RIP Sam Kieth, Comic Book Artist and ‘Sandman’ Co-Creator

Sam Kieth, the artist who helped Neil Gaiman begin his Sandman comics, and separately created The Maxx and Zero Girl books, passed away on Saturday. He was 63 years old.

The initial news was broken by Bleeding Cool, who revealed he’d been diagnosed with the degenerative disease Lewy Body Dementia. Born January 11, 1963, the artist started as an inker for Matt Wagner’s Mage and Steve Moncuse’s Fish Police in the 80s. His big break would come courtesy of DC in 1989: after pencilling the first five issues of the aforementioned Sandman, he teamed with Batman writer Alan Grant for a Penguin story that same year.

Like other comic artists, Kieth eventually decided to make his own original comic, which ended up being The Maxx. Released in 1993 for Image Comics, the series lasted for 35 issues over five years, all of which were drawn and plotted out by him, with Alan Moore and William Messner-Loebs writing issues throughout its run. The Maxx was later adapted for TV in the MTV Oddities animated series. There was a point in 2019 where it looked like Channing Tatum might help get a new adaptation off the ground, but those plans apparently fell through.

In addition to drawing (or writing) at DC and Marvel—mostly Batman and Lobo stories for the former; Wolverine, Hulk, and Spider-Man at the latter—Kieth’s career included short stints at indie publishers like Oni Press and Dark Horse. He also did work outside comics: specifically, he co-wrote the pilot to “No Smoking,” the pilot to the Cartoon Network series Cow & Chicken, whose creator, David Feiss, is his cousin. Prior to his death, Kieth was attached to a revival of the Negative Burn anthology comic, which reached funding in February.

Amongst the comics community, creators remembered Kieth as one who “shaped a whole generation of comic book readers and retailers and creators, myself included,” said Ms. Marvel co-creator G. Willow Wilson. “There was nothing else like [The Maxx] at the time. Completely unique.”

Speaking about The Maxx, horror movie writer C. Robert Cargill called it a “weird and groundbreaking” book for when it came out. “It was this crazy culture grenade,” he said, “bridging the Venn diagram between mainstream comics & Alt (not indie) comics. In an era of anti-heroes, The Maxx satirized that, redefining what mainstream comics could be. RIP, Sam Kieth.”

“Sam Kieth didn’t bend for comics. Comics bent to him,” wrote artist and writer Phil Hester. “Maybe not since Kirby had mainstream comics seen an artist with less filter between his imagination and the printed page.”

Image Comics said it was “deeply saddened to hear of Kieth’s passing,” and eulogized him as a creator who “brought a completely unique look and voice to the industry. His art was raw and unmistakably his. Sam’s influence will be felt for generations. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.”

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