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Grey Blackwell – RIP

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D. D. Degg Published: February 8, 2026 Updated: February 17, 2026 1 minute 0 comments

Newspaper illustrator and animated sports cartoonist Grey Blackwell has passed away.

From the obituary:

Nelson Grey Blackwell, Jr., lovingly known as Grey, age 56, of Oxford, North Carolina, passed away on February 4, 2026, in his hometown of Oxford.

He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from North Carolina State University, School of Design, class of 1992.

Grey was widely respected by colleagues, fellow artists, and established cartoonists in both the haunted attraction industry and the newspaper field. He began his career as a graphic designer/illustrator for the Gainesville Times in Gainesville, Georgia, and went on to serve as a graphic illustrator for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He later joined the News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he worked as an editor, illustrator, and cartoonist. In 2008, Grey left the News & Observer to pursue work as a freelance artist.

Grey began his newspaper career at The Gainesville Times from 1992-1994 (and 1997) then moved on to The Atlanta Journal Constitution from 1994-1997 before ending up at The (Raleigh) News & Observer 1997-2008.

Grey was briefly, 1998-2001 and 2005, one of MAD’s Usual Gang of Idiots.

In 2005 Grey began a side hustle as an animator which proved to be so successful he quit The News & Observer to go freelance with his new career path while still dabbling in illustration.

Josh Shaffer for The News & Observer remembers their former colleague:

But in the center of that beautiful wreck you would find Grey Blackwell in his colorful office the size of a jail cell, busily drawing outrageous cartoons and giggling to himself: Coach Mike Kryzyzewski dancing in MC Hammer pants, Gov. Mike Easley spinning out in a NASCAR race, Paula Deen juggling jars of mayonnaise.

And no matter what assignment anyone brought, no matter what request they made of his outsized talent, he took it gladly and probably offered a joke in return. This was an artist who published cartoons in MAD Magazine and got his caricature of Lebron James printed on packages of Bubbilicious gum, but he didn’t mind drawing you a map of a murder scene.

He was more than a light in the darkness. He was a lava lamp.

More Grey Blackwell at his website.