RIP Don Ault

From Charles Hatfield on the COMIXSCHOLARS-L list, reprinted with permission.

A shining light of comics scholarship has passed away: Don Ault, pioneer, mentor of mentors, brilliant scholar of Blake, Romanticism, and comic books, most particularly the work of Carl Barks, and founder of the journal ImageTexT and of Comics Studies at the U of Florida.

Without Ault, we would not have Comics Studies as we now know it. His brilliant and unconventional work — restless, boundary-smashing, rhizomic, unafraid — liberated many other thinkers to approach comics freely, with minds unburdened by stigma and doubt. Further, his kind guidance and inspired teaching enabled a great many other scholars. 

Deepest condolences to his family, loved ones, colleagues, mentees, and students. They are many.