Comments on: Good Lord, Steve Gerber Passed Away

By: fourth worlder

fourth worlder — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 06:15:52 +0000

I try to imagine how I would have got through junior high without Man-Thing or Omega the Unknown, and I can't quite picture it.

I remember in one letters page long ago Steve Gerber said his old uncle or grandfather would badger him about "I know you write these comickal books, but what is it that you DO???"
I think Omar above gave a pretty good description of what it was that Steve did. A very special talent, a truly unique voice.

By: jccalhoun

jccalhoun — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 20:23:09 +0000

Hard Time was amazing. If you like things you will like it.
Sucks he's gone.

By: ken

ken — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 15:17:27 +0000

What a shame.

That Foolkiller mini was great; one I've re-read many times.

I'm thankful that, in his work, Steve leaves behind pieces of his philosophy and character that will exist forever.

By: comb & razor

comb & razor — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 13:48:51 +0000

wtf? i log off for a few hours and when i come back i'm greeted with news like THIS?

man... this is a major bummer. RIP one of the greatest talents to ever work in the comics field!

By: Stephane Savoie

Stephane Savoie — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 13:13:44 +0000

Steve Gerber was always a fantastic writer, but for me he showed himself to be able to move above and beyond when he did "Hard Time" for DC. At that moment I realised he deserved accolades beyond anything previously seen.
RIP.

By: Lynxara

Lynxara — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 09:49:12 +0000

I always knew Gerber from two things I loved: Howard the Duck, which was one of the first comics I assembled a complete run of, and Thundarr the Barbarian, which was basically the best action cartoon ever made up until the early 90's.

I've recently been rediscovering a lot of his Marvel work, his runs on Marvel Two-in-One and Namor, and the material is just fantastically enjoyable. He could even tell a decent story with Man-Thing, a character with literally no personality. He was a tremendous writer and I'm sadder for not having new Gerber comics to look forward to, ever again.

By: Omar Karindu

Omar Karindu — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 06:32:40 +0000

Now I'm a bit more collected, Steven Gerber was a beautiful, weird human. "Weird" is not a slur, and not a slight. He caught a crtain off-angle that reality offered, and he made that angle speak its oblique truth. Silly as it may sound, it's hard to look at our world and not see, say, the Headmen's perverse efforts at utopia, or Lord Pumpkin's violent insistence that Sludge make him real. But Gerber was there with James Michael-Starling, with Sludge, with the Man-Thing, all those empathetic persons before us who navigated a world more and less surreal than his superhuman cosmos. Howard may have groused, and the Man-Thing confusedly but feelingly shambled, and all the other fictions followed the cursive logic he conveyed, but they all had a congress with the very tough absurdity of "conventional" life. They, like us, survived what was absurd and hurtful, and made it real enough to live in. Wherever the mad hold court -- everywhere -- we have Steve Gerber's work to light the way, to guard against a puerile sophism, to make the weird real world navigable. Thank you, Mr. Gerber.

By: Tom Beland

Tom Beland — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 05:13:54 +0000

Dr. Bong was like legalized insanity. And I danced through every wonderful issue of Howard and Beverly.

God bless Steve Gerber.

By: jazzbo

jazzbo — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 04:51:30 +0000

I'm shocked. I had no idea he was even ill. Unfortunately, I was one of the many people who didn't really appreciate his work back in the day, but was now finally coming around. This is a horrible loss. My thoughts to his family and friends.

By: Erik

Erik — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 04:12:55 +0000

I remember Steve as a great guy from back in the early 90's in the RIME comic book conference, chatting with friends and answering every fan's question asked...

He's be missed...

By: John Trumbull

John Trumbull — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 04:08:05 +0000

Damn shame. He was such a talented guy.

By: MarkAndrew

MarkAndrew — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 03:42:03 +0000

Oh MAN. This one really hurts. Steve's been my favorite comics writer pretty much all of my adult life.

I'm just now getting to the point where I believe it.

By: Mike Loughlin

Mike Loughlin — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 03:41:36 +0000

I'm stunned and saddened that one of the best, most peraonal, most groundbreaking writers in comics is gone. From Man-Thing to Defenders to Howard to Stewart to Void Indigo to Sludge to Hard Time and beyond, Steve Gerber built up one of the most impressive bodies of work I've had the privelege to read. I'll miss his writing tremendously.

By: Chris Heide

Chris Heide — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 03:16:31 +0000

I consider his Foolkiller LS to be up there with the likes of Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns, just an utterly brilliant story...RIP...

By: Jack Norris

Jack Norris — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 03:12:37 +0000

One of the true under-appreciated greats. You might try to claim that people have recently (and especially now) been showing appreciation, but it's nowhere near what the man's contributions merit. I just wish that his return to more active comics writing had come earlier.

By: Daniel Yokomizo

Daniel Yokomizo — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 02:52:14 +0000

Damn. He was a great writer, his contributions to comics are still relevant. Yet to this day I find Nevada one of the best Vertigo titles, as Howard the Duck is one of the best Marvel ones.

By: Ian Astheimer

Ian Astheimer — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 01:10:38 +0000

Terrible news.

By: Rob Schamberger

Rob Schamberger — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 01:01:24 +0000

A true loss.

By: Tom Fitzpatrick

Tom Fitzpatrick — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:57:00 +0000

Damn. Another great writer forsakes this world.

No more Nevada.
No more Void Indigo.

Damn.

By: Bill Reed

Bill Reed — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:37:47 +0000

Oh my God, that's horrendous news. He will most definitely be missed, and his contributions to our little medium will be remembered forever.