R.I.P. Les Daniels.

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of author and comic book historian Les Daniels, who left us on November 05, 2011 at the age of 68.



Lots of us with published work on the subject tend to call ourselves “historians” – but the term might never have been truer and more accurate as when it was applied to Les Daniels.


Daniels’ book “Comix: A History of Comic Books in America” (1971) was my FIRST look into this world, and was invaluable in its influence on whatever it is that I’ve done – solo, or in conjunction with others – in fanzines, comics, Blogs, and even a DVD feature.


Yes, folks… You have HIM to blame! Go easy on him, please!

To that point, NOTHING was known to me, beyond that which appeared on the printed pages of the comic books themselves. Daniels’ work was more than a mere eye-opener… it was a full-throttle, rocket-boosted revelation that I simply DEVOURED!


It might not have been the first book on the subject, but it was THE BOOK for me! A true shining light on the dark corners of the unknown that was the comic book industry – publishers, characters, creators, etc. – in 1971. All here, in my hot little hands!

Indeed, when I had the privilege of meeting Les Daniels at a book signing in the ‘90s, I told him – as I now tell YOU – that it was through HIS SEMINAL WORK that I first learned of the character of Batman villain “Two-Face” (who had fallen out of use during the Silver Age)… and first learned the name of CARL BARKS!!!

Daniels’ book presented examples of both a Carl Barks ten-pager (“The Corncrib Money Bin meets a Cyclone” tale) and a Batman story featuring Two-Face.

It was thanks to Les Daniels that I was finally able to put a NAME to the heretofore unknown (to me, anyway) best writer and artist of the Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comic books. And, someone whose game-changing work I strive to be the merest fraction as entertaining as when I am privileged to write American English scripts for Disney comic books. Yes, Carl Barks is a HERO to me… so what!

It’s hard to believe, from today’s perspective, that ANYONE close to these comics could not know the name of Carl Barks – but it was once the norm to be completely ignorant of this and many other things about comic books.

But, thanks to Les Daniels, fandom as a whole could begin to move out of those dark ages. Though I bought Daniels’ current book that signing day, it was my copy of “Comix: A History of Comic Books in America” that I asked him to autograph for me!