Lou Stathis

{{Short description|American author, critic and editor (1952–1997)}} {{Infobox comics creator

| image = LouStathis 01 jjs.tif | imagesize = 300 | caption = Lou Stathis in his New York City rooftop apartment, summer 1986. Photo by Jeff Schalles. | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1952|09|29}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{death date and age|1997|05|04|1952|09|29}} | death_place = | nationality = American | cartoonist = | write = y | pencil = | ink = | letter = | color = | edit = y | alias = | notable works = | awards = [[International Horror Guild Award]], 1997 | website = }} [[Image:Lstathis.jpg|right|thumb|180px|[[Kyle Baker]]'s portrait of Lou Stathis at work.]] [[File:Lou Stathis.jpg|left|thumb|Lou Stathis in his office at ''[[Heavy Metal (magazine)|Heavy Metal]]'' magazine, mid 1980's, photo by Jeff Schalles]] '''Louis J. Stathis''' (September 29, 1952 – May 4, 1997)<ref>"United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VSNS-25S : accessed 19 Mar 2013), Louis J Stathis, 4 May 1997.</ref> was an American author, critic and editor, mainly in the areas of fantasy and science fiction. During the last four years of his life he was an editor for DC Comics' [[Vertigo Comics|Vertigo]] line,<ref>{{cite news | last = Anderson | first= Paul M. | date = August 1997 | title = Vertigo Editor Stathis Succumbs to Cancer | work = [[Wizard (magazine)|Wizard]] | issue = 72 | page = 22}}</ref> working on such titles as ''[[Preacher (comics)|Preacher]]'', ''[[Doom Patrol]]'', ''[[Industrial Gothic]]'', [[Peter Kuper]]'s ''The System'', and ''Dhampire''.

==Work== Stathis was a columnist and editor for ''[[Heavy Metal (magazine)|Heavy Metal]]'' and a columnist for [[Ted White (author)|Ted White]]'s ''[[Fantastic (magazine)|Fantastic]]'' magazine; during the late 1970s and early 1980s, he also wrote a monthly column on contemporary popular music for ''[[Gallery (magazine)|Gallery]]'' magazine. He worked as an editor for [[Ace Books]], ''[[High Times]]'' and ''Reflex'' magazine.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.efanzines.com/Apparatchik/78-white.html | title = Apparatchik 78: In the Midst of Life, Dr. Fandom | accessdate = 19 May 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lib.msu.edu/comics/rri/lrri/loos.htm |title=Michigan State University Libraries: Index to Comic Art Collection: 'Loos' to 'Loque'{{thinsp}} |accessdate=19 May 2006 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060117192156/http://www.lib.msu.edu/comics/rri/lrri/loos.htm |archivedate=17 January 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Stathis collaborated with cartoonist [[Matt Howarth]], co-writing the first few issues of ''[[Those Annoying Post Bros]].'', published by [[Vortex Comics]] in 1985. In 1989, Stathis wrote ''The Venus Interface'' (originally advertised as ''Interzone: The Wild & Curious Times of Sheldon Zone''), a ''Heavy Metal'' graphic novel with a cover by [[Olivia De Berardinis]] and interior art by Jim Fletcher, [[Rick Geary]], [[Peter Kuper]], Mark Pacella, Kenneth Smith, [[Arthur Suydam]] and Michael Uman.

In writing and editing, Stathis took a prismatic approach, noting popular culture linkages: {{cquote|"I see connections between all vital forms of popular art. At ''Heavy Metal'' and ''Reflex'', we would feature side-by-side profiles of guys like [[Tom Waits]], [[Captain Beefheart]], [[The Residents]], [[Sun Ra]], [[Voivod (band)|Voivod]], [[Ice Cube]], [[Francis Coppola]], [[David Cronenberg]], [[Susan Sontag]] (by [[Samuel R. Delany]]), [[James Ellroy]] (by [[Lewis Shiner]]), [[Kathy Acker]], [[Neil Gaiman]] (who also interviewed [[Lou Reed]] for us), [[Alan Moore]], [[Moebius (comics)|Moebius]], [[Brian Bolland]], and [[Dave McKean]]––as if they all deserved commensurate attention (they do). The idea was––and still is––that it's all in the mix, and to erect barriers between, say, comics and music, to ignore the noise from any part of the system, is counterproductive and just plain stupid. Most of the artists and writers I know listen to and take inspiration from music while they work. Most of the musicians I know read comics and get off on the imagery. There's an intense, cross-cultural/media conversation going on, and all you have to do to hear it is stop listening selectively."<ref>{{cite web | url = https://comics.lib.msu.edu/rri/srri/stat.htm | title = Lou Stathis : Mixing and Maxing : Interview" by Pepé Valdez, p. 11-12 in ''Shop Talk'' (Sept. 1993). | accessdate = 11 Dec 2020}}</ref>}}

While he was an editor at [[Vertigo Comics|Vertigo]], Stathis began having headaches that kept him from working. He died of respiratory failure ten months after being diagnosed with a [[brain tumor]].

==Awards== In June 1997, he received a special award from the [[International Horror Guild]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ihgonline.org/prevrec.html#1996 | title = International Horror Guild | accessdate = 19 May 2006}}</ref>

==See also== * [[List of notable brain tumor patients]]

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1997_May_7/ai_19381662 ''Business Wire'': "Obituary: Lou Stathis"] * [http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/intmetal.html ''Heavy Metal'': Lou Stathis interviews David Lynch (full text)] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929103235/http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=36&t=000837 "Remembering Lou Stathis" by Patty Jeres] * [http://www.bailsprojects.com/(S(ajgy44453ymsmm45ovmwh4ut))/whoswho.aspx Who's Who of American Comic Books: Lou Stathis]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stathis, Lou}} [[Category:1952 births]] [[Category:1997 deaths]] [[Category:American magazine editors]] [[Category:American comics writers]] [[Category:American music critics]] [[Category:American science fiction editors]] [[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]