Obituary Note: Len Wein

Prolific comic book writer Len Wein, who "collaborated on bringing to life two of the art form's best-known characters, Wolverine and Swamp Thing," died September 10, the New York Times reported. He was 69. During his long career, Wein "wrote for Batman, the Flash, Superman, the Justice League of America and numerous other comics series." He was also an editor for Marvel, DC and Disney Comics. "He brought the British writer Alan Moore into the Swamp Thing series in the early 1980s, and in 1986 he was editor on the Watchmen series by Mr. Moore, the artist Dave Gibbons and the colorist John Higgins."

"I first met him in 2008," actor Hugh Jackman, who played Wolverine in films, tweeted. "I told him--from his heart, mind & hands came the greatest characters in comics."

Paul Levitz, author of 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking, said, "For more than a decade, from the early '70s to the mid-'80s, as both a writer and an editor, he really sat on the leading edge of what the comics medium could be as it was growing up."

In a tribute at io9, Evan Narcisse wrote: "Over and over again, whether he was writing, editing or creating in some other capacity, Wein broadened the possibilities of comics-making. Under his aegis, the default stentorian style of late 20th century superhero fare found room to allow for more humanistic portrayals. Whether it was killer runs on Batman, Spider-Man, or Hulk, the bravest crimefighters believably grappled with their doubts and foibles. Len Wein gave us the feeling that real people lived and breathed underneath all the brightly colored spandex. Moreover, the writing he did himself and the work he nurtured told future generations that those heroes could--and should--come from anywhere. For me, it's the most important part of a creative legacy that's too wide to comprehend."

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