Andy Fish

Andrew Tiberius Fish was born on 27 December 1965 and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts. After his father abandoned the family when Andy was two, he was raised by his mother, sister, two aunts and his maternal grandmother. He grew up in the Crown Hill neighborhood and found a rare safe space at the Boys Club on Ionic Avenue. He later described himself as a "ghost kid" there, too shy to speak, and said the building's long shadows helped shape the gothic mood of his later comics. Comic books were an early obsession, even when trips to buy them meant running a gauntlet through neighborhood streets.

Fish studied comic art and illustration as an undergraduate at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where he worked under Will Eisner. He later completed postgraduate study in illustration and painting at the Rhode Island School of Design. Mentorship and influence from Jack Kirby and Paul Ryan reinforced a classical approach to sequential storytelling. He continued to give portfolio reviews for prospective RISD students years afterward.

Fish's professional life spanned advertising, animation support, fine art, newspaper illustration and comics. Corporate clients included Warner Bros., DC Comics, Nike and Coca-Cola. His comics and drawings appeared in Sports Illustrated, The New Yorker and The Boston Globe, and he freelanced for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and Worcester Magazine. Indie and mid-career comics included Adam Bomb, Jerry Claus, The Misadventures of Adam West and a celebrated unpublished-style Batman serial. With Steve Altes he illustrated Geeks & Greeks (2016). With Veronica Fish he lettered, flatted and co-built the Dark Horse series Blackwood and Archie Comics' Sabrina the Teenage Witch relaunch with Kelly Thompson, work that brought the couple to San Diego Comic-Con spotlights and national comics press.

Fish lived in Worcester with his wife and fellow artist Veronica Fish. They met at the Worcester Art Museum, remained friends for years, and married on a private beach in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. The pair often worked as a unit at conventions in the United States and abroad and maintained studio ties in Nagoya, Japan, through Andy's brother Al and sister-in-law Tomoko. Andy had three sons from a previous marriage: Matthew, Joseph (Joe) and Adam. Family obituaries also name his mother Billee LaPrade and sister Darlene Dow. Friends remembered his encyclopedic knowledge of comics, classic films and monsters, and a dry sense of humor.

Fish spoke often about craft as a daily practice. On his studio site he described himself as a storyteller in pictures who blended classic comic tradition with contemporary visual storytelling, and students nicknamed him Andy-Wan Kenobi for advice that mixed discipline with humor. He believed in making things, working hard and encouraging others to do the same. His Boys & Girls Club reflections stressed safe places for shy children, and memorial gifts requested by the family to the Club and the Hero Initiative reflected those values.

Blackwood and the Sabrina relaunch remain the most widely circulated showcases of the Fishs' collaborative method, with critics singling out Andy's lettering, layouts and sound-effect design as quiet architecture for Veronica's linework. His How to Draw manuals and museum-school teaching put practical sequential-art training into the hands of New England students for more than a decade. Sons Joe and Adam of Robo Picto Comics remembered him as their greatest supporter and devoted a tribute week of blog posts to his memory. A Worcester Art Museum scholarship in his name was planned after his death.

Fish received Boys and Girls Club of Worcester Lifetime Achievement Honors in 2014. He was nominated for a Pulp Factory Award in 2014 and for New England Newspaper Association Illustrator Awards in 2005 and 2012. Earlier recognition included a 2005 World Smile Celebration Illustration honor and a 2005 INKY Award for best digital comic book. His painting practice placed work in gallery exhibitions and in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

Entertainment Weekly announced the Archie Sabrina relaunch featuring the Fishs in 2018. Dark Horse and The A.V. Club promoted Blackwood with exclusive art and interviews. SYFY WIRE filmed the couple at San Diego Comic-Con comparing Blackwood to a Mulder and Scully campus story. Comic Art LIVE devoted an episode to interviewing Andy and Veronica as artists and collectors. Geeks & Greeks received coverage from The Tech, Library Journal, the Miami Herald and other outlets, and its film rights were optioned to Whydah Productions.

No major public controversies are documented in major obituaries or career summaries. Fish's public reputation centered on collaboration, teaching and work-for-hire craft rather than industry dispute.

In June 2026 Fish was diagnosed with two rare blood cancers, B-cell lymphoma and myelofibrosis. A GoFundMe campaign sought help toward a stem-cell transplant while he prepared with outpatient chemotherapy. He died on 5 September 2026 at age 60 in Worcester, surrounded by family. Veronica announced the death on Instagram and on her illustration blog. Calling hours were held 15 September 2026 at Miles Funeral Home in Holden, with a funeral Mass the next morning at St. George Catholic Church in Worcester and private interment. Memorial donations were directed to the Boys & Girls Club of Worcester and the Hero Initiative.