Keith Giffen, one of the comics industry’s most influential artists, died on Monday (9/10), aged 70, after suffering a stroke on Sunday (8/10). Known for his work on “Justice League” and “Legion of Super-Heroes,” Giffen was also the co-creator of iconic characters such as Rocket Raccoon, Lobo and Jaime Reyes, the new Blue Beetle.
Rocket and the beginning at Marvel
Born in Queens, New York on November 30, 1952, Giffen began his career in comics with the story “The Sword and the Star” in 1976, published by Marvel. That same year, he created Rocket Raccoon in collaboration with screenwriter Bill Mantlo, before the character became one of the most famous members of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Legion of superheroes
Subsequently, he took his talents to DC, where he formed a historic partnership with Paul Levitz at the helm of the Legion of Super-Heroes magazine. His long tenure at the publication, lasting more than a decade, is considered the best phase of DC’s future heroes. Giffen and Levitz created the award-winning “Saga of Eternal Darkness” and the comic’s transformation into a science fiction publication.
The success was so great that Levitz was promoted to editor of DC, climbing the ranks to become president of the publishing house, while his artist partner began to take over the direction of the Legion alone, as designer and screenwriter. Giffen did a reboot, set five years after Levitz’s stories, and created several spin-offs.
One such spin-off was a comedy special focusing on the Legion of Substitute Super-Heroes, heroes with less useful powers who were unable to join the Legion. The 1983 special became a bestseller and received a sequel in 1985, which surprised DC itself, becoming an iconic work.
Justice League
With the success of the comic attacks, Giffen teamed up with JM DeMatteis and artist Kevin Maguire to try the same formula in Justice League, in a relaunch with a less competent lineup and a jokey approach. Released in 1989, this version was called “Justice League International” and became a pop phenomenon. For several years, the publication was DC’s best seller. It even ended up getting a spin-off, focusing on the formation of the European Justice League.
Giffen’s work with the publisher’s more traditional group of heroes was characterized by a subversive, sarcastic sense of humor, unafraid to explore the absurdity of characters like Batman, Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), and Martian Manhunter. However, many people at the publisher—and among fans—preferred the darker style that had been gaining popularity since Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight,” and Giffen and his team ended up abandoning the publication in 1992.
Wolf, Blue Beetle
His irreverent style also influenced the creation of Lobo in 1983, initially a brutal villain who later became a parody of the overly muscular characters of the 1980s, before becoming a popular antihero.
After recreating the character Blue Beetle (the Ted Kord version) in the 1989 Justice League comics, only to see him brutally killed at the hands of another team, Giffen managed to convince DC to allow him to create another version of the hero in 2006, giving rise to Jaime Reyes, the Blue Beetle who has just won his first film at the cinema.
Crossovers
Giffen also worked on other DC landmarks, such as the “52” crossovers, “The New 52” and “Countdown to Final Crisis,” created to enhance the publisher’s comics, as well as “Annihilation,” a cosmic saga from Marvel.
He leaves an invaluable legacy in the comics industry, both as a writer and an artist.
Tributes
Paul Levitz said goodbye to his old comrade, writing on social media that the old legionnaire had gone “to create new worlds that are beyond our reach.” He also called Giffen “the most fertile creative mind of our generation” and “a friend who made me seem better than I was”, lamenting that he, “like many artists, did not lead a healthy lifestyle, which led to difficult times.”.
JM DeMatteis also spared no praise for “one of the most brilliant and creative human beings I have ever met,” calling him “a generous collaborator” and “a dear old friend.” To top it off, the Justice League International co-creator also mentioned how his wife described her partner: “He looked like a character out of a Keith Giffen story.”
Source: Terra
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