we spent the day in the sequential art department talking to students about what we do, giving demonstrations and answering questions. It was an amazing time.

Since then, you’ve heard me talk about the SEQALAB podcast, which is produced by one of the professors who brought us to Savannah, Jeremy Mullins, and his students. I am addicted to SEQALAB. I listen to every episode, and have gotten to know Jeremy and the SEQA students better through it.

I was devastated to learn that Jeremy lost his life in a hiking accident last weekend. He was only 32 years old.

Jeremy loved comics. He loved his students. He gave of himself freely and eagerly. He was a font of comics knowledge and I will deeply miss getting to listen to him every week, and am saddened we’ll never get to know each other better.

I was telling a friend about Jeremy and he asked “Is there anywhere I can see his work?” And that’s a funny thing because I don’t think Jeremy ever got a chance to really develop his own work. He was too busy helping his students develop theirs. So if you really want to see the great work that Jeremy Mullins did, if you want to see his contribution to the world of comics, you’ll have to follow the future bright careers of Kevin Burkhalter, Ahmad Rashad Doucet, Jarrett Williams, Brett Muller, Pranas T. Naujokaitis, Kel Mcdonald, and his other students.

We all make choices in our lives on how to spend the time we have. Jeremy chose first to help students find their creative voice and put off finding his own. The world is a better place for it, and for him.

Jeremy Mullins, rest in peace. You will be missed. God bless you, your family and your students.