Comic Community Mourns Loss Of Seth Kushner, 41, Sheepshead Bay Native

Photographer, comic writer and Sheepshead Bay native Seth Kushner passed away at 41 on Sunday, May 17, succumbing to cancer suddenly after initially going into remission.

Kushner’s untimely passing means he’ll never see the career milestone he’ll likely be most remembered for: the publication of Schmuck, a semi-autobiographical graphic novel drawn from a web series he did, chronicling his own awkward coming-of-age in Sheepshead Bay and New York City. The 184-page trade paperback will feature art by 22 leading indie cartoonists, and was widely supported by fans through a Kickstarter campaign.

Kushner ran the campaign in part from his hospital bed. In March 2014 he was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. He waged a public battle, turning to crowdfunding and social media to both defray the costs of medical expenses and find a bone marrow donor. Using aggressive and grueling alternative treatments, he ultimately went into remission. In December, he announced “there is now no leukemia in my blood.”

He returned to his Bay Ridge home with his wife Terra and son Jackson, and spent the last few months working – releasing new comics, like The Roman Nose.

The cancer returned suddenly, and took his life.

Kushner’s work – which includes photography that has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Time, Newsweek, L’Uomo Vogue, Sports Illustrated, The New Yorker and others, and his publishes books that include Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comics and The Brooklynites – along with his own personal struggles – have often left others describing him as inspirational.

Readers will remember him as the man who penned an ode to Southern Brooklyn’s old comic shops back in 2012. And we’ve also featured a bit of his photography on Bensonhurst Bean.

His colleagues in the industry have penned several tributes already. One calls him a “real-life superhero … I’ve never heard a bad word spoken about Kushner.” The legendary Molly Crabapple wrote, “Devastated. My friend Seth Kushner died, far too young. A brilliant photographer and writer, a kind, gentle man.”

“The wonderfully talented and sweet Seth Kushner has passed, leaving the world a less interesting place and those of us who were his photography subjects a choice between pretending not to age and being portrayed less well,” said comics writer and former DC Publisher Paul Levitz to Newsarama.

Kushner’s family maintains a GoFundMe campaign to collect donations to offset massive medical bills.