According to various reports this morning -- most notably NEWSDAY -- veteran comic book artist Frank Springer died last Thursday. He was 79. Cause of death is being cited as prostate cancer. Springer, born December 6, 1929, was known for his work on Batman, Secret Six, Marvel's Dazzler, Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD and various comic strips during his lengthy career. NEWSDAY's obit provided a lengthy overview of Springer's career, including quotes from his family and fellow artist Stan Goldberg (Archie):

Frank Springer, a longtime Long Islander who was a prolific comics artist for such strips as "Terry and the Pirates" and "Rex Morgan, M.D.," died Thursday at his home in Damariscotta, Maine, of prostate cancer. He was 79. Springer was a gregarious and practical man who labored for hours a day in his backyard studio, said his son, Jon Springer of Brooklyn. "He'd be out there basically all day long, morning until dinnertime." The artist would listen to jazz and opera while he worked, and he never got too high-minded about his outstanding talent, his son said. "He was a normal, conservative kind of guy," Jon Springer said. Frank Springer drew for a wide variety of companies, including DC Comics and Marvel. He also illustrated an adult-themed satire, "The Adventures of Phoebe Zeit-Geist," a comic that Springer considered one of his best works. "Very few people could surpass him as an artist, as a gentleman, and as a true gentleman in my field," said Stan Goldberg, who draws the "Archie" comics. "When you see a Frank Springer job, you know it's going to be the best job in the world."

DC Comics President and Publisher Paul Levitz shares his memories of Springer: ""Frank Springer's passing was reported this weekend. Frank was 79, and while never one of the mainstays of the DCU, he was the artist of one of the most unusual short lived experiments of the late '60s, THE SECRET SIX, and a regular pinch hitter in our line up," Levitz said. " Dapper, and always with a charmer's smile under his shock of prematurely white hair, Frank was predominantly a newspaper strip guy (a better paid and recognized group than the comic book guys in his prime years), but happily obliged when we got in a jam. With an illustrator's eye, he crafted people whose personalities permeated their appearance, as his did." For more, you can check out Mark Evanier's story on Springer's passing and The Beat and Newsarama obits.