Barry Blair

Barry Blair was a Canadian comics artist, writer, and publisher born in 1954, who died on January 3, 2010. He is best remembered for founding Aircel Comics during the 1980s, a small-press publisher that introduced North American readers to a distinctive range of titles including *Samurai*, *Elflord*, *Dragonforce*, and what would become the basis for the eventual *Men in Black* franchise.

Blair's visual sensibility was shaped during time he spent living in East Asia, where exposure to manga and other Asian comics left a lasting mark on his draftsmanship — well before that aesthetic had any significant foothold in North America. The result was an art style built around slender, youthful figures that set his work apart from mainstream superhero illustration of the era. He contributed as artist, writer, inker, colorist, and letterer across roughly 278 issues between 1980 and 2002, with his heaviest presence on titles such as *Elflord*, *Samurai*, *Dragonring*, *Warlock 5*, *Leather & Lace*, and *ElfQuest: New Blood*.

The same stylistic traits that defined his adventure and fantasy work — childlike character proportions and frequent nudity — carried into the adult erotica he concentrated on in his later career, and both elements drew persistent criticism throughout his professional life. No major industry awards are documented in the available record.