The comic book world is saying goodbye to one of its most distinctive voices. Sam Kieth — the boundary-pushing creator of The Maxx and an early artistic force behind The Sandman — has died at 63 following a battle with Lewy body dementia, a degenerative brain disorder that causes cognitive decline, hallucinations, and Parkinson-like symptoms.
Born January 11, 1963, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Kieth emerged in the 1980s with a style that felt immediately out of step with traditional superhero comics — in the best way. While his early work at Marvel put him on titles featuring Wolverine and the Hulk, Kieth gravitated toward stories that leaned more surreal, psychological, and emotionally jagged than your typical capes-and-punches fare.
That sensibility fully crystallized in 1993 with The Maxx, his Image Comics series that quickly became a cult favorite. Blurring the lines between reality and fantasy, the story follows a homeless man
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