Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Episode #154: Happy Birthday, Keith Giffen!

(Top L to R:) Action Comics 577, March 1986 & Action Comics 579, May 1986!
(Bottom L to R:) Action Comics 646, October 1989 & Superman: The Man Of Steel 15, September  1992!



Download Episode 154!

Before featuring Keith Giffen I mention a few things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday, including my listeners.

Keith Giffen was born on November 30, 1952 in Queens, New York City. He is a comic book artist and writer who has created a wide variety of comic book stories for many publishers. Giffen has worked for independent publishers as well as industry giants DC Comics and Marvel. He is most famous for two separate runs as artist and plotter on LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, and as writer on JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL and JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE. Keith Giffen has also created the humorous character Ambush Bug, who is a vehicle for Giffen to satirize the conventions of super hero comic books. In 2010 Giffen wrote the 12 issue mini-series THE AUTHORITY: THE LOST YEARS, as well as the titles BOOSTER GOLD and DOOM PATROL. He has drawn a handful of Superman stories, and his work on the Legion, for whom the Man of Steel served as inspiration, makes him an interesting subject of this episode.

Keith Giffen's earliest Superman stories:

- DC COMICS PRESENTS #81, May 1985. ALL THIS AND KOBRA TOO! was scripted by Robert Loren Fleming, with Keith Giffen serving as plotter/penciller. Bob Oksner was the inker, the letterer was Bill Pearson, and the colorist was Anthony Tollin.

- DC COMICS PRESENTS #88, December 1985. PROPHECY OF THE DEMON was written by Steve Englehart, pencilled by Keith Giffen, inked by Karl Kessel, lettered by Albert DeGuzman and colored by Gene D'Angelo.

- WORLD'S FINEST COMICS #322, December 1985. THE SEARCH ws written by Dwight John Zimmerman, pencilled by Keith Giffen, inked by Karl Kessel, lettered by Duncan Andrews and colored by Nansi Hoolahan.

The Keith Giffen Superman stories featured in this episode are:

- ACTION COMICS #577, March 1986, published on December 19, 1985. The editor was Julius Schwartz. The cover was pencilled by Keith Giffen and inked by Bob Oksner. CAITIFF: FIRST OF THE VAMPIRES was plotted and pencilled by Keith Giffen and scripted by Robert Loren Fleming. Bob Oksner was the inker, Gene D'Angelo the colorist and Milt Snapinn the letterer.

- ACTION COMICS #579, May 1986, published on February 27, 1986. Julius Schwartz was still the editor, and the issue contained 32 pages for the cover price of 75 cents. The cover was pencilled by Keith Giffen and inked by Karl Kessel. PRISONERS OF TIME was written by Randy and Jean Marc Lofficer, pencilled by Keith Giffen, inked by Kark Kessel, inked by Bob Oksner, lettered by Milton Snapinn and colored by Gene D'Angelo.

- ACTION COMICS #646, October 1989, published on September 5, 1989. The editor was Mike Carlin, and the issue contained 32 pages, still for the cover price of 75 cents. The cover was drawn by George Perez. BURIAL GROUND was scripted by Roger Stern, plotted and pencilled by Keith Giffen, inked by Dennis Janke, lettered by Bill Oakley and colored by Glenn Whitmore.

- SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL #15 (Triangle # 1992: 13) September 1992, was published on July 14, 1992. The issue contained 32 pages for $1.25. The editor was still Mike Carlin, and the cover was pencilled by Jon Bogdanove and inked by Dennis Janke. SANCTUARY was written by Louise Simonson, pencilled by Kerry Gammil (for the Metropolis scenes) and Keith Giffen (for the scenes in Hell). Dennis Janke and Trevor Scott were the inkers, Bill Oakley the letterer and Glenn Whitmore the colorist.

None of these stories had any reprint information available about them.

I would also like to welcome two new podcasts to the Superman Family of Podcasts (there's no formal organization by that name. I just like to type it like that).

- SUPERMAN IN THE BRONZE AGE, hosted by Charlie Niemeyer, contributor to the SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE website at http://supermanhomepage.com. His weekly podcast reviews the Superman stories edited by Julius Schwartz, who served as Superman editor from 1970 - 1986. His podcast can be found at http://supermaninthebronzeage.com.

- SUPERMAN FOREVER PODCAST, hosted by J. David Weter is a weekly podcast that covers classic and modern Superman in all media, along with the latest Superman news each week. It can be found at http://www.supermanforever.com.

Next Episode: STUART IMMONEN!

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