Frank Kelly Freas
Freas drew covers for MAD Magazine from 1955 to 1962. An official NASA mission artist, his space posters hang in the Smithsonian, and he was commissioned by the Skylab I astronauts to design their crew patch. He also illustrated stories by some of Science Fiction's greatest writers. Nominated an unprecedented twenty times, Freas was the first to receive ten Hugo Awards (World Science Fiction's "Oscars") for achievement in the field as Best Professional Artist. Frank Kelly Freas departed this world peacefully in his sleep on January 2, 2005. More on Freas can be found at his official website.
Will Eisner
In 1940, Will Eisner had an idea; why not put a comic book insert inside the Sunday comics section? The sixteen page comic had three stories in it, one of which was Eisner's now-famous "The Spirit." In The Spirit and his other graphic work, Eisner explored and experimented with each and every element of comic books -- the speech balloons, the lettering, the titles, the perspective, the text, the sequence, the splash page -- for no other reason than to explore the medium as an art form, and to discover new ways in which to present new ideas. He is also credited with coining the term "graphic novel." Will Eisner passed away on January 3rd, 2005 at the age of 87 following quadruple bypass heart surgery. More on Eisner can be found at his official website and also here.
UPDATE
A great tribute to Will Eisner, written by Brian Michael Bendis, can be found here.
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