CARTOONIST, ANIMATOR AND MUSICIAN GARY LEIB DIED

​Gary Leib (October 29, 1955 – March 19, 2021) was born in Chicago, Illinois. Leib was a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and taught in the graduate computer animation program at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. He was the 2016–2017 artist-in-residence at Fairmont State University. Lieb died at 65 in New York City, New York.
As a member of the ambient country group SUSS, Leib's label, Northern Spy Records, confirmed the artist passed on March 19, writing in a tweet: "We're deeply sorrowful to share this news. Our hearts go out to SUSS and Gary's friends and family."
As of press time, his cause of death remains unclear.
Along with Allen, Bob Holmes, Barc Holmes, and Trish Milliken, Leib was a founding member of the Grammy Award-nominated band Rubber Rodeo, which recorded two albums for Mercury Records. He had created original music for independent and feature films, including the critically acclaimed Ironweed.
Leib created his animation studio Twinkle in 1993; Twinkle has produced animation and titles for film, TV series, music videos, and websites. From 1993 until his death, Leib created a series of short animations, accompanied by jazz, about New York City, which was hosted on the New York Times website, a network ID for MTV, and a documentary for PBS. Lieb made the animated end closing credits for the film American Ultra.
Lieb was an American underground cartoonist, animator, and musician. Leib also designed a popular line of promotional toys for The Hershey Company. Best known for the comic book Idiotland (a two-man anthology produced with Leib's long-time collaborator, Doug Allen), Leib's work also appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Musician Magazine, The New York Observer, RAW, BLAB! and as weekly features in New York Press for many years.
His animation work was featured in films like American Ultra, American Splendor, and Happiness. While Leib's illustration work was best cataloged by NYT, The New York Observer, Fantagraphics, and more, Leib also co-authored the surrealist comic book Idiotland with Doug Allen in 1993.