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June 19, 2013 3:48 PM Subscribe
Damn.
Kim Thompson was one of the most important behind the scenes people in US comics for the past three decades, as a publisher of what might just be the best American comics company, as the editor and later writer for the Comics Journal and not in the least as a gifted translator responsible for translating some of the best of European comics into English.
He'll be missed.
posted by MartinWisse at 3:54 PM on June 19, 2013 [3 favorites]
Kim Thompson was one of the most important behind the scenes people in US comics for the past three decades, as a publisher of what might just be the best American comics company, as the editor and later writer for the Comics Journal and not in the least as a gifted translator responsible for translating some of the best of European comics into English.
He'll be missed.
posted by MartinWisse at 3:54 PM on June 19, 2013 [3 favorites]
I don't know much about Kim Thompson or Fantagraphics, but of late they have been publishing in very nice editions the complete Pogo strips by Walt Kelly. For that alone the man is a saint.
posted by chavenet at 3:54 PM on June 19, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 3:54 PM on June 19, 2013 [3 favorites]
I don't know much about Kim Thompson or Fantagraphics, but of late they have been publishing in very nice editions the complete Pogo strips by Walt Kelly. For that alone the man is a saint.
They've also have been producing beautiful editions of the complete Peanuts. They're up to 1988.
posted by mr_roboto at 4:01 PM on June 19, 2013
They've also have been producing beautiful editions of the complete Peanuts. They're up to 1988.
posted by mr_roboto at 4:01 PM on June 19, 2013
Aw, shit. Kim Thompson's work enhanced my enjoyment of life on this deeply fucked planet so much I couldn't even begin to thank him. I used to buy every issue of Zero Zero as soon as it came out; it was a great anthology filled with strange, interesting comics stories.
RIP, Kim. And as a start: thanks from the deepest part of my comics-loving heart.
posted by mediareport at 4:04 PM on June 19, 2013
RIP, Kim. And as a start: thanks from the deepest part of my comics-loving heart.
posted by mediareport at 4:04 PM on June 19, 2013
Oh man, probably one of the most influential guys for influencing my late-adolescent tastes in comics, and I didn't know his name.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 4:14 PM on June 19, 2013
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 4:14 PM on June 19, 2013
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Man this wasn't even on my radar. This man, in countless direct and indirect ways, shaped my awareness of comics on an order of magnitude with R. Crumb or Art Spiegelman.
What a surprise sock in the gut.
.
posted by cmoj at 4:21 PM on June 19, 2013
What a surprise sock in the gut.
.
posted by cmoj at 4:21 PM on June 19, 2013
.
Tributes and obituaries from
Comics Alliance, CBR and Anime News Network.
Interviews with Tom Spurgeon in 2008 and 2011.
Michael Netzler on creating an image for his Wikipedia bio.
posted by Artw at 4:25 PM on June 19, 2013 [2 favorites]
Tributes and obituaries from
Comics Alliance, CBR and Anime News Network.
Interviews with Tom Spurgeon in 2008 and 2011.
Michael Netzler on creating an image for his Wikipedia bio.
posted by Artw at 4:25 PM on June 19, 2013 [2 favorites]
.
posted by Smart Dalek at 4:27 PM on June 19, 2013
posted by Smart Dalek at 4:27 PM on June 19, 2013
Thanks for Hate, which was there when I needed it.
.
posted by jonmc at 4:29 PM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
.
posted by jonmc at 4:29 PM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
.
posted by jason_steakums at 4:31 PM on June 19, 2013
posted by jason_steakums at 4:31 PM on June 19, 2013
Thank you Kim, for everything. You were amazing and will not be forgotten.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:55 PM on June 19, 2013
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:55 PM on June 19, 2013
.
Talk about someone who massively improved life for a certain selection of English speaking comics fans, like me. Thanks for everything.
posted by selfnoise at 5:11 PM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
Talk about someone who massively improved life for a certain selection of English speaking comics fans, like me. Thanks for everything.
posted by selfnoise at 5:11 PM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
.
posted by Inkslinger at 5:13 PM on June 19, 2013
posted by Inkslinger at 5:13 PM on June 19, 2013
Without Kim Thompson, I may never have encountered Love and Rockets and my life would have been poorer for it. Thank you, Mr. Thompson, and rest in peace.
posted by Joey Michaels at 5:33 PM on June 19, 2013
posted by Joey Michaels at 5:33 PM on June 19, 2013
Goddamn it. Thompson certainly had a huge influence on my taste in comics, and my aesthetic preferences overall, though I didn't know who he was until years later.
.
posted by whir at 5:49 PM on June 19, 2013
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posted by whir at 5:49 PM on June 19, 2013
I don't think I ever met Kim (if I did, it was just briefly) but I know plenty of people who knew him. And his influence on comics in undeniable. Comics is better for him being in the world.
This sucks. A lot.
posted by darksong at 6:13 PM on June 19, 2013
This sucks. A lot.
posted by darksong at 6:13 PM on June 19, 2013
.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 6:47 PM on June 19, 2013
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 6:47 PM on June 19, 2013
.
One of the most important figures in comics publishing, and therefore, given that the ascendance of comics is one of the biggest stories in 21st century literature, one of the most important publishers of our time. Introduced Love & Rockets, Weirdo, and Neat Stuff to the world. He will be missed, but what a contribution to make.
posted by ThatFuzzyBastard at 7:00 PM on June 19, 2013
One of the most important figures in comics publishing, and therefore, given that the ascendance of comics is one of the biggest stories in 21st century literature, one of the most important publishers of our time. Introduced Love & Rockets, Weirdo, and Neat Stuff to the world. He will be missed, but what a contribution to make.
posted by ThatFuzzyBastard at 7:00 PM on June 19, 2013
Not long ago, librarina and I were at the Fantagraphics retail store in Georgetown to see some originals drawing of Pogo strips. The store was full of recent reprints of Pogo and old Peanuts collections among other classics comics. It basically resurrected my late Grandfather's comics collection that I spent many an hour immersed in as a child.
Kim Thompson and Fantagraphics essentially resurrected the hours of my childhood spent in the spare bedroom of my grandfather's house, on the floor, devouring what I've since learned are some of the great classics of the genre of comics. So, despite my not knowing his name before today, he will be well remembered by me.
Oh yeah, also reprints of the comics my older brother brought home when he was in high school, which is less maudlin, but still a wonderful thing to see.
.
posted by stet at 7:32 PM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
Kim Thompson and Fantagraphics essentially resurrected the hours of my childhood spent in the spare bedroom of my grandfather's house, on the floor, devouring what I've since learned are some of the great classics of the genre of comics. So, despite my not knowing his name before today, he will be well remembered by me.
Oh yeah, also reprints of the comics my older brother brought home when he was in high school, which is less maudlin, but still a wonderful thing to see.
.
posted by stet at 7:32 PM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
And here's thank for the great Bill Mauldin book they did a few years ago, too.
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posted by wenestvedt at 8:25 PM on June 19, 2013
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posted by wenestvedt at 8:25 PM on June 19, 2013
I really can't overstate the importance that Fantagraphics has had in forming my taste in and appreciation of comics. Thompson and Gary Groth were fighting the good fight--the great fight--long before, and much longer than, anyone outside of the undergrounds.
*&*&$@!%^#$*&^*#@$!
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:49 PM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
*&*&$@!%^#$*&^*#@$!
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:49 PM on June 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
Damn.
posted by From Bklyn at 10:39 PM on June 19, 2013
posted by From Bklyn at 10:39 PM on June 19, 2013
.
It's not Dark Knight Returns or Watchmen that made comics "okay for grown-ups". It was companies like Fantagraphics finding things to talk about other than superheroes. I don't buy anything from Marvel or DC anymore (except for occasional Silver Age reprints) but I always stop at the Fantagraphics page in Previews.
posted by Legomancer at 5:44 AM on June 20, 2013 [3 favorites]
It's not Dark Knight Returns or Watchmen that made comics "okay for grown-ups". It was companies like Fantagraphics finding things to talk about other than superheroes. I don't buy anything from Marvel or DC anymore (except for occasional Silver Age reprints) but I always stop at the Fantagraphics page in Previews.
posted by Legomancer at 5:44 AM on June 20, 2013 [3 favorites]
Heidi Macdonald of Comics Beat: Thinking about Kim Thompson, life and death
posted by Artw at 6:29 AM on June 20, 2013
posted by Artw at 6:29 AM on June 20, 2013
Tom Spurgeon's aggregating Kim Thompson links and will be adding more as he finds them.
I knew Thompson was sick and had stepped away from the business, but didn't realize it was that bad. Awful.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:48 AM on June 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
I knew Thompson was sick and had stepped away from the business, but didn't realize it was that bad. Awful.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:48 AM on June 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
.
posted by Minus215Cee at 5:52 PM on June 20, 2013
posted by Minus215Cee at 5:52 PM on June 20, 2013
The Comics Journal's obit of Thompson takes a sad/weird turn.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:16 AM on June 21, 2013
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:16 AM on June 21, 2013
I wrote for an issue (or maybe two? I don't remember) of Amazing Heroes back in 1989 or so. (I walked into the Fantagraphics office without an appointment and said "Let me write for you," and to my amazement, they did. But I didn't keep doing it because I realized that I didn't want to devote 300 words each month to the latest issue of Firestorm.) I don't really remember meeting Kim at all, though I am sure I did. I wish I had known him better.
posted by litlnemo at 7:10 PM on June 24, 2013
posted by litlnemo at 7:10 PM on June 24, 2013
bq: Yeah, sorry. It was a comment by Spurgeon regarding similarities between the obit and things he had written, and some questions regarding sources and attribution. Haven't heard anything more on this, so I assume it was sorted out. Sorry again!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:46 AM on June 26, 2013
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:46 AM on June 26, 2013
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