News
[R.I.P.] ‘Evil Dead II’ and ‘Intruder’ Star Danny Hicks Has Passed Away
Earlier this month we reported that Danny Hicks had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, and today we’ve learned the sad news that Hicks lost his battle this week at age 68.
Full Empire Productions, Danny’s convention management team, posted on Facebook today: “Danny passed away at his home in CA. We love you Danny, rest easy my friend.”
Horror fans were first introduced to actor Danny Hicks in the late 1980s, making his debut appearance on screen as Jake in Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead II. Hicks finished out the ’80s with a memorable starring role in the supermarket-set slasher Intruder, also appearing in Maniac Cop just one year prior. Hicks later appeared in Darkman, Wishmaster and My Name is Bruce.
Hicks had posted on Facebook in his final public statement on June 5th, “To all of the people that I never got to meet, and the 6,018 die hard fans that enjoyed my work. I have some bad news. I have been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. I have approximately 1 to 3 years to live. But I gotta tell ya, I sure as hell packed a whole bunch of living into my 68 years. I got no change coming back that’s for sure. And not too many regrets. Ok, gotta go. I’m gunna find out just what in the hell is going on down in that fruit cellar.”
All of us here on BD offer our deepest condolences to Danny’s family and friends.
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.
You must be logged in to post a comment.