Vincent DePorter · Artist · Friend · 1959–2022

The Artist Behind the Icons

Before Rock n' Roll Church had a cathedral, it had an artist. Vincent DePorter helped give Dr. OMEB a visual world—characters, covers, posters, and images that made the music feel larger than the stage.

He was a professional comic artist with four decades of work across Europe and the United States. More importantly to me, he was my friend.

Art by a friend, for a friend.

DC Comics · Nickelodeon · SpongeBob Comics · Scooby-Doo · Spirou Magazine · Batman & Superman Style Guides

15 YearsOf Daily Friendship

18Works in the Archive

4 DecadesProfessional Art Career

1M+Plays on His Final Cover

Vincent and I found each other the way a lot of modern friendships begin: commenting on the same Facebook posts and recognizing something familiar in the other person's perspective.

What followed was nearly fifteen years of daily conversation—a transatlantic friendship between a one-man rock band from Cincinnati and a Belgian comic artist living in Arizona. We were connected by music, art, humor, and the particular struggle of being creative people in a world that does not always know what to do with us.

Vincent created artwork for me constantly, often without being asked. I always paid him, but the money was never what drove him. He loved the music. He wanted to contribute. The artwork became another way for us to build something together.

His final completed work for me was the cover art for “Close My Eyes Forever.” The release later crossed one million plays on Facebook. He never got to see that milestone, but his work helped make the moment possible.

“We were born starving artists in a digital world.”

Vincent's Legacy

Comic art: DC Comics, Nickelodeon, SpongeBob Comics and Scooby-Doo
International career: Belgium, France and the United States
Dr. OMEB archive: album covers, posters, character art, logos and promotional pieces
Final contribution: “Close My Eyes Forever,” later seen more than one million times on Facebook

Two defining pieces