George Caragonne (September 16, 1965 – July 20, 1995) was an American comic book writer and editor, most notable for being co-founder of Penthouse Comix magazine.
He committed suicide on July 20, 1995, by jumping off the 45th floor of the interior atrium of the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square.
[citation needed] After Valiant was established, Caragonne wrote such titles as Captain N, The Legend of Zelda, and Punch-Out!!
)[8] According to comics writer and columnist Mark Evanier, the success of his books with Penthouse led to excess on Caragonne's part, in particular drugs.
According to Evanier, his employers also came to suspect Caragonne of financial "improprieties", and on the night of Friday, July 14, 1995, he discovered that he had been locked out of his office pending a full audit on his books.
Caragonne put on a Walkman containing a cassette of theme songs from the James Bond films, his favorite, and jumped.
Although no one else was killed, many of the witnesses, including some children, suffered emotional trauma and required years of treatment as a result of the event.