Perhaps the biggest news to come out of Emerald City Comicon this weekend is that Guy Davis will be stepping down as the regular artist of B.P.R.D.

The news was announced on Saturday at Dark Horse’s B.P.R.D. panel, in front of a crowd of shocked and dismayed fans.

Davis has been the regular artist on B.P.R.D. since 2004, when he joined the creative team for the Plague of Frogs story arc. Guy has decided to leave the book, so that he can concentrate his efforts on other projects. He did not mention what those projects would be, but I can imagine that a large part of his time may be spent completing his creator-owned series, The Marquis. His plan is to make The Marquis a five volume series. The first volume, Inferno, which is available now, collects the trade paperbacks Danse Macabre and Intermezzo. Davis then plans to release the rest as graphic novels, starting with The Marquis and the Midwife, then two more that finish the Marquis’ story, followed by a final epilogue volume.

Davis’ final issue of B.P.R.D. will be B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth -  Gods #3, which hits stores on this Wednesday (March 9th, 2011).

Following this this sad announcement, Scott Allie followed up the news with the reveal that a new artist called Tyler Crook would be taking over as the regular artist on the book. Crook had been set to make his big debut in August with the original graphic novel Petrograd, coming out from Oni Press, and written by Philip Gelatt. Dark Horse had been planning to try him out on a couple of B.P.R.D fill-in issues to loosen up Davis’ schedule, but as soon as Guy announced his departure, they decided to drop him in the deep end.

Crook’s first issue will be B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth -  Monsters #3, which will hit stores in July. Prior to that, there will be a three-issue fill-in story called B.P.R.D.: The Dead Remembered, co-written by Mignola and Scott Allie, with artwork by Jo Chen.

I was at the panel, and have to say that I was flabbergasted when the news was announced. Dark Horse had been teasing that they were set to make a huge announcement, but I was not prepared for it to be bad news. They actually opened up with the news, then flipped the panel to fan questions. When no-one approached the microphone, they joked that maybe they could all leave early!

While I am sad to see Guy leaving the title, I am actually looking forward to seeing more Marquis from him. I absolutely adore that series, so it’s almost worth the trade in. I’d also like to see his work on other books. It’s been a long time since he’s worked on anything other than B.P.R.D., with the exception of the amazing Judge Dredd strip he illustrated last year.

I had a chance to chat with Guy after the panel, and he seemed incredibly excited to be able to get on and draw new things. It was great to see an artist much energy and passion for what he was working on. To mark the occasion, I purchased an original page of B.P.R.D. artwork from him. I will post some pictures when I have time.

I would also recommend that you head to http://superskoda.blogspot.com/, and check out the artwork of Tyler Crook. He has some really nice work on there, and I can’t wait to see him take on Abe and team. The cover art for his first issue is incredibly impressive. I tweeted a shot of the artwork displayed at the Dark Horse booth over the weekend, but have included a nice high resolution version of it here.

Stay tuned for more memories from Emerald City Comicon!

Related posts:

1. Sneak Peek at Artwork From Two Upcoming Judge Dredd Stories Illustrated by Guy Davis and Dylan Teague!
2. Chris Roberson Takes on Superman, Phil Hester Takes on Wonder Woman
3. Witchblade Takes a Break with a 2 Issue Arc Starring Witchblade’s Partner and Guest Artist Matthew Dow Smith
4. Darick Robertson No Longer the Regular Artist on The Boys!
5. Dark Horse Announce Exclusive B.P.R.D. Comic for Emerald City Comicon!