Local comic book artist passes away after battle with COVID-19 “He was definitely hilarious, passionate but extremely kind,” says Virginia Bernstein. On Friday morning Bernstein’s uncle Steve Lightle, who was battling flu like symptoms, passed away from cardiac arrest. “They didn’t know that he had COVID, but it was determined at the hospital that he was actively fighting it and that was the leading cause of his heart attack,” says Bernstein. A major gut punch to the family, but also those within the comic book community. “He was a part of the creative team that was responsible for the story line that killed off karate kid in the Legion story,” says Bernstein.