RIP Len Wein, comics writer and Wolverine co-creator

Comics writer and co-creator of Wolverine, Swamp Thing, Storm, and Colossus Lein Wein passed away today, age 69.

Wein is best known for first co-creating Wolverine in an issue of The Incredible Hulk, and then writing Giant-Sized X-Men #1 - the comic that re-launched the X-Men with a new lineup including Wolverine was well as new characters like Storm, Colossus, and Nightcrawler.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Wein was everywhere in the 70s - co-creating Swamp Thing, writing high profile titles like JLA, Spider-man, a classic little run on Detective where Batman was accused of murder, Hulk, Thor, and Fantastic Four. Then in the 80s he became an editor and continued exerting a massive influence on superhero comics behind the scenes, editing the Wolfman-Perez Teen Titans and Moore and Gibbons’ Watchmen.

He wrote one of my favorite comics stories from when I was a kid - a story where the JLA and the JSA traveled to an alternate Earth where the Nazis won WW2. It was probably the first alternate history story I ever read and it blew my mind.

Oh man, that takes me back. I didn’t read it steadily, I was still a little on the young side and had to beg my mom to buy them, but I loved that comic. Still think George Perez is one of my favorite comics artists.

Some nice memories of Mr. Wein in my Facebook feed, from my colleague Steve Bissette:

Awoke to a torrent of memories of working with Len Wein, especially the SWAMP THING years. Len guided John Totleben and I through those key early issues, intense memories of the initial arc working with “this new writer nobody here has ever heard of”—but John and I had, because we’d been reading WARRIOR magazine from the UK from its first issue (which we bought at Heroes World in NJ)
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Len was a hard taskmaster, but he had to be: SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING had been behind the scheduling eight-ball from the get-go, since the series was launched prematurely to try and catch whatever it could from the botched theatrical run of the Wes Craven SWAMP THING movie. That meant that Martin Pasko and Tom Yeates bore the brunt of constant deadline pressures, which we handily inherited (and I made worse at times). There’s no way to communicate the back-and-forth phone calls and “hurry up, but don’t lose what you’re doing, this work is solid” mix of pressure & encouragement Len had to maintain, and did.

The most pissed Len ever, ever got at me wasn’t over deadlines or slow delivery of pages: it was over my sneaking Gumby into each issue. “You are playing a very, very dangerous game, Mister!” that phone call began…

He was both sad & relieved to be passing the reins to Karen Berger with SOTST #25. Len and I had a couple of loooong conversations via phone prior to that, as I was penciling the Woodrue SOTST arc; he appreciated that I’d somehow tracked down hard copies of every appearance of Woodrue/The Floronic Man using local New England flea markets and comics shops (pre-internet era, the handful of black-and-white photocopies Len’s ass’t sent just didn’t provide what I needed). My choosing Peter Cushing as the model for Woodrue delighted Len, and initiated the most ‘fannish’ conversations I ever had with Len, including one about our favorite horror movies I have very fond memories of. Len turned me on to a few of his personal favorites and “discoveries,” including HELL NIGHT, which he said was “the closest we’re ever going to come to seeing Solomon Grundy on the big screen.” That was how his mind worked: it was always about the love of comics for Len.

And shit: it takes THIS for Len to make it to the pages of VARIETY, after he contributed so much, for so long…

Can’t do this properly; there’s too much, really, and I’m not the one to be doing it. Much love and deepest sorrow and condolences to Christine Valada, and to all in Len Wein’s family, friends, life circles.

What a sad day this is.

And Chris Duffy, former editor at Nickelodeon and current editor of the Spongebob comics:

RIP Len Wein. When I wanted to break into comics after college, I sent him a resume–he was the editor of Disney Comics. I called him to follow up and he said, “What are you doing in Boston? If you want to be in comics, move to New York.” He also said “People in comics did something bad in a past life and are paying for it by being doomed to work in comics.” Years later I saw him at a convention and told him the story of that phone call. He said, “I was right, right?” Yup! Thanks, Len, for the advice and for so many comics I still love! (Cover to a good one here…)

A legend passes.

One of my most bittersweet moments was back in 2010 or '11 (not sure) at the Emerald City Comic-con. I was wandering by the creator area, when I spotted Len Wein just sitting at his table, doodling quietly on one of his many pads. No one was talking to him at all. There was a line out of the same area to see some other people, but Len Wein was being totally ignored. I was agog.

Normally, I don’t bother with the meet & greet stuff, but I had to see Len Wein. I walked over and he immediately put his pen down and greeted me. I gushed over how awesome he was and how I admired his work. The normal stuff I’m sure he’d heard a million times from fans. He was very gracious about it.

“I can’t believe none of those people are here to see you,” I said jerking a thumb at the crowd.

Len Wein leaned out, and while looking at the queue, said, “That is some line. Well, I guess that’s just proof of your good taste.”

That is awesome!

I missed this news. Len Wein is one of the very few comic writers who came to prominence in the 1970s whose work was both good at the time, and holds up today. Sad that both him and Steve Gerber are gone now,