Ahoy me mateys Captain Cats here and I have sad news to report. Artist Ron Smith, best known for is time and work with 2000 AD, and Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper has passed away at the age of 94. The news of his passing came from 2000 AD Twitter account which said the following:

“We’re very sorry to hear that Judge Dredd artist Ron Smith has passed away. From co-creating Chopper to the weird Otto Sump and the wonderful Mayor Dave, he was an incredible artist with a career spanning decades. Our deepest sympathies to his family.” – 2000 AD

Smith was a fighter pilot during WWII, and soon after the war, he started to work at Gaumont British animation studio. In 1952 he worked for D.C. Thomson & Co and did artwork for them till 1972 and left the company and did freelance work. In 1979 Smith started to do work with 2000 AD on “Judge Dredd” well into the mid-’80s. He also worked on the Judge Dredd weekly comic strip for the Daily Star newspaper. Beside Dredd, he also did artwork for Chronos Carnival, Rogue Trooper and Harlem Heros for 2000 AD till Smith retired in the ’90s.