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Friday 13 October 2023
KEITH GIFFEN - R.I.P.
Keith Giffen, co-creator of Rocket Racoon, sadly passed away on Monday (9th), aged 70. Another sad loss to the world of comicbooks, alas. Condolences to his family, friends, and fans.
One of my favourite creators. I really liked his Legion of Super-Heroes series and his Justice League International comics with Kevin Maguire art. Not that old really at 70.
Giffen's early work showed his influences, but then he evolved and that style was at once distinctive and enjoyable. Ambush Bug is my favorite of his efforts. This one does strike close to home.
I perhaps wasn't so keen on his earlier work, RJ, but I loved the Superman/'Asterix' strip he drew in Action Comics #579 in 1986. After that, I enjoyed his art a lot more. A real shame he's gone, but as they say, he'll live on through the work he left behind.
Wow, first I heard of it, and yeah, way too young (two years older than me!!)
I often had a mixed reaction to his work over time, particularly the stuff where he took influence from that Munoz guy, but I'll be looking for a good retrospective on his work now. It's also a mark of his influence that he seemed to keep a pretty steady core fandom for a long time.
The Superman/Asterix strip I referred to above was written in a humorous vein, GP, and I imagine his style suited that kind of strip more than the 'grim/dark' type of stories of, say, Alan Moore or Frank Miller. (I could be wrong though.) Never heard of Munoz (that I remember) - does that make me a 'philistine'?
Naw, Munoz is very much a niche Euro artist, an Argentinian who spent most of his life in Spain.
I googled the two artists and came up with what I think was a reasonably fair assessment of Giffen's work. Like some of the respondents to the essay, I agree some of it was interesting, some of it was imitative. From the way comics editors would hype his name on covers I tend to think he had a substantial fan following, and that he wasn't just getting work because he met deadlines.
9 comments:
One of my favourite creators. I really liked his Legion of Super-Heroes series and his Justice League International comics with Kevin Maguire art. Not that old really at 70.
Not old at all, McS. In fact, just over 5 years older than me. Brings it home to you, doesn't it? Wish I was 14 again.
Giffen's early work showed his influences, but then he evolved and that style was at once distinctive and enjoyable. Ambush Bug is my favorite of his efforts. This one does strike close to home.
I perhaps wasn't so keen on his earlier work, RJ, but I loved the Superman/'Asterix' strip he drew in Action Comics #579 in 1986. After that, I enjoyed his art a lot more. A real shame he's gone, but as they say, he'll live on through the work he left behind.
Wow, first I heard of it, and yeah, way too young (two years older than me!!)
I often had a mixed reaction to his work over time, particularly the stuff where he took influence from that Munoz guy, but I'll be looking for a good retrospective on his work now. It's also a mark of his influence that he seemed to keep a pretty steady core fandom for a long time.
The Superman/Asterix strip I referred to above was written in a humorous vein, GP, and I imagine his style suited that kind of strip more than the 'grim/dark' type of stories of, say, Alan Moore or Frank Miller. (I could be wrong though.) Never heard of Munoz (that I remember) - does that make me a 'philistine'?
Naw, Munoz is very much a niche Euro artist, an Argentinian who spent most of his life in Spain.
I googled the two artists and came up with what I think was a reasonably fair assessment of Giffen's work. Like some of the respondents to the essay, I agree some of it was interesting, some of it was imitative. From the way comics editors would hype his name on covers I tend to think he had a substantial fan following, and that he wasn't just getting work because he met deadlines.
http://jedalexander.blogspot.com/2013/12/in-defense-of-keith-giffen.html
There's a nice retrospective of Keith Giffen on Bleeding Cool Gene.
Keith asked for a comment to be posted on his Facebook page on the event of his death that sums up his humour so well.
"I told them I was sick
Anything not to go to New York Comic Con
Thanx
Keith Giffen 1952-2024
Bwah ha ha ha ha"
Legend.
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/keith-giffen-co-creator-rocket-raccoon-lobo-died-aged-70/
Interesting stuff, GP and McS. Of course, KG nicked the 'I told them I was sick' line from Spike Milligan (though Milligan said 'ill', not 'sick').
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