James O’Barr, creator of “The Crow,” appeared at the 6th annual Astronomicon in Livonia on March 3-5.
O’Barr’s girlfriend was killed by a drunken driver in 1978.
That became the impetus for O’Barr to write and draw “The Crow,” which eventually inspired the movie of the same name.
“It’s a love letter to my girlfriend who died,” said O’Barr, who has Downriver roots, including Allen Park, Taylor and River Rouge.
O’Barr also read an article about a couple in Detroit who were murdered over a $20 engagement ring. That also provided more inspiration. During his stint in the Marine Corps, O’Barr conceived the Crow’s look – a Gothic-looking avenger clad in black leather with his face covered in black and white makeup.
Initially, O’Barr didn’t intend to publish “The Crow.” It was just supposed to be an exercise in catharsis.
“I just had all this anger and rage and all this love still that I needed somewhere to put, so I decided to open a vein and let it flow onto the paper,” he said.
After leaving the military in the late 1980s, O’Barr was painting comic characters on T-shirts at comic book stores in the metropolitan Detroit area owned by the late Gary Reed, who also was the founder/publisher of Caliber Press, a Michigan-based independent comic book company. Impressed by O’Barr’s artistry, Reed asked him if he had drawn any comics. Once Reed saw “The Crow,” he asked O’Barr if he could publish it.
In 1989, the character debuted in “Caliber Presents” No. 1. “The Crow” graduated to his own eponymous 4-issue mini-series later that year and garnered a strong following. The compendium is the best-selling independent black-and-white graphic novel of all time with more than 1.5 million copies sold. It was optioned in the early 1990s after the success of 1989’s “Batman” and 1990’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” both of which are based on comic book properties.
