The death of Galip Tekin, one of Turkey’s most famous cartoonists and comic writers, could have been a scene from one of his comic books: A man with mournful eyes, who lives alone in a metropolis and draws strange and somber images, changes universes as he passes through his doorway.

Tekin's futuristic illustrations were often compared to Franco-Bosnian Enki Bilal, who received international fame in the 1990s and whose comic novels were made into international box office successes. Tekin was found dead at the entry of his apartment in Arnavutkoy, Istanbul, on July 6. He was 59 years old. His friend and fellow cartoonist Yilmaz Aslanturk said that the cause of his death was a heart attack.

Tekin was one of the pioneers of fantasy and science fiction comics in Turkey, and his fans called him “Garip” (Turkish for bizarre) Tekin, a play of words with his first name, Galip. He adopted the Twitter handle @AcayipTekin, another play of words that means “Tekin, the Strange.” His comics mostly pointed to a dystopian universe where humans shed skins and changed form, extraterrestrials spouted words of wisdom and the backstreets of Istanbul could easily become a gateway to another universe. His favorite characters were prostitutes, transsexuals and ugly, deformed men of lower-middle class who could unexpectedly pass through black holes and become heroes — or victims — in inter-galaxy wars.

“Tekin was able to take up scenes from urban and rural Turkey, use characters that we’d see on the streets, pick up their daily fears and concerns, then use all of this to create a world of fear, dystopia and fantasy,” Murat Mihcioglu, the founder of Studio Rodeo, an initiative for authentic comic book production, told Al-Monitor. “He had a rare gift of capturing the Turkish essence and carrying it into another more fantastic level. That's why he has a unique place in Turkey’s popular culture and was an idol for his fans.”