Jose Delbo, Legendary Comic Book and NFT Artist, Dies at 90

Jose Delbo, a legendary comic book artist with 70 years of experience who also became a beloved NFT artist late in life, has passed away after a long illness. He was 90 years old.

Celebrated as one of nft now’s NFT100 honorees in 2022, Delbo was best known for his work on DC Comics’ “Wonder Woman” and Marvel’s “The Transformers.”

Though he was in his late 80s, he became an early adopter of NFTs, minting work on sites including MakersPlace and Nifty Gateway as early as 2020.

On Feb. 5, his grandson, Nick Frontera, an attorney and NFT enthusiast, shared the sad news on Delbo’s X account. “Today, we lost a legend of a father, grandfather, husband, and artist. Jose Delbo was as kind and as noble a man as there could be. He left a legacy that we can only hope we are blessed with leaving behind ourselves,” Frontera wrote.

Frontera continued, describing the joy Delbo experienced in creating NFT art and participating in the community.

“I know that being able to continue to produce art until the very end brought him such an immense amount of joy through all the difficult times. Even in his recent sickness, he worked on completing and minting a new collection that he wanted to share with the world. This community’s love and support not only gave him a continued sense of purpose, but it allowed him to be at peace that his family would be provided for after his passing,” he posted.

Delbo’s stalwart support of the web3 creative community left a profound impression on many notable artists and collectors in the space, who reacted to the news of his death with an outpouring of fond memories and praise for a passionate pioneer whose curiosity belied his advanced age.

“We lost a great artist and amazing human being today. Someone who, despite his age, jumped in NFTs really early. My condolences to his family. Jose Delbo was one of the first artists I started collecting when I started collecting art NFTs in late 2020,” posted collector Giannis Sourdis.

Hackatao, the renowned artist duo, collaborated with Delbo in 2020.

“It was in the autumn of 2020 when Jose Delbo suggested we collaborate with him. The idea of working with a legend who made comic book history immediately captivated us. During the process, we felt his enthusiasm and passion and said to each other: ‘we too want to reach his age by continuing to make art, experimenting with new mediums with the same passion and humanity.’ This is the lesson he passed on to us. Thank you, Jose,” they said on X.

Crypto artist Panter Xhita also took to X to share their respects. “Thank you for your art, dear Jose Delbo. Grateful and honored to have shared this space with you for several years. Forever present in our HISTORY OF CRYPTOART,” they wrote.

Collector Pablo Fraile remembered Delbo as “a kind soul and artistic giant who’s left an indelible mark on our hearts and the art world,” adding that “his passion, pioneering spirit and legacy will forever be a guiding light in the digital realm.”

MakersPlace, the marketplace where Delbo released several collections, also issued a statement. “We are deeply saddened by the news of Jose Delbo’s passing. He was a great artist and a great human. Our condolences go out to the Delbo family and the many artists in our community who knew him. He will be greatly missed.”