A Vampire in Hollywood, and Other Tales of Supernatural Law #7 (2016)
Batton Lash (born Vito Marangi, October 29, 1953 – January 12, 2019) was an American cartoonist who made his mark during the 1990s self-publishing movement. He is best remembered for *Wolff and Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre* (later retitled *Supernatural Law*), a comedy strip about law partners who handle cases involving classic horror monsters. The feature ran in *The National Law Journal* and later became its own series of comic books and graphic novels.
Lash entered comics with a sharp, clean line style that suited both humor and the macabre. Over his career, he worked as writer, artist, colorist, inker, and letterer on 94 issues from 1987 to 2018. Besides his own creation, he contributed to licensed titles for Bongo Comics, including *Radioactive Man* and *Simpsons Super Spectacular*, and also worked on *Archie & Friends* and *Archie*.
His work earned him an Inkpot Award, an Independent Book Publishers Association Benjamin Franklin Award, and an Eisner Award, along with two Harvey Award nominations. Lash’s blend of legal satire and horror parody remains his signature achievement, and *Supernatural Law* stands as a distinctive example of creator-owned humor comics from the indie boom.
