Graig Weich

Early life

Graig Weich began reading comic books as a child, finding in them a sense of hope and inspiration when he was bullied. Weich comments, "When my friends and I were bullied, I thought, 'If we were superheroes, we could defend the kids being attacked.'"

Career

Weich's first published comics artwork was a two-page color pinup in Todd McFarlane's Spawn #30, which depicted the eponymous character, Spawn confronting his adversary Angela, published in 1994 when Weich was 19.

After the September 11 attacks, Weich, who had been planning to launch his first comic book, spoke with some children who informed him that they did not feel there were any heroes that they could identify with. In response, Weich created the superhero Civilian Justice, a man who, following the death of his girlfriend in the World Trade Center, wears an American flag bandana as a mask, and decides to take it upon himself to confront terrorists. Weich created the character in order to symbolize hope and a sense of empowerment. A percentage of the proceeds from the first issue of Civilian Justice is donated to N.Y.H.E.R.E Fund, which aids victims and families of non-union workers who lost their lives in the attacks. At the New York City Comic Book Museum's first annual Golden Panel Awards in October 2002, which honors creators who legitimize the comics medium, Weich was awarded an honorary Golden Panel Award. An original Civilian Justice piece was also displayed in the exhibit "Heroes Among Us: The Art of 9-11".

Media appearances

Weich appeared in "A Comic Book, a Violin and a Hoarder" the August 24, 2011 premiere episode of the FOX reality television appraisal series Buried Treasure, in which Leigh and Leslie Keno of Antiques Roadshow appraise valuable items for their owners.

Weich subsequently appeared in "Life After Clerks", the February 9, 2012 episode of the reality television series Comic Book Men, in which he tried to sell his original 1941 Max Fleischer Superman animation cell to the Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash store. He later appeared in two more episodes, in Season 2 and 3.

Weich then appeared in "Baby Got Super Powers", the December 2, 2012 episode of the reality TV series Ice Loves Coco, in which he used model Coco Austin as the basis for Cleo, a character in a comic book. that "has the power of seduction to control men like puppets." The character appeared in the book Gekido, and Austin appeared as the scantily-clad character at the 2012 New York Comic Con to promote it. Austin related how Weich contacted her with the idea for her to play Cleo on the November 23, 2015 episode of her syndicated talk show, Ice & Coco.

According to Weich, the character Gekido (which means wrath in Japanese) is a centuries-old man wearing modern-day samurai-like body armor on a mission to confront the world's oldest Ninja clan in their plans for world domination, using a mystical artifact that may destroy the world. Other celebrities that Weich has used as models for characters in his comics include Donald Faison, Adrianne Curry and Gary Dell'Abate (AKA: Baba Booey) who did a feature of Weich on The Howard Stern Show Howard 100 News.

Personal life

Weich is an avid Star Wars fan and even cast Dave Prowse (Darth Vader) in his film that won the award . He is also featured in the 2016 Newsweek Magazine Star Wars Special Edition (page 77), and was also present at the Disney Store in Times Square, Manhattan for the September 4, 2015 midnight commencement of Force Friday, which launched the sale of merchandise related to the film Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Awards

Nominations