Ray Zone (1947-2012) RIP

AV In 3D #1 (December 1984)
3D by Ray Zone, art by Dave Sim, Arn Saba, Bill Loebs, Valentino, Bob Burden & Terry Beatty
(Click image to enlarge)

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER:
(from 'Ray Zone: The  3D King Of Hollywood Dies At 65', The Hollywood Reporter, 15 November 2012)

He produced 3D adaptations of art for more than 150 comic books and worked in the movies and on Tool's cleverly packaged 2006 album 10,000 Days. Ray Zone, a pioneer in methods of converting flat images like comic books into stereoscopic images, helping to earn him the nickname "The 3D King of Hollywood," has died. He was 65. Zone, whose interest in 3D began in 1953 when, at age 6, he started reading 3D comics starring Mighty Mouse, died Nov. 13 at his home in Los Angeles of a heart attack, the International 3D Society reported Thursday... 

"The 3D Society truly mourns the loss of our community's best friend," the organization said in a statement. "Ray was our mentor and advocate. As an accomplished 3D producer, stereographer and leading scholar, he helped pave the way for all of our success today. Ray served as the society's historian and now takes his place as a treasured part of our industry's history. He will be profoundly missed." Survivors include his sons Johnny and Jimmy Ray. 

DENI LOUBERT:

(from 'A Note From The Publisher', AV In 3D, December 1984)

For those of you unfamiliar with Aardvark-Vanaheim, this book is a sample of the titles we publish. We first began talking about doing a 3-D book when Dave, Jim, Arn, Bill and I were attending Petuniacon in April. Since we had never had so many A-V artists in one place before, we spent one morning meeting for the upcoming year. We knew Pacific Comics was going to put out a 3-D book, and everyone liked the idea of using 3-D as a way to introduce people to our line of books.

Needless to say, getting this type of project off the ground took some time. A-V has always tended to attract very independent artists, and our policy of non-edited book with mutually agreed upon schedules can make a book of this sort hectic. But everyone pitched in and helped, including the master of 3-D himself, Ray Zone and the fine people at Preney Print & Litho. Each of the stories has a feel of it's own, and, I feel, an appeal that, given a chance, can reach anyone. We have always tended to have a rather non-conformist reputation. I tend to see it more as a line of books written for a select and discriminating audience. Could that be you, I am talking about? I suppose that remains to be seen.

In the meantime, make yourself comfortable. Sit back and prepare to enjoy yourself.