Iconic Comic Book Writer Keith Giffen’s Final Words Are the Best Comic-Con Burn Ever

Some comic book artists averse to the sights and smells of the average Comic-Con will flippantly remark that they’d “rather die” than go to the nerd convention. So far, though, Keith Giffen is the only one who has put his money where his mouth is.

Giffen, 70, was a legend of the serialized superhero comic book medium, having worked with DC, Marvel and Dark Horse over the span of an almost 50-year career. The co-creator of classic characters such as Lobo, Rocket Raccoon and Jamie Reyes, the third character to assume the title of The Blue Beetle, Giffen passed away on Monday, as confirmed by his friend and longtime collaborator Paul Levitz. “The sad news is now official: Keith Giffen has gone off to create new worlds that are beyond our living reach,” Levitz wrote in a Facebook post. “Keith was probably the most fertile creative mind of our generation in comics. He had an infinite number of ideas, pouring constantly out. Many, thankfully, never saw print as wholly insane or inappropriate. But the ones that did!”

Speaking of inappropriate, Giffen’s own final Facebook post was a post-mortem message written shortly before his passing that he had his family relay to comic book fans across the world — and especially to those in poorly ventilated convention centers.

“Keith was a curmudgeon by choice, an act he perfected and enjoyed. Like many artists, he didn’t lead a healthy lifestyle, and that led to tough times that he always laughed off,” Levitz continued in his online eulogy. “He was a family man when out of public view, and his soft moments came out there.”

RIP — and as far from Comic-Con as the good lord sees fit.