Keith Giffen was born on November 20 1952 in Queens, New York. He was first published in Marvel Premiere no. 4 (January 1976). In the Seventies, at Marvel, he also worked on such titles as Amazing Adventures, Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, The Defenders, Iron Man, and Super-Villain Team-Up. With Bill Mantlo he created Rocket Raccoon, who made his first appearance in Marvel Preview no. 7 (summer 1976). Mr. Giffen would do later work at Marvel on such titles as Annihilation, Beast, Captain Marvel, Daredevil, Excalibur, Fantastic Four, Marvel Comics Presents, Marvel Westerns, Micronauts, Nick Fury's Howling Commandos, and Spectacular Spider-Man.
His first work for DC Comics was also in 1976, on All-Star Comics no. 60 (June 1976). In the Seventies he also worked on the DC titles Challengers of the Unknown, Claw the Unconquered, Kamandi, and Kobra. It was in 1982 that he began work on Legion of Super-Heroes. He would continue working on titles featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes into the Nineties. His run on Justice League began in 1987 and would last until 1992. He would work on various Justice League titles on and off into the Naughts. In 1982 he created the character of Ambush Bug, who first appeared in DC Presents no. 52 (December 1982). Lobo, an interplanetary bounty hunter and mercenary, first appeared in Omega Men no. 3 (June 1983). The character eventually received his own title. In the Eighties Keith Giffen also worked on the DC Comics titles Action Comics, Amethyst. Aquaman, Blue Devil, Cosmic Boy, DC Comics Presents, The Flash, Ghosts,.House of Mystery, Mister Miracle, Omega Men, The Unexpected, Weird War Tales, and Wonder Woman.
In the Nineties Keith Giffen did work on such DC titles as Demon, Eclipso, Ragman, and Starman. He continued work on Justice League and Legion of Super-Heroes titles. It was in the mid-Naughts that the character of Jaime Reyes, the third Blue Beetle, was introduced in Infinite Crisis (February 2006). The character would go onto appear in his own ongoing series and this year headlined his own theatrical feature film. In the Naughts, Keith Giffen also worked as the layout artist on the limited series 52 and such DC titles as Ambush Bug: Year None, Doom Patrol, Green Arrow, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Looney Tunes, and Suicide Squad. In the Teens he worked on such titles as Green Arrow and O.M.A.C.
Keith Giffen also did work for Image Comics on the titles Badrock & Company, Bloodstrike, Freak Force, Phantom Force, SuperPatriot, and Trencher. At Valiant Comics he worked on Magnus, Robot Fighter; Punx; Solar, Man of the Atom; and X-O Manowar. He worked on Agents of Law at Dark Horse and Nexus at First Comics.
Keith Giffen also worked in animation. He was a writer on such series as The Real Ghostbusters; Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi; and Ed, Edd n Eddy. He served as a storyboard artist on Spider-Man Unlimited; Batman Beyond; and Static Shock.
Keith Giffen proved to be a pivotal creator in the history of comic books. The late Eighties into the Nineties saw comic books take on a darker tone. It was a period with anti-heroes such as The Punisher, Spawn, and Wolverine became extremely popular. While other comic book creators were making their titles darker and darker, Keith Giffen brought fun back to comic books. He was well known for his sardonic, often subversive sense of humour, and he was not below taking down even well-known, beloved characters such as Batman. Indeed, many of the characters created or co-created by him were purposefully humorous. The initial idea for Ambush Bug was "Bugs Bunny as a super-villain." Lobo was a parody of the ultraviolent anti-heroes of the era. On top of being a talented writer and plotter, Keith Giffen was also a fine artist. His style was generally slick and clean, but he could vary it to fit nearly any genre, from superhero to horror to humour. Keith Giffen was a man of multiple talents, and he brought all of them to bear in his work.
I was introduced to his work with a new Legion Of Super-Heroes series in the early 1990's, which was known as the "5 Years Later Legion" era. While his time on that particular series was short, I was hooked on his art style afterwards.
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