Comic creators RIP thread

Jack Katz 1927-2025.

www.tcj.com

Jack Katz, 1927-2025 - The Comics Journal

Jack Katz, born Sept. 27, 1927, is best known for his landmark epic The First Kingdom which paved the way for future long-form graphic novels.
www.tcj.com www.tcj.com

Jack Katz, R.I.P. – News From ME

www.newsfromme.com www.newsfromme.com

Way back when this direct sales market thingie first started, Jack wrote and drew a long form graphic novel called The First Kingdom. The first issue was published in 1974 (IIRC) and the last issue went on sale in 1986. The epic scope and duration of an undertaking like that was unheard of in those early days of comic book stores and it paved the way for other independent comics such as Elfquest and Cerebus. I'm firmly convinced that if it wasn't for First Kingdom, the direct sales market wouldn't have taken off the way it did in the 80's and 90's.

Besides being a talented writer and artist, Jack was a nice man. He and his wife Carolyn were fixtures at SDCC in the 70's and 80's and he always made time for his fans. He loved what he did and it showed through on every page he produced.

Rest in peace, Jack. Hopefully I'll see you again someday at that big Comic Con up in the sky.
 
Last edited:
At the very least it could have been a good PR move for them, but then again it might have also highlighted the fact that they are so shitty in taking care of their comic talent that there was a need for them to help in the first place.
 
I was going through some old comic con photos last night and here's one I took of Peter David back in 2005:

wWPX6wC.jpg


Peter was a fixture at SDCC in the 90's and 00's. He was a super nice guy and always such a pleasure to chat with. He has not been with us the past few years and that obviously was due to his health.

We as fans are lucky. Lucky that he chose to become a writer. Lucky that he loved comics and Star Trek as much as we did. And very lucky that he chose to spend time with us.

Rest in peace, Peter. Thank you for everything.
 
Secret Wars was HUGE for me as a kid. The toyline and the series. It was my first introduction to a lot of Marvel heroes beyond Spider-Man and Hulk. I kiiiiinda knew the X-Men from one episode of Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends but Secret Wars was a bigger window into them, as well as the FF and Avengers. I also did follow Shooter's blog for a time giving insights into comic publishing etc. That's all I really know about him, but Secret Wars was enough for me.
 
Yep, I posted about this in the Countdown to SDCC thread. Let me just say that Jim Shooter has been one of my favorite writers since I was six years old. I had no idea at the time that when he wrote those stories back in the Silver Age that he was only a few years older than me. He was 13 when he sold his first script to DC.

Y9pkiQ2.jpg


13 freaking years old. Think about that for a moment.

And then there was that run of Avengers he wrote in the 70's. George Perez did the art on a few issues.

OH9Nolq.jpg


The man had an amazing, successful and highly influential career in comics.

Rest in peace, stretch. You will be remembered.
 
Damn, this is sad news. I got into Marvel Comics in the very early '80s and from what I understand he deserves a lot of credit for how great much of that decade was for Marvel. And it really was something special. They'll never be anything like it.

I was there for some of his Avengers stuff and of course Secret Wars ... even Starbrand and the New Universe launch (which was great after they gave up on it and brought on "The Pitt"). I was also a fan of his Valiant stuff too in the early days. I really enjoyed Magnus. Grabbed some of the Defiant titles, even.

So many big names in this industry leaving us lately ...
 
Another titan gone in an industry that doesn't seem to want to allow such creators to flourish anymore. It's been interesting to see how so many creators who butted heads with him as EIC are saying nothing but good things about him - they went to battle with him creatively, but know he was a damned fine writer who left an indelible mark on the industry.

It'd be nice to some day hear of one of these creators not struggling with catastrophic health injuries at the end of their lives. It feels like comic book writers and artists always get hit so hard with health issues at the end.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top