Comic Book Writer Steve Skeates, Best Known For Co-Creating Hawk and Dove For DC Comics, Passes Away At 80! RIP.
MSN reports.
Steve Skeates, Longtime Comic Writer and Hawk & Dove Co-Creator, Dies at 80
Steve Skeates, one of the first members of the so-called “second generation” of comic book writers, who had a long and distinguished comic book writing career at DC, Marvel, Tower, Warren, Archie and Charlton, including an iconic run on Aquaman and co-creating Hawk and Dove with Steve Ditko, has died at the age of 80.
Growing up a fan of humor magazines and comic books, when Skeates was nearing graduation from college, he decided to apply to a number of comic book companies and was hired by Stan Lee at Marvel Comics as Lee’s assistant editor upon his graduation. Skeates’ tenure in editorial was extremely brief, with Roy Thomas hired to replace him after just two weeks, but as part of his exit, he was given some freelance writing assignments at Marvel, including two issues of Kid Colt Outlaw and two issues of Two Gun Kid, and Skeates parlayed those jobs into a writing gig at Tower Comics, working on Undersea Agent and the company’s flagship title, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents throughout 1966. This made Skeates one of the earliest members of the “second generation” of comic book writers, the first comic book writers to actually grow up on comic books.
At Tower Comics, Skeates worked with Steve Ditko for the first time, as Ditko had just left Marvel Comics himself. In 1967, Skeates began to get assignments at Charlton Comics, as well, where he would do the majority of his comic book work overr the next two years, as while Charlton did not pay particularly well, they gave him freedom to do whatever he wanted. He worked with Ditko again at Charlton on a Question backup story.
In 1968, Skeates and Ditko co-created Hawk and Dove for DC Comics…
This led to Skeates getting regular work at DC throughout the 1970s, including an acclaimed run with Jim Aparo on Aquaman (with great Nick Cardy covers)…
While at DC, Skeates revisited his humor background by introducing the humor magazine, Plop!…
He also used his humor skills on a Plastic Man reboot for DC.
In the early 1980s, Skeates worked for a variety of publishers, including a return to Marvel, where he wrote the Spider-Ham ongoing series.
In the late 1980s, he did a short-lived comic strip in Upstate New York called The Adventures of Stew Ben and Alec Gainey (referencing the towns of Steuben, NY and Allegheny, NY). Skeates then moved back to his hometown of Rochester in the early 1990s to help his mother take care of his ailing father. He continued to write, though, for various companies until his passing.
In 2012, Skeates received the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing.
On behalf of the Comics Nexus and IP teams, I offer our condolences to the family, friends and fans of Steve Skeates.
