Artist Robert B. Stull has died at 58

Anthony W. Neal

Anthony W. Neal is a graduate of Brown University and University of Texas School of Law and has written for the Bay State Banner since 2012.

On Friday, April 17, 2025, Illustrator Robert B. Stull, also known as Rob Stull, passed away after an illness.

Stull had over 20 years in the animation and illustration business. He worked for all of the major publishers in the industry, including Marvel Entertainment Group, DC Comics and Warner Brothers. His work can be seen gracing the pages of superstar titles that include the projects Spider-Man Adventures, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Iron Man, X-Force, Wolverine, Nightwing, Batman and JLA. His talent encompassed a wide variety of jobs working as an illustrator, penciler and inker.

Rob Stull stands in front banners of his artwork hanging at the entrance to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Stull was named an artist in residence at the museum in 2020. PHOTO: © MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON

Stull earned a BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and taught at institutions like the Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts. Throughout his career, he was a trailblazer, creating exhibitions of African American art throughout the country.

In 1995, he created an exhibition called, Sequential Art: The Next Step,” spotlighting the contributions of African Americans to mainstream comic book art and popular culture. The exhibit’s mission, according to Stull, “was to increase the understanding, appreciation and awareness of sequential art” and to empower people of all ages and races by bringing attention to the fact that talented artists of color not only work on mainstream characters like Batman or Spiderman, but also create, write, illustrate, produce and publish their own properties.

Coincidently, 1995 was also the centennial celebration of the American comic strip and the Next Step exhibition debuted at The Ohio State University-sponsored Festival of Cartoon Art. That university’s research library contains the world’s largest archive of original cartoon art. The exhibition continued to Macon, Ga., Charlotte, N.C., and to the National Center of Afro-American Artists in Boston.

“Golden Athena” by Rob Stull. COURTESY PHOTO

In 2019, Stull was the first African American artist-in-residence at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, where he collaborated with muralist Rob “Problak” Gibbs on “The Mural Project.” His work was featured in conjunction with the “Writing the Future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop Generation” exhibition, and his tribute drawings were displayed as large banners on the museum’s facade. The tandem focused on the importance of youth involvement in hip-hop culture. This was demonstrated by their works: map of street art around Boston, a documentary video on Basquiat’s influence, a series of original drawings, and a publication highlighting the experience.

Stull explained, “The exhibition focused on a specific era in NYC graffiti culture within hip-hop’s evolution. In my opinion, the individuals celebrated in this showcase (and others) defined that era and are responsible for moving the culture forward.”

Speaking to the Banner’s James Perry about that historic time, Stull said, “It was the first time the MFA offered residency to local artists, and the first time Jean-Michel Basquiat was exhibited at the MFA. It was smart on the part of the curators and MFA’s staff to put Basquiat’s name on top to get the attention. Everybody’s familiar with him. But the exhibit really shined a light on the people who were there at the beginning of that post-80s movement. So, being given the opportunity to participate in that exhibit was mind-blowing.”

“FUTURA” by Rob Stull COURTESY PHOTO

2019 also marked the year Stull was invited to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum as a participant in the Neighborhood Salon Luminaries Program. That program was a gathering of Boston’s cultural leaders and arts influencers, whose work impacts and inspires the creative, educational, social and political landscape of the Gardner Museum.

Stull pointed out that “from the point of view of our Black creators, the entrepreneurial spirit is stronger than ever in the younger generation.”

In multiple interviews, Stull talked about when he got interested in art and who inspired him. He told Validated magazine, “I would visit my older sister in Queens and take the 7 train to her neighborhood. Along the trip, I would see all the rooftop graffiti. Those rooftops were like art galleries to me. My father was an architect and the founder of his own firm. My mother was a dancer, and my uncles taught art on the university level. So, art was all around me from day one. The energy was undeniable.”

“Hulk” by Rob Stull COURTESY PHOTPO

Stull continued, “I got an incredible amount of support from my family, not just my father. My uncle, his brother was a renowned ceramist. My uncle on my mother’s side of the family was a drawing instructor. He taught at RISD. Then, there was close proximity with people from the community [with whom] my parents had relationships: Paul Goodnight, for example, and Napoleon Jones-Henderson, Nelson Stevens, Renée Neblett and Barbara Ward. Both parents saw that spark, that curiosity, within me and introduced me to these amazing artists at a very early age.”

Stull also was the founder of Ink on Paper and was a partner in True Elements Publishing LLC.  He said, “Ink on Paper was inspired by my years of work in publishing, graphic design and advertising. In those industries, in one way or another, the printed/published page is literally a form of ink on paper. I also considered it an identity for myself within the comic book industry. I had my logo made into a rubber stamp, and stamped the back of all the artwork I produced for the various comic book companies I worked with. It was a way of standing out or separating myself from hundreds of other talented artists.”

Rob Stull is survived by his sisters Cydney Cyd Garrido (married to Alex Garrido) and Gia Stull of Melbourne, Florida; his niece and great-nephews Alexandra Rush (married to Barry Rush); Odell and Xander Rush of Atlanta, Georgia; and his nephew Kyle Gens of Brooklyn, New York. He was preceded in death by his father, Donald L. Stull, and mother, Patricia Ann Ryder Stull.

In his honor, please consider making a donation in support of any cancer research efforts, the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, Inc., the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, or the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.