Author: Jim Keefe

Jim Keefe is the current artist of the Sally Forth comic strip. From 1996-2003 he was the writer and artist of the Flash Gordon comic strip. A graduate of the Joe Kubert School, Keefe likewise teaches Comic Art. Teaching and speaking engagements include SVA in Manhattan, Hofstra’s UCCE Youth Programs, and most recently the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

Company I

Robert Lee 1925-1945

During WWII my Dad, Richard Keefe, served in Company I, 304th Regiment of the 76th Division. A close friend of my Dad’s was Robert E. Lee, 1st Lieutenant, Company E. They went through Officer Candidate School together. The Mass card shown above is one my Dad kept with his personal belongings. For decades to follow my Dad would add his fallen friend’s name to the list of those to be Commemorated on All Souls Day.

What follows is an account from the Regiment history of his final moments. Robert Lee was 19 years old.

The rest period ended for the men at noon on the 1st of March when the troops were ordered to relieve the 3rd battalion southeast of Gilzem. Easy Company spear-headed the advance through this town, which was in friendly hands, and bore the brunt of the attack on Kunkelborn. Immediately after arriving at the front lines, E Company supported from the left rear, with G Company advancing through a draw northeast of the town.

The 3rd platoon was the assault element followed by the company weapons platoon and, as they approached, they ran into a hail of rifle fire. Lt. Robert E. Lee, (0551073) the weapons platoon leader, ordered the machine-gun section into action but, turning, discovered that he had only one of the two guns and that only one crew-man remained. Instantly he fed the gun and directed 1st fire until he was fatally wounded. Sgt. Thompson then Pfc., picked up the hot gun in his hands, moved to another position and finished the mission. As a result of their action sufficient covering fire was laid upon the enemy to enable the assaulting riflemen to overrun the positions. . .

What struck my Dad about Robert Lee dying was that Lee was one of the best. They were young and thought themselves invulnerable – which of course wasn’t the case.

The casualty rate for Company I was one of the highest in the battalion. The following is a list of the men killed in action from the Company in remembrance on Memorial Day.

JOHN H. BRADY SR., Pvt.
CALVIN R. CRAIG, Pfc
ROBERTSON DEWHURST JR., Pfc.
FOSTER G. FELKER, T/5
GEORGE L. GAREY, T/5
ROBERT L. GRAVES, Pfc.
KENNETH L. HOBBS, Cpl.
HERMAN W. HOORMANN, Pvt.
HURSHEL JOBE, Pfc.
JOHN A. KLIMOWITCH, Pvt.
CHARLES M. KLINK, S/Sgt.
GUY R. LABER, Pfc.
STANLEY J. LOCKE, T/5
JACK McKENNA, Pfc.
RICHARD A. NEISLER, S/Sgt.
WALTER M. NOGAS, T/Sgt.S
EDWIN L. PETERSON, Pfc.
EDWARD R. PINA, Pfc.
EVAN D. ROADEN, Pfc.
LAWRENCE B. STANDIFER, Pfc.
EUGENE TINKER, Pvt.

Company I Homepage

Tags Company I, Memorial Day, Richard Keefe, Robert E. Lee

Conventions

C2E2 2013 – Cosplay and Autographs

Post author By Jim Keefe
Post date

Presenting a gallery of cosplay at C2E2 2013

The lines for autographs were pretty insane at the convention,
but seemed to move pretty fast considering.

And speaking of which, here’s my daughter Anna getting an autograph from
Peter Davison, the fifth Doctor from the Dr. Who series.

Peter Davison (the 5th Doctor) and my daughter Anna.

I was okay for her asking for a signature, but no trips on the Tardis…

Conventions Joe Kubert

The Kubert School at C2E2

It was great seeing The Kubert School represented at C2E2 this year.

Brigid Allanson (left) and Angie Fernot (right) - Class of 2012. — Brigid Allanson and Angie Fernot – Class of 2012.

And with the Kubert School you don’t just get some random shill handing out flyers, but two highly skilled Kubert School graduates giving you practical firsthand information, Brigid Allanson (left) and Angie Fernot (right).

The two were fielding questions, selling prints and were available for portfolio reviews.

And speaking of which…
Even though there were a lot of publishers at C2E2, those companies had people on the floor to sell merchandise, not to look over an aspiring cartoonists portfolios. With Brigid and Angie you had two artists that have a working knowledge of the field that is just invaluable to the up-and-comer looking to break into the business.

I doff my Joe Kubert School hat to them in salute.

Disclaimer: Jim Keefe is a graduate of the Joe Kubert School and would be working convention service at a Hyatt Regency right now if not for the skills learned at the school – to which he is eternally grateful.

Disclaimer 2: Jim Keefe has no beef with the Hyatt Regency chain of hotels and was even awarded the Hyatt Regency’s Convention Service department’s “Employee of the Month” in 1986 before moving out east to attend the Joe Kubert School.

Tags C2E2, Kubert School

Conventions MCAD

MCAD Students at C2E2

Post author By Jim Keefe
Post date

Posting pics of some of the MCAD students who stopped by my booth in Artists Alley.

Jaime Willems and Mandie Brasington.

Maya Kern, Heather Williams, Jacklyn Hedlund and Allison O’Brien

Jesse Charles Baker and Jay Rasgorshek.

Coleman Gilbert, Greer Lawson, April Kasulis and Spencer Amundson.

Jakob “Fro” Ealy

Jack Kotz

Charles Stewart

Alexis Cooke and repeat performance by Mandie.

Great to see so many making the trip.
And kudos to MCAD’s Barb Schulz for making it happen!

Ramblings & Reviews

Superior Spider-Man: Spoilers (among other things)

Post author By Jim Keefe
Post date

spoiler |ˈspoilər|
noun
1. a person or thing that spoils something.

This can be said of a number of writers that take on mainstream well-established characters. And yes, there is an implied spoiler later on, so if you haven’t read Superior Spider-Man #1 yet be warned.

And just so you don’t think I’m exempting myself (in regards to being slammed for working on an established character), here’s a review of my work on Flash Gordon from back in 1999, and I quote, “The art was awful and the plots worse. You will notice that I, always the optimist, refer to the strip in the past tense. I can’t imagine it surviving long.”

Yikes.

Now… To be honest, I haven’t kept up on the continuity of Spider-Man on a month-to-month basis in ages. Back when I was reading it, Gwen Stacy died and it was quite the game changer.

Art by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer — Art by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer

Fans went crazy – and then she reappeared.

Except it wasn’t her, but a clone.
Once that’s realized, she ends off walking off into the sunset.

Now the originally clone saga was fun enough for what it was – as long as you didn’t think about it too much. One thing it did lay down was that Gwen Stacy didn’t return, that in the Marvel universe once you were dead you stayed dead, otherwise – what’s the point?

Note: Once you introduce one clone, much like locusts, a plague of them usually follows. To see the many Spider-Man storylines infested with clones (that I intend to gloss over) check out the Den of Geek.

One of the outcomes of Gwen Stacy dying was an epic battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin. The Goblin tries to impale Spider-Man with his glider and misses somewhat.

Green Goblin: Dead.
Or is he? Let’s just skip ahead a number of years, where we find…

Ends up his regenerative powers (???) are pretty freakin’ awesome.
And Gwen Stacy?

But that was just a misdirection – actually that’s Gwen Stacy’s daughter.
And the father..?

A brief intermission.

Now you might be saying, how could this get worse?
Well – how about if they shot Aunt May?

Oh, and then Peter and Mary Jane fix that whole Aunt May being shot in the chest thing by making a deal with the Devil. In exchange for saving Aunt May, the Devil erases Peter and MJ’s life together (i.e. marriage).

Which in effect also wipes out the existence of their future daughter.

Of course, what that does to years worth of continuity is up for grabs.

Reissuing new updated covers to past issues could become a headache.

SO… when I heard about the CATACLYSMIC EVENT that happened in Spider-Man #700 – with Doc Ock and Spidey changing bodies, then Spidey in Ock’s body being killed – I wasn’t really that shook up. The character that I knew left the building some time ago.

And just to be clear, I mean no disrespect to Dan Slott or his writing, it’s an interesting premise and I hope the readers have fun with it.

And as far as the spoiler concerning Superior Spider-Man #1, Bleeding Cool already leaked it, but here’s my take on it…

Tags Green Goblin, Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man, Superior Spider-Man