Keith Champagne has been a comic book creator since the 1990s. He’s been an artist, inker, and writer. For the last few years, he’s been doing Kickstarters, and he has a new campaign. It’s a sequel to his graphic novel, Electricia, which was the hardcover graphic novel that was the first Kickstarter that Keith ever did back in 2018.
I’ve had him on the podcast many times and recently sat down with him for an upcoming show. But, for reasons that escape out of all the guests I have taped, Keith makes me incredibly nervous. There’s no reason because he’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. Go figure! Keith, back in the 1990s, went to the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. Keith told me an amusing story about what happened between him and Joe. More on that in a minute.
I connected with Keith in a most unlikely way. If this were a Game Show, the question would be, “Which indie writer has also worked with Ron Marz, Darryl Banks, and Keith Champagne, among others?” Michael Katz, the lawyer from Pennsylvania, would probably not be your first choice.
Michael has been doing his Riot Earp for a couple of years now, and also has a new campaign for it. It’s a soft sci-fi action book that takes place in 2055, where the country is fragmented into red and blue provinces. Riot Earp is an officer on the California Highway Patrol. And he just gets exposed to different provinces and different countries, and we see what life would be like in 2055.
Well, I knew, at the time, an upcoming Riot Earp campaign was going to have Ron Marz, Darryl Banks, and Keith Champagne as part of it. Out of the blue, Michael asked if I wanted to bring him and the above creators to the show to talk about Riot Earp.
Well, of course, the fanboy was thrilled! The podcaster: not so much. I considered myself (and still do) a small fish among podcasters. It hadn’t crossed my mind to bring all the iconic creators. Then, I had to balance all four people and find things they hadn’t talked endlessly about. It ended up being a fantastic show.
That show led to new contacts and gave me the confidence that I could do something like that, and the courage to reach out to some and ask them to come onto the podcast. One of my running jokes is, “I sold my soul to the devil, and someone forgot to tell me,” because I’ve been so lucky to get some fantastic talent on the show. Later, I brought Darryl Banks to the show to discuss his career and some of the black creators who influenced him over the years. I used his show to anchor other shows on new black creators. That string of shows is among the things I’m most proud of, including podcasts.
Back to Keith Champagne, who on that show told the story of while at the Kubert School how he arm wrestled Joe—and losing is an understatement. It is one of the funniest stories I’ve heard from a guest. Now, every time I have Keith on, I ask him to tell me the story.
Recently, he and Michael taped for my new crowdfunding podcast, Fantastic Comic Fan Showcase—available wherever you listen to your podcasts. That day, he had a convention to go to, and time was limited, but before we ended, “Keith, tell me that story of arm-wrestling with Joe Kubert. So here it is straight from that taping:
“ I think first of all, people should didn’t know that Joe should know. The guy was as strong as a bear. He’s famous for having a handshake that could just pulverize your phalanges or wherever the bones in the hand are called.
Also, the nicest guy, like the sweetest guy in the world. So it was just a slow day in class. I had 12 or 13 kids in my class. I forgot how many by the third year, which is when I had Joe as an instructor, and we’re bored. So I started arm wrestling the people in my class, and we’re a bunch of nerds, but I was a little bit more of an athletic nerd than the rest of them.
So I beat my whole class one at a time in arm wrestling. So I was telling Andy Kubert this story of how I beat everyone in arm wrestling, and he said, ‘Oh, you should challenge my dad sometime.’ Yeah. So I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll do that.” Joe, at that time, was like 73, 74 years old, and I was a 23, 24-year-old, young punk.
I’m like, ‘I could take this old man, no problem at all.’ I challenged Joe. He graciously accepted. And so, in front of the class, we go to lock up our arms. And I feel the strength in his arm. The minute that we clapped hands and I thought to myself, ” This is not good.” And Joe just proceeded to, it was like he was arm-wrestling a baby.
Like, I had much of a chance to beat him as a baby. Would’ve had a baby that was just born fresh out of the womb. I had zero chance. Lik, Joe just destroyed me, almost broke my arm off. It was worse than over the top. It was worse than anything you could imagine. Just destroyed me and put me in my place and left me like a smoldering heap of rubble at the desk.”
Isn’t that a fantastic story! NOW, you understand why I ask Keith to tell it every time he comes on the show. It’s fantastic to have icons like Keith on the show, but I like it when creators talk about the little stories and anecdotes. It’s those little stories that I look forward to when taping.
Now, you know a funny Joe Kubert story! Thanks, Keith! Again, go check out both Michael Katz’s and Keith’s campaigns. They are getting ready to put out some innovative comics. And, what over to the podcast and learn more about their campaigns.
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