Ellie deVille 1947-2019
15th January 2020
We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of Ellie deVille, who passed away from cancer on Christmas Eve 2019 at the age of 72
One of 2000 AD‘s most prolific and longest-serving letterers, Ellie stood alongside Tom Frame, Annie Parkhouse, and Steve Potter, as one of the comic’s great letterers. Her death, coming so soon after her diagnosis, has been a huge blow for all those who knew and worked with her. Always the professional, Ellie was working on 2000 AD strips until just weeks before her passing.
Originally training as a teacher, Ellie (known as Ellie de Ville in 2000 AD‘s pages) began working for 2000 AD in 1992 on Tharg’s Future Shocks before working on numerous series such as The Ten-Seconders, Absalom, The Alienist, Ampney Crucis Investigates, Judge Anderson, Aquila, Asylum, Atavar, Bec & Kawl, Savage, Brass Sun, Caballistics, Inc., Cradlegrave, Defoe, the Judge Dredd/Batman crossover, Flesh, Rogue Trooper, Grey Area, Button Man, Jaegir, Kingdom, The Red Seas, Sinister Dexter, Sláine, Strontium Dog, Terror Tales, Past Imperfects, Tales of Telguuth, Tharg’s 3rillers, Time Twisters, The VCs, and many others.
Along with Elitta Fell and Tom Frame, Ellie was also one of the letterers on Fleetway’s Sonic the Comic, and she worked on many other titles such as Aliens, Batman, Flex Mentallo, The Invisibles, Lucifer, Conan, Star Wars, and Tank Girl.
The art of lettering is so easily overlooked when talking about comic book storytelling, but without clear, well-considered letters a book can easily become unreadable. Consistent, quick, professional, with a style that was instantly recognisable and entirely her own, Ellie’s talent was to make reading 2000 AD and so many other comics a joy.
Editor of 2000 AD Matt Smith, who worked with Ellie for two decades, said: “I had the privilege of working with Ellie for the last 20 years, and she was an absolute treasure – fast, reliable and professional. Back in 2001, she lived in the same part of Willesden that I did and in a deadline emergency I sometimes used to meet her at the tube station to pass her the files on a zip disk, like some surreptitious Thrill-power exchange. I’ll miss her enormously.”
Former 2000 AD designer Steve Cook, paid tribute to his friend: “‘Always look on the bright side of life’ and a rainbow emoji was what Ellie signed off with in the last email she sent to me from her hospice bed, and that sums her up perfectly. Ellie was one of those people who always had a positive and happy demeanour, and she was always there with an earnest ear for her friends, of which she had many. She was also incredibly talented and professionally reliable, and definitely the unsung heroine of the British (and occasionally American) comics business. When we were really up against it with deadlines at 2000 AD, she always delivered bang on time and saved our skins.
“Socially, Ellie made her home an open house to her friends, and she was always eager to spend the night dancing to uplifting music. One of my particularly fond memories was arriving at her house on a Saturday evening for a party and seeing lots of silhouettes of people dancing away inside, but absolutely no sound. It was only upon entering that I could see that they were all wearing headphones so as not to annoy the neighbours. Yes, Ellie predicted the Silent Disco!
“Ellie de Ville was incredibly special, and she’s already sorely missed.”
The condolences of everyone at 2000 AD and Rebellion go out to Ellie’s family and friends.
Donations in memory of Ellie may be sent either to the Marie Curie Hospice, Cardiff and the Vale, Bridgeman Road, Penarth CF64 3YR or donate at www.mariecurie.org.uk/donate
