Keith Giffen was born inQueens, New York City, on November 30, 1952.[2][3]
His first published work was "The Sword and The Star", ablack-and-white text story featured inMarvel Preview #4 (Jan. 1976), with writerBill Mantlo.[4] Giffen and Mantlo createdRocket Raccoon inMarvel Preview #7 (Summer 1976).[5] Giffen is best known for his long runs illustrating and later writing theLegion of Super-Heroes title in the 1980s and 1990s. Giffen and writerPaul Levitz crafted "The Great Darkness Saga" inLegion of Super-Heroes vol. 2, #290–294 in 1982.[6] In August 1984, a third volume of theLegion of Super-Heroes series was launched by Levitz and Giffen.[7] Giffen plotted and pencilled the fourth volume of theLegion which began in November 1989.[8]
After successfully experimenting with his unorthodox brand of humor in the 1985Legion of Substitute Heroes Special, Giffen began employing this style in many of his works.[9] He co-created the humorousJustice League International series in 1987 withJ. M. DeMatteis andKevin Maguire.[10] The success of that series led to a spinoff in 1989 titledJustice League Europe also co-written with DeMatteis, and later withGerard Jones, and featuring art byBart Sears.[11] The Giffen/DeMatteis team worked onJustice League for five years and closed out their run with the "Breakdowns" storyline in 1991 and 1992.[12] The two writers and Maguire reunited in 2003 for theFormerly Known as the Justice League miniseries[13] and its 2005 sequel, "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League", published inJLA Classified.
Giffen created the alien mercenary characterLobo (withRoger Slifer)[14] as well as the irreverent "want-to-be" heroAmbush Bug.[15] ADoctor Fate series of back-up stories, written byMartin Pasko and drawn by Giffen appeared inTheFlash #306 (Feb. 1982) to #313 (Sept. 1982).[16] DC later collected Pasko and Giffen's stories into a three-issue limited series titledThe Immortal Dr. Fate (Jan. 1985 – March 1985). He was one of several artists onWonder Woman #300 (Feb. 1983)[17][18] and was one of the contributors to theDC Challenge limited series in 1986.[19] Giffen plotted and was breakdown artist for anAquamanlimited series and one-shot special in 1989 with writerRobert Loren Fleming and artistCurt Swan forDC Comics.
Giffen took a break from the comic industry for several years, working on storyboards for television and film, including shows such asThe Real Ghostbusters andEd, Edd n Eddy.
Giffen and hisJustice League colleagues, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire, have applied their humorous brand of storytelling to a title that he had drawn in the 1970s,Marvel Comics'The Defenders. Giffen later confessed concerning his 1970s run, "Back then, I was the kind of moron that I now warn new guys against becoming. ... When I think ofDefenders, I think of what could have been if I'd had an ounce of professionalism in my body at that time."[21] The Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire trio also produced theMetal Men backup feature which appeared inDoom Patrol.
Giffen and DeMatteis collaborated with artistJoe Abraham on the creator-owned titleHero Squared forBoom! Studios. The two-issue mini-seriesPlanetary Brigade chronicled the adventures of characters originating from this series.
Giffen co-wroteOMAC withDan DiDio as part ofThe New 52 company-wide relaunch until its cancellation with issue #8. In October 2011, he became writer ofGreen Arrow from issues #4–6.[29] Giffen and Paul Levitz collaborated on theLegion of Super-Heroes for issues #17 and 18 in 2013.[30][31] Giffen reunited with J. M. DeMatteis on theJustice League 3000 series launched in October 2013.[32][33] In 2014, he andJeff Lemire,Dan Jurgens, andBrian Azzarello co-wroteThe New 52: Futures End.[34] That same year, Giffen and Dan DiDio reunited onInfinity Man and theForever People.[35][36] In 2016, Giffen wrote the scripts for a series about young adult versions ofSugar and Spike, drawn by artist Bilquis Evely and published as one of the series in DC's Legends of Tomorrow anthology.[37] In 2019, he worked with artist Jeff Lemire on an Inferior Five series, one that shared nothing with the original 1960s superhero humor other than the title.[38]
Giffen died from a stroke inTampa, Florida, on October 9, 2023, at the age of 70.[39][40] DC Comics ran a series of memorials in comics that were released on what would've been Giffen's 71st birthday,[41] and Marvel Comics followed suit a week later.[42]
Giffen's art took on many styles over the years. His early work tended towards a heavy influence fromJack Kirby. After an early stint at Marvel, he began doing layouts for artistWally Wood during the 1976 revival of theJustice Society of America inAll Star Comics.
When he returned to comics after a hiatus, his style was more precise and reminiscent ofGeorge Pérez andJim Starlin, and helped makeLegion of Super-Heroes DC's second most popular comic after Pérez'sNew Teen Titans. It was his work on the Legion that rocketed him to comic book artist fame. He peppered his artwork with in-jokes such as upside down Superman logos, hidden Marvel characters, eyeball creatures, and scrawled humorous messages on signs in the background of his panels in the alternate futuristic alphabet Interlac.
As Giffen's style loosened up, he found himself drawn to the work ofJosé Muñoz (seeControversy). Soon thereafter he developed a scratchier, more impressionistic style, using a highly stylized method of drawing directly with ink, on titles such asTrencher,Lobo Infanticide andImages Of Shadowhawk.
After his lengthy sabbatical from comics work, Giffen returned with a style influenced by hisJustice League artistKevin Maguire that was midway between the tight, controlled pencils of his early Legion days and the freer but less anatomically realistic style he had later adopted.
For many years, Giffen plotted and did the panel-to-panel break-downs for stories he drew, but did not write the final script. He relied on others such asRobert Loren Fleming andTom and Mary Bierbaum to supply captions and dialogue, even when he was the main creative force behind the book. He co-wrote theFreak Force series withErik Larsen and co-wrote twoSuperPatriot mini-series. Beginning withTrencher, Giffen started writing comics fully by himself, although he still collaborated when the project called for it.
Giffen was known for having an unorthodox writing style, often using characters in ways not seen before.[citation needed]
Giffen was also known for sudden plot twists and abrupt often tragic turns of fate. During his late 1980s-early 1990s run on theLegion of Super-Heroes, light comical issues were often followed by darker ones where popular characters were maimed or killed.
In February 1986, writer Mark Burbey published "The Trouble with Keith Giffen" inThe Comics Journal, an examination of then-recent dramatic changes in Giffen's drawing style. The article pointed out that Giffen had changed from a slick, cleanJim Starlin–esque style to an avant-garde, heavily inked one. The article displayed several panels side by side to illustrate the magazine's allegation that Giffen was copying, or "swiping" the work of Argentinian cartoonistJosé Antonio Muñoz.[48][49][50]The Comics Journal returned to the subject two years later, accusing Giffen of swiping from Muñoz again in a 1988 story drawn by him for the anthologyTaboo.[51]
At that point in his career, Giffen was one of the most popular comic book artists in the industry. The shift in style hurt Giffen's career, according to statements Giffen made in an interview, although it is unclear from his statement whether it affected it because he was revealed as swiping, or because the new style was less popular than the old.[52] Giffen's work for DC shifted from being primarily an artist to becoming a writer who did layouts for other artists to finish. This was part of a pattern at DC that also saw veteran artists Mike Grell and George Perez shift to writing scripts for other artists, onGreen Arrow andWonder Woman respectively. Giffen continued during this period to draw occasional issues of the titles he wrote and to draw various mini-series.
Giffen acknowledged Muñoz's influence, and in 2000 referred to the controversy this way:
I had a bad incident with studying somebody's work very closely at one point, and I resolved never, ever to do it again. I can get so immersed in somebody's work that I start turning into aXerox machine and it's not good. . . . There was no time I was sitting there tracing or copying, no. Duplicating, pulling out of memory and putting down on paper after intense study, absolutely.[3]
^Collins, Sean (July 29, 2014)."The Rise ofGuardians of the Galaxy's Rocket Raccoon".Rolling Stone.Archived from the original on August 1, 2014.'He was a throwaway character,' says artist Keith Giffen, who co-created Rocket – originally named Rocky Raccoon, after the Beatles track – with writer Bill Mantlo in 1976.
^Manning, Matthew K.; Dolan, Hannah (2010). "1980s".DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 198.ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9.When [Levitz] wrote "The Great Darkness Saga", a five-issue epic that pitted the Legion against one of the most notorious villains of DC's long history, he and artist Keith Giffen crafted the most famous Legion story of all time and became fast fan favorites.
^Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 208: "As DC began to toy with the idea of relaunching some of their more popular titles using high-quality Baxter paper, theLegion of Super-Heroes was an obvious chioice. Utilizing the talents of writer Paul Levitz and artist Keith Giffen...the Legion was off and running in their own new title with a major new storyline...the Legion's other monthly comic changed its moniker toTales of the Legion of Super-Heroes with issue #314."
^Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 241: "Plotted by Keith Giffen and inker Al Gordon, scripted by Tom and Mary Bierbaum, and pencilled by Giffen, this relaunch of the formerly teen team of heroes and heroines broke new ground in the fictional realm of the 30th Century.
^Callahan, Timothy (July 2013). "The Substitute Heroes in the Spotlight".Back Issue! (65). Raleigh, North Carolina:TwoMorrows Publishing:69–72.I was very conscious of the fact that I got away with so much on the Subs Special. I was pushing DC's envelope then, on these characters. I was almost deliberately seeing how much could I get away with in a book using humor, how much DC would tolerate. That was my finger to the wind. ... I saw that there was something to this tongue-in-cheek, 'Come on, gang, we're all in on the joke' approach to comics. And I've pretty much been doing it ever since.
^Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 228: "It was clear that the [Justice League] needed a major overhaul. But no one quite expected how drastic the transformation would truly be in the hands of writers Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis and artist Kevin Maguire."
^Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 239: "Spinning out of the pages ofJustice League International, an offshoot of the Justice League set up camp in Paris. Written by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis with art by Bart Sears."
^Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 251: "The lauded Giffen/DeMatteis era of the Justice League came to a dramatic close with "Breakdowns", a sixteen-part storyline that crossed through the pages of bothJustice League America andJustice League Europe."
^Cowsill, Alan "2000s" in Dolan, p. 311: "In 2003, writers J. M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen and original artist Kevin Maguire worked on a six-part series reuniting [their version of] the team."
^Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 202: "When space-bike-riding renegade Lobo made his debut during the "Citadel War" storyline inThe Omega Men by Roger Slifer and artist Keith Giffen, he was hardly recognizable as the rebellious anti-hero who would become one of the best-selling DC characters of the 1990s."
^Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 199: "[Ambush Bug] made his debut in the pages ofDC Comics Presents #52...[by] writer Paul Kupperberg and artist Keith Giffen."
^Riley, Shannon E. (May 2013). "A Matter of (Dr.) Fate Martin Pasko and Keith Giffen Discuss Their MagicalFlash Backup Series".Back Issue! (64). Raleigh, North Carolina:TwoMorrows Publishing:64–68.
^Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 200: "The Amazing Amazon was joined by a host of DC's greatest heroes to celebrate her 300th issue in a seventy-two-page blockbuster...Written by Roy and Dann Thomas, and penciled by Gene Colan, Ross Andru, Jan Duursema, Dick Giordano, Keith Pollard, Keith Giffen, and Rich Buckler."
^Mangels, Andy (December 2013). "Nightmares and Dreamscapes: The Highlights and Horrors ofWonder Woman #300".Back Issue! (69). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing:61–63.
^Greenberger, Robert (August 2017). "It Sounded Like a Good Idea at the Time: A Look at theDC Challenge!".Back Issue! (98). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 42.
^Manning, Matthew K.; Dougall, Alastair (2014). "2000s".Batman: A Visual History. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 259.ISBN978-1465424563.Graced by the dialogue of scripter Keith Giffen and artwork by Paco Medina, this first issue featured the supposed death of Cluemaster.
^DeAngelo, Daniel (July 2013). "The Not-Ready-For-Super-Team Players: A History of the Defenders".Back Issue! (65).TwoMorrows Publishing: 10.
^Cowsill "2000s" in Dolan, p. 325: "The title was masterminded by writers Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid, with Keith Giffen providing art breakdowns."
^Gerding, Stephen (November 9, 2012)."Exclusive: Levitz, Giffen Reunite onLegion of Super-Heroes".Comic Book Resources.Archived from the original on November 12, 2012. RetrievedJanuary 30, 2013.Arguably the most popular creative team the 31st century has ever seen, Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen are reuniting once again to tell the tales of DC Comics' teenage heroes from the future.
^Manning "2010s" in Dougall, p. 341: "The future reality of the Legion of Super-Heroes was explored by writers Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis and artist Howard Porter."
^Cowsill "2000s" in Dolan, p. 334: "DC's version of Hell erupted into all-out war when the rulers of Purgatory, Blaze and Satanus invaded Neron's infernal domain. Written by Keith Giffen with art by Tom Derenick and Bill Sienkiewicz."
^Burlingame, Russ (October 16, 2011)."Dan of Steel: Dan Jurgens on Joining Team Superman". ComicBook.com.Archived from the original on April 3, 2012. RetrievedFebruary 26, 2012.Superman editor Matt Idelson contacted Keith and me and basically said, 'Hey! How would you guys like to co-write, conspire and Dan draw Superman?' We started batting around different ideas, thoughts and notes and had a go' a day or two later.
^Burbey, Mark. "The Trouble With Keith Giffen,"The Comics Journal #105 (February 1986), pp. 9–14.
^"The Official Keith Giffen Swipe List,"The Comics Journal #105 (February 1986), p. 15.
