Tag Archives: obituary

Dick Giordano Passes

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Bob Layton passed on the news.

Dear Friends & Colleagues,
It is my sorrowful duty to announce that legendary artist/editor/entrepreneur Dick Giordano passed away today.
Few could ever hope to match what he accomplished in his chosen profession, or to excel while maintaining great humor, compassion for his peers and an unwavering love for the art form.
His unique vision changed the comic industry forever and all of those who work in the business continue to share in the benefits of his sizable contributions.
I have been honored to call him a business partner, mentor and dear friend throughout the majority of my lifetime.
We will not see his like again.

Regretfully,
Bob Layton

Giordano had many roles including editor-in-chief for Charlton oversaw the creation of the Charlton heroes, which he helped bring over to DC Comics when he joined the company.  He also was an inker lending his talents to Crisis On Infinite Earths and working with Neal Adams. He was 77.

Dick Giordano

Barry Blair, Founder of Aircel Comics Passes

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Barry Blair, founder of the comic book company passed away Sunday, January 3 from a brain aneurysm.  After complaining to his friends of an ear ache to his friends he was prescribed medication.  He eventually felt so ill he went to the hospital but it was too late.

Airecel was originally an insulation company and after losing a government contract Barry Blair prodded it into comic book publishing.  The company was known for such comics as Elflord, Samurai and after being a part of Malibu it would create Men in Black.  Blair also worked on numerous Elfquest titles.

Our condolences are with his friends and family.

San Diego Comic Con Founder Ken Krueger Passes Away

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18 days after Sheldon Dorf, another San Diego Comic-Con founder, passed away, one of his partner’s in crime Ken Krueger has passed away as well.  Krueger, co-founder of the show now known as San Diego Comic-Con International, died of a heart attack Saturday, November 21, in Lockport, N.Y. He was 83.

Ken KruegerSign On San Diego has a nice obituary detailing his life and accomplishments.

“Back then, as today, we consider ourselves very lucky to have had Ken serve as the first chairperson of our event,” David Glanzer, a Comic-Con spokesman, said in a statement issued yesterday. “He, along with Shel Dorf, may no longer be with us but the love they had for comic art lives on in the organization they helped to create.”

Krueger was from my child hood stomping grounds of Western New York.   He was a driving force in the formation of the convention that would today be known as the San Diego Comic-Con which attracts roughly 125,000 people annually.  In the 1960s and ’70s, Krueger’s Ocean Beach bookstore was a hangout for the Woodchucks, a band of teenage sci-fi fans. Dorf, who moved to San Diego in 1970, met Krueger there. Within weeks, the two men, the Woodchucks and a gang of young comic book dealers were planning the Golden State Comic-Con. Krueger, the 1970 event’s chairman, served on the board in various capacities for roughly a decade.

Ken Krueger moved back to the Buffalo region in 2002, but visited San Diego for this summer’s Comic-Con, where he was hailed as a founding father.

He is survived by eight children. There will be no funeral services.

Sheldon Dorf Founder of San Diego’s Comic-Con International Dead at the Age of 76

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The San Diego Union-Tribune is reporting that Sheldon Dorf, the founder of the San Diego Comic-Con died today at age 76 of complications from diabetes.

From it’s founding, Dorf spent 15 years as the head of the annual convention helping it grow from a small fan-fest into the powerhouse it is today.

“He was a completely generous person who was wholly devoted to furthering the comic arts, bringing the fans and the professionals together,” said J.M. “Mike” Towry, a computer programmer who was a young comics dealer at that first Con. “He never made a dime off Comic-Con.”

Dorf left running the convention in the mid-1980’s.  The Comic-Con International website was topped by a black-bordered photo of the founder as a memorial:

Shel Dorf’s love of comic books and their creators had no equal.  It was his appreciation of this art form and his keen foresight that helped to create what is Comic-Con.

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