Sam Kieth has passed away.
On Saturday, March 21, Bleeding Cool – a news website focusing on comics, television, film, board games, and video games – announced that the legendary comic book writer who created The Maxx died at the age of 63 after suffering from a tragic illness.
In the report, the outlet shared that Sam Kieth’s cause of death was Lewy Body Dementia, a type of progressive dementia that leads to a decline in thinking, reasoning and independent function.
It was also noted that the Sandman co-creator, who passed away on March 15, 2026, is survived by his wife, Kathy Kieth, with whom he had been married for 43 years.
Who was Sam Kieth?
Born on January 11, 1963, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sam Kieth was an American comics artist and writer, best known as the creator of The Maxx and Zero Girl.
The writer, who had a legendary career in the superhero comic field, gained widespread attention with his iconic work on The Hulk and Wolverine.
“But it was his Image Comics creation in 1993, The Maxx, that brought him true fame, not only for creating a comic book series about identity, existence, dreams, and reality, but also for lightly disguising it as a superhero comic,” read his bio.
Notably, The Maxx was adapted to an animated series for MTV's Liquid Television strand and went global.
