Cartoonist Sam Kieth died on Sunday, March 15, following a battle with Lewy body dementia. He was 63 years old. His longtime friend Scott Dunbier shared the news on Facebook. Kieth was best known for creating the Image Comics series The Maxx (1993-1998), which was adapted in the 1995 MTV cartoon of the same name, and for co-creating The Sandman, which he drew the first five issues of in 1989.
Kieth was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on January 11, 1963. He made his professional debut with “Max the Hare,” a prototype for The Maxx, in 1983’s Comico Primer #5, and from there went on to ink books from the company like Mage, Robotech, and Fish Police. Other early, pre-Maxx work included William Messner-Loebs‘s Epicurus the Sage (published by DC’s predecessor to Vertigo, Piranha Press, in 1989), Dark Horse’s Aliens: Earth War (1990), and Marvel’s The Incredible Hulk #368 (1990).
After The Maxx‘s debut, Kieth pursued projects outside comics, like directing the 1995 pilot for Cow and Chicken, the Cartoon Network series created by his cousin, David Feiss, and the 2000 rock-climbing film Take It to the Limit. He returned to DC in 2001 with WildStorm’s high school series Zero Girl, and the dark drama Four Women. He also returned to Marvel, creating the 2004 miniseries Wolverine/Hulk.
For the DC Universe, he went on to create the werewolf series Scratch (2004), guest starring Batman; Batman: Secrets (2006); Batman/Lobo: Deadly Serious (2007); Lobo: Highway to Hell (2010); Batman Confidential #40–43 (2010); and the Mad Hatter-centric OGN Batman: Through the Looking Glass (2012). In 2018, he revived the Maxx for the Batman crossover Arkham Dreams.
Work at other publishers included Ojo and My Inner Bimbo at Oni in 2004 and 2006; Judge Dredd at 2000 AD; Eleanor & The Egret at AfterShock in 2017; and at IDW, two 30 Days of Nights series in 2011, 2012’s The Hollows, and Mars Attacks: First Born in 2014. The company also published a new, recolored edition of The Maxx, called The Maxx: Maxximized, from 2013 to 2016, as well as new editions of his WildStorm books.
Kieth was honored during his lifetime with an Inkpot Award in 2013; his work was also featured in a pair of artbooks from IDW in 2010, titled The Sam Kieth Sketchbooks. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Kathy, and his mother, Sammie Robertson, as well as his cousin David Feiss. In line with his wishes, there will be no memorial service, and in lieu of flowers, his family asks for donations to be made in his name to the Hero Initiative, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, or the Lewy Body Dementia Association.
Image Comics responded, stating, “Sam 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.” Former IDW editor-in-chief Chris Ryall, who wrote The Hollows, was among those who paid tribute to Kieth online, describing him as “a sweet, sensitive, talented, empathetic, and lovely human.”
Phil Hester commented, “I won’t call [Kieth’s] manner of drawing merely a style because that implies some level of artifice. Maybe not since [Jack] Kirby had mainstream comics seen an artist with less filter between his imagination and the printed page.” G. Willow Wilson stated, “The Maxx was utter brilliance. Sam Kieth shaped a whole generation of comic book readers and retailers and creators, myself included.” David Aja said, “Kieth was a genius, one of my fav[e] comic creators, a big influence and one of the reasons I’m working in comic[s] these days. Big big hug to [his] friends and family.”
