Posted in: Comics, Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, Fantagraphics, IDW, Image, Marvel Comics, Rebellion / 2000AD | Tagged: rip, sam kieth, sandman, The Maxx

Sam Kieth, Creator of The Maxx and Sandman, Has Died, Aged 63

Sam Kieth, creator of The Maxx and co-creator of The Sandman, comic book writer, artist, painter and publisher, has died at the age of 63

Tonight, it is my sad duty to confirm the death of legendary comic book creator Sam Kieth, creator of The Maxx, at the age of 63. Sam died on the 15th of March, after suffering from Lewy Body Dementia, a degenerative disease described as a combination of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Kathy Kieth.

Born on the 11th of January, 1963, Sam Kieth was a comic book polyglot, writing, drawing, painting, and bringing a graffiti aesthetic to his art, influenced by the likes of Frank Frazetta, Bernie Wrightson and Vaughn Bode, but finding a way to turn that to mainstream success in the superhero field, on the likes of Wolverine, which he made a bestseller in Marvel Comics Presents, as well as working sporadically on The Hulk. But it was his Image Comics creation in 1993, The Maxx, that brought him true fame, not only for creating a comic book series about identity, existence, dreams, and reality, but also for lightly disguising it as a superhero comic. It delighted Alan Moore to guest-write an issue as well, as well as the introduction years later to his Zero Girl. The Maxx was adapted to an animated series for MTV's Liquid Television strand and went global. Years later, Todd McFarlane would have a massive hit making Maxx toys, including hard-to-find bags of Izs.

That legend creation might have been enough for any man, but he also co-created Sandman with Neil Gaiman, drawing the first five issues for DC Comics, bringing in the Bernie Wrightson aesthetic of the DC horror legacy, on which the series was initially based. And that was only the start. For Wildstorm, he would also create titles such as Zero Girl and Four Women, and from Oni Press Ojo and My Inner Bimbo. He also wrote No Smoking, the pilot to Cow and Chicken, created by his cousin, David Feiss, and directed the film Take It to the Limit in 2000, for Roger Corman's Concorde-New Horizons.

But it will be the unmistakable style of his comics work for which he is truly remembered. His first published work about a killer rabbit named Max The Hare (later revealed to be the true identity of The Maxx) was by Comico when he was seventeen, and at the age of nineteen, inking Matt Wagner's Mage, then Fish Police, and pencilled and inked issues of Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters and Critters. He drew a Penguin origin for DC's Secret Origins Special, and drew my own personal favourite work of his, the utterly hilarious Epicurus The Sage, with oft-collaborator William Messner-Loebs, and drew an early Aliens miniseries for Dark Horse Comics.

He would write and draw the five-issue series Batman: Secrets, featuring the Joker, and Batman/Lobo: Deadly Serious, in 2007, which saw him picked to draw 2009's Lobo: Highway to Hell, written by Scott Ian of the band Anthrax. Kieth's Batman graphic novels Arkham Asylum: Madness, and Batman: Through the Looking Glass were also a hit, especially in bookstores. He would also create a Batman/Maxx crossover for DC Comics, Arkham Dreams. He also drew Judge Dredd for 2000AD and 30 Days of Night for IDW, which also published The Hollows before he took it to Image. So much in such a little amount of time, Sam Kieth largely retired from mainstream comics over the last ten years, partly due to disputes and a lawsuit over the rights to The Maxx, but also due to failing health.

Sam Kieth was also a considerable influence on my own pathetic attempt at comic book art. I couldn't help it; his work filled my mind at an impressionable age. The clothes I drew on characters frayed like his. I copied the way he drew mouths, eyes, noses, and the way shadows fell across the face. I probably still do. He has so many fans across the world, for his outrageous, charming, lovable, and provocative art, but also for being a really decent guy. He often doubted his work, his muse, his creative spark, and it tortured him, but no one else could ever see that. His work was loved by so many, and so was the man. Bleeding Cool's Mark Seifert tells me, "Sam Kieth was one of the most unique and creative stylists of his generation of comic book artists.  Reading his work in the late 80s and early 90s, watching him put his own personal stamp on an incredible range of work like Epicurus the Sage, Marvel Comics Presents, The Sandman, and, of course, The Maxx, was constantly a revelation. I'll always remember his work as a vital part of that era and beyond." I heard the tragic news today, and confirmed it with his lifelong friend and collaborator Scott Dunbier, and received permission to share the tragic news. A New York Times full obituary is expected. They had better spell his surname correctly.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!