The life of one of the men who turned small comic book operator Fantagraphics into a force in the industry has died after a brief battle with lung cancer. Kim Thompson, who came to Fantagraphics in the 1970s with partner Gary Groth, died Wednesday morning at age 56. The Seattle-based publishing company became a top publisher of comic strip anthologies and compilations, as well as a powerhouse of critical acclaim, thanks in large part to Thompson’s direction and work with Groth.Born in Denmark, Thompson moved to the United States in 1977 at the age of 21, where he met Groth and Michael Catron, founders of Fantagraphics. Thompson soon became a frequent contributor to The Comics Journal, Fantagraphics’ magazine that frequently published introspective and highly influential articles on the comic book industry. “It’s a whole generation of guys who came along … in the mid-1970s, they decided to see more and better comics, not just gutter media, lowest common denominator media it had become,” said Tom Spurgeon, speaking with CBS Seattle, who worked with Thompson in the 1990s at “The Comics Journal” and now runs the website The Comics Reporter. “He thought comics could be anything — it’s just words and pictures together, why not have stories with themes and ideas and represent people of different nationalities, genders, sexual orientation, race.”Thompson’s influence was known throughout the industry. While editing Amazing Heroes, Thompson helped to keep a critical eye on the superhero style of comics, a genre he loved and appreciated throughout the years. He also helped to see Fantagraphics emerge as a publishing giant in the field of avant garde comics and graphic novels. “Kim leaves an enormous legacy behind him,” said Groth, “not just all the European graphic novels that would never have been published here if not or his devotion, knowledge, and skills, but for all the American cartoonists he edited, ranging from Stan Sakai to Joe Sacco to Chris Ware, and his too infrequent critical writing about the medium. His love and devotion to comics was unmatched. I can’t truly convey how crushing this is for all of us who’ve known and loved and worked with him over the years.”
