I first met Greg and Tim Hildebrandt at an exhibition a bunch of years ago of artwork they had done for a set of Marvel playing cards. One of the pieces was of Random, a character I'd created for X-Factor. I wound up buying the piece. Wasn't cheap, but how many Hildebrandt originals with characters I'd created was I going to find?
I encountered them again on occasion at various conventions. Always gentlemanly, patient with the fans, and incredibly talented.
Tim passed away at age 67. He will be missed. The artwork hangs on my office wall to this day.
PAD
Posted by Peter David at June 12, 2006 04:46 PM | TrackBack | Other blogs commentingOh noes. He worked on the original Star Wars poster art. The luke & leia one (w/ the lightsaber & the blaster) that has been used numerous times throughout the years. Great art, great poster, sad to see him go.
1I never met him but I was a fan of his work--he will be sorely missed. Any chance of Random appearing in the new X-factor book? he was always one of my faves!
Sorry to hear. Their work meant a lot to me. 67 is too young these days.
That's a shame.
I never really cared for the art he and his brother did for Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, which is probably what they're most known for, but they have plenty of other works out there that I enjoy.
As someone who came to comics during the card craze, way back when i was in elementary school, i think fondly of those Marvel cards the Bros. Hildebrandt did.
I think they are the reason a lot of kids got into comics, as they wanted to follow the adventures of the characters on the cards they traded and collected.
On a side note, Random is one of my favorite characters, hands down.
Tim will be missed.
Oh man, that sucks. I had the great pleasure of interviewing Greg and Tim a couple of times, and I still can't think of them in any other terms than the Brothers Hildebrandt. I remember driving up to their studio in Morris Plains back in '96, only to be greeted by two guys completely covered from head to toe in spatters of multi-colored paint, just like the rest of the studio. It was a surreal experience, sitting between these two overgrown kids, who literally completed each other's sentences and knew so much about everything from classic comic strips to movies. When we finished, they gave me a limited edition LOTR poster they had done and both hand-signed it; it's still one of my absolute favorite pieces of art.
Looking back, it's amazing how much of the Hildebrandts' work played an important part of my early life as a fan of fantasy and SF. Their Tolkien calendars used to hang on my wall in college. My copy of Urshurak got so beaten up from leafing through it so many times that the pages are falling out. And as I'm sitting here now, their Jack of Hearts Marvel trading card is being used as a bookmark in the new Dean Koontz book I just started reading. Damn, what a loss.
My introduction to the Hildebrandts came via The Sword Of Shannara, which was my introduction to the fantasy genre at the tender age of twelve. I thought the cover looked damned cool. It all went uphill from there. Tim will definitely be missed.
Thanks Anthai, I meant to say Sword of Shannara, which I subsequently discovered since my previous post, when I went back and pulled it off the shelf, at which point all the pages fell out.
One of my best friends and I only started talking because I sat down on my dinner break and pulled out a 2000 or 2001 reissued book of the Hildebrandt's work that I had bought just that day. We worked together for eight weeks before that and hardly spoke. That one book, filled with pictures that we both grew up on and loved, started us on a friendship where we learned that we had a lot more in commen, much to the annoyance of our geek suffering wives, then we would have thought.
Greg and Tim Hildebrandt were great. Tim and his work will be missed.
There are times when I wish I would have gone right to bed without reading your site--this is one of them. Good-Night, Tim. You WILL be missed.
Damn shame he went at young as he did, but he lives on in his work, and a man can't ask more than that.
Read plenty of books with Hildebrandt cover art, but have never been lucky enough to meet them, let alone own an original piece of art.
Death is a loss all the world experiences in one way or another, regardless of who the person is.
Needless to say, he will be missed.
Ahh, that's a shame. My dad bought some Brothers Hildebrandt books way back when and I loved the way they reveled in the use of pure bright primary colors.
67 does seem too young. My prayers for his family and friends.
It's a sad day for us all. I recently purchased Greg and Tim's art book of all their Lord of the Rings art. I was so sorry I missed the Ursurak paperback back in 1979. I just picked it up at a used book store and am going through the paintings. He will be missed. If only they had did more Star Wars art following the first poster.
I remember; being an artist/cartoonist myself how many times I was inspired by that poster of the first film. I only wish that their artwork was on the other posters for all the movies.
I remember awhile back they illustrated a short lived Terry and the Pirates comic strip and it was too good for the comic pages. I have to wonder if they ever made a book of those stories.
They actually did alot of Star Wars art (Shadows of the Empire, some Ep. 1 stuff) throughout the years - but no more posters.
I'm fairly certain their LOTR art was the biggest influence on the look of Gollum in the movies, but don't quote me on that.
Hmmm. I remember really enjoying the relaunch of TERRY AND THE PIRATES that the Brothers did awhile back. He shall be missed.
At the precious young age of 38, I think back to my childhood and am struck by the fact that seeing Hilderbrandt's Star Wars poster left me, for one of the first times in my conscious life, in amazement that a person could create something that was so beautiful. RIP Tim.
That original Star Wars poster was one of the most unforgettable icons from my childhood. I will remember it always with great fondness.
I echo what others have said: 67 is too young. And the world is poorer for his passing.
"Damn shame he went at young as he did, but he lives on in his work, and a man can't ask more than that."
Well, I'm reminded of the words of Woody Allen, who said, "I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve immortality by not dying."
PAD
That's so sad. I hope we continue to see good things from Greg. And as the son of an identical twin, I can only imagine what he must be going through.
News travels slowly in Texas, I guess. I just heard. How very sad for the world, and especially for Greg. I own Greg's painting "Randezvous" and an almost complete collection of trading cards from the brothers' comic and illustration sets. There is not a day that goes by that I do not look at his painting and marvel at the beauty. Tim will be terribly missed!
oh NO! Mood: sad :( talk about getting bummed out... I can't believe this.
I met Tim and Greg a few years ago, Both were great guys. I loved the work they did and I remember Tim commenting on the dragon illustrations I did. We had dinner and went to a party. They told me of hiding some of the nude illustrations they did as kids and hid them in the floorboards of the house they lived in to hide them from their mom. Tim was gentleman and extremely polite. My prayers are with the family and we not only have lost a great artist but a great friend.
Sincerely,
Keith Newsome