I mentioned a few weeks ago that comics writer Arnold Drake had been hospitalized after collapsing in his home. Unfortunately, what was originally diagnosed as “a touch of pneumonia” turned out to have other complications, and Drake (photographed here in his last public appearance, at New York Comic-Con) died yesterday morning. Mark Evanier offers a eulogy that highlights Drake’s most significant contributions to DC Comics in the 1960s, as well as his subsequent stints at Marvel and the late Gold Key Comics. He also points to Drake’s role as the co-author of 1950’s It Rhymes With Lust, generally acknowledged as the first graphic novel; the book was already scheduled to be reprinted by Dark Horse Comics later this year.
NEXT:North by Northwest Publishing
PREVIOUS:Where There Was Madness, Glasgow Phillips Was There