I had a note from Alan Davis this morning, at the same time I was reading obituaries on DCM, talking about the passing of Paul Neary. Here's the memory of this excellent artist from Sydney Jordan.
"When in the early eighties Paul Neary bought the top floor flat in my family home in Surrey. He brought with him a wide and masterly knowledge of the demands of comic page art. As Alan Davis has movingly chronicled.
Paul's powerful and convincing style and his whole command of the comics scene then were to come to the aid of this hoary Scotsman from the dwindling ranks of the three panels a day artists.
His work on my Lance McLane especially the subtle amendments he made to the appearance of Fortuna the android made her unlikely looks sympathetic and above all believable
There was a side to Paul's nature that reveals perhaps a lesser known aspect of this wonderfully complex man
He was loved by my family including the cats and Jeeves our great Dane and also Jasper the Jackdaw who had fallen from his nest in one of the chimneys and rescued from the fireplace. Paul gave him his name then proceeded to gear the household to the task of rehabilitation. Months later Jasper would fly in and out of our house to be fed Paul would persuade him to roost with his fellows in the garden. He partly succeeded but then each time he drove off on some mission or other Jasper would fly to his outstretched arm and take a ride until the drive curved and the house was masked by the trees.
It was this memory that Paul recalled when we last spoke. This is the man we mourn.
I hope that Paul's wife Bernie will take some comfort from the flood of condolences for her grievous loss"
A sad day, indeed.
