The comics world lost a legend this past Sunday.
Marvel and DC Comics writer Len Wein passed away at the age of 69 after experiencing health problems as of late as described on his Twitter account. The most recent tweet was September 7th.
Born in 1948, Len’s legacy extends to both companies for his many contributions and creations. For DC, he was the first writer on the Flash when Julius Schwartz rebooted the character as Barry Allen from Jay Garrick during the Silver Age of Comics. He would later co-create The Human Target alongside Flash artist Carmine Infantino. He had a 14-issue run as writer for Justice League of America, and was also the creator of Swamp Thing alongside artist Bernie Wrightson. Further, he handpicked his successor, Alan Moore, by phone to write and reinvigorate his muck-encrusted creation for a new audience. Moore would go on to write Watchmen, one of the best-known graphic novels of our time, with Len as his editor.
Post-Crisis, he penned Wonder Woman in the 1980s, collaborating with artist George Perez. For Marvel, Len, during his run on The Incredible Hulk with Herb Trimpe, co-created the Canadian mutant superhero known as Wolverine with contributing artist John Romita Sr. Further, he reinvigorated the exploits of The House of Ideas’ mutant team The X-Men alongside Dave Cockrum in 1975, introducing characters Colossus, Storm, and Nightcrawler to the roster in the debut Giant-Size X-Men #1. Other Marvel titles include runs on Fantastic Four and The Amazing Spider-Man.
His death was confirmed by several comics veterans via Twitter, among them Brian Michael Bendis and Kurt Busiek. At this time, there is no documented cause of death.
R.I.P. Len…you and your work will never be forgotten.
