Karl Moline, the acclaimed artist best known for his co-creation, Melaka Fray (the Vampire Slayer of the future), with Joss Whedon in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Fray, as well as Crossgen’s Route 666 with Tony Bedard, has passed away at the age of 51. Moline has been dealing with a number of health issues in recent years.

Moline broke into comic books in the mid-1990s, with some work for Harris Comics, and a couple of stories for Marvel’s 2099 line of books. His big break, though, came in 2001 when he was picked to work on Joss Whedon’s comic book debut, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Fray, a series about the Vampire Slayer in a post-apocalyptic future (Fray’s magical scyhte debuted ahead of the weapon’s debut in the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on TV, giving the comic book a real feel of importance).

Moline spoke to CBR about the project back in 2011, “When I started working on the look of Fray’s world, I remember Joss describing a desolate dirty future landscape, where all of the major cities in the world had grown up and out, becoming impossibly high and connecting with other cities, forming major mega-tropolises. I think he cited ‘Blade Runner’ as a specific source of inspiration. I started there, and while there was some really interesting architecture in the film, a lot of the look of the movie comes from these very vague, hazy, smoggy shots where the breadth of civilization is suggested by lights alone. I found myself with only a little reference and making up the rest. So I just tried to put myself into the shoes of the city designers. If I were trying to expand a city without knocking down all of the existing buildings, how would I build? I found myself trying to create layers of architecture that became more technologically advanced as I moved vertically and I tried to tie all of the buildings together with walkways, etc., to lend structural support and keep them from all falling down.”

Hot off of that project, Moline signed an exclusive deal with Crossgen to co-create the excellent horror series, Route 666, with Tony Bedard….

In a spotlight on the series I did a few years back, I wrote, “Karl Moline’s art – wow, it is really quite excellent in the series….He is so dynamic while also being a great artist as far as characterization and expressions go.”

After Crossgen went out of business, Moline did a couple of series for Marvel, including a stint on Rogue, and the miniseries, Loners, with future Marvel Editor-in-Chief, C.B. Cebulski. He later returned to the world of Fray with Joss Whedon’s in Dark Horse’s ongoing Buffy the Vampire Slayer series.

Back in 2017, he did a Librarians series for Dynamite with Will Pfeifer…

Back in 2019, Moline spoke about the help he received from the Hero Initiative when he first started having health problems:

The Hero Initiative is an important charity for those of us working in the comics industry, an industry with no unions, health insurance, or retirement opportunities—Basically no safety net.

I was recently hospitalized multiple times for stomach issues and health problems that added up to an entire month of being out of commission. Unfortunately for artists, an entire month of lost wages was enough to send me into a financial spiral from which I would not have been able to pull out of not for Hero.

The Hero Initiative stepped in and cut a check to help pay off missed bills, giving me the financial (and mental) freedom to put things right again. It might not seem like much from the outside, but having a guardian angel watching your back gives you an invaluable feeling…SECURITY. It’s nice to have the feeling that we are not alone.

It takes a lot of courage to put everything on the line to pursue your dreams, and it’s scary when we fall. Hero Initiative was there to catch me, and I will be grateful for the rest of my life. Donations to an organization like this literally saves lives, and I hope that anyone reading this will help keep this beacon of hope burning brightly.

Our condolences to Karl Moline’s family and friends.

Please consider donating to the Hero Initiative in honor of the great Karl Moline.