On September 24th, 2018 little bit of my adolescence went away forever with a passing of longtime comic-book artist, Norm Breyfogle. Mr. Breyfogle was a seasoned illustrator of Batman and Detective Comics for DC Comics, he also worked on many other different projects.
While I was in high school from 1987 until I graduated in 89 and then after I joined the Navy in 1990 I collected comics, and still do to this day, as a long-time Batman fan I always looked for different takes on that character. And the version as drawn by Norm Breyfogle was the most unique versions I had ever seen.
Mr. Breyfogle had a unique gift in his work on Batman you take them from just a few panels from at one time appearing as a dark angry creature of the night or as a human being with real emotions. This is a unique trait within his artwork that would serve him well in the Malibu comics series called Prime. Prime was a unique take on the Shazam concept which a young kid zaps to the size and age of an adult person. With super-powers.Mr. Breyfogle was talented enough to show the kids inner emotions on an adult’s face even though the panels were static you could almost see the mannerisms of a kid coming through an adult body in this book.
Unfortunately, in 2014 Mr. Breyfogle had a massive stroke and a paralyzed left side of his body which affection severely in his work life as he drew left-handed. like many other artists in the comic book industry, he had no long-term health insurance or other ways to protect himself mentally or financially due to the nature of the comic book industry is based around freelancing the ability work between different publishing houses. With the continuous onset of complications from his stroke, what was known at this time is his death was connected to complications from that stroke.
If your a comic fan and would like to see your favorite creators get the help they need especially retirement or other areas of life you can give to the Hero Initiative which has programs that help those comic creators that we love during times of need. Giving to this charity and others that support these creators would be a terrific way to honor the memory of Mr. Norm Breyfogle.
