Arnold Drake 1924-2007

Arnold Drake, creator of Deadman, The Doom Patrol, The Guardians of the Galaxy and co-creator of maybe the first ever graphic novel, died on Monday of this week. Needless to say, the man's contributions to the comics medium have gone under-appreciated.

In his Lying In The Gutters column for March 12th, Rich Johnson reflects on meeting the man only two weeks prior at the New York Comic Con. This tidbit stood out for me:

We discussed his Doom Patrol and he told me that he believed only Grant Morrison ever saw in the team what he was trying to do.

High praise for what, to me, is the high water mark in the history of Drake's inspired team of misfits and outcasts. If you've never read any of Morrison's Doom Patrol run, you're really missing something totally unique to the superhero genre.

Photo © Dan Chusid '05.