In a 2003 interview, Len Wein recalled having been "a very sickly kid. While I was in the hospital at age seven, my dad brought me a stack of comic books to keep me occupied. And I was hooked. When my eighth grade art teacher, Mr. Smedley, told me he thought I had actual art talent, I decided to devote all my efforts in that direction in the hope that I might someday get into the comics biz."[6]
Approximately once a month, as a teenager, Wein and his friend Marv Wolfman took DC Comics' weekly Thursday afternoon tour of the company's offices.[6] Wolfman was active in fanzine culture,[7] and together he and Wein produced sample superhero stories to show to the DC editorial staff. At that point, Wein was more interested in becoming an artist than a writer.[8] In a 2008 interview, Wein said his origins as an artist have helped him "describe art to an artist so that I can see it all in my own head", and claimed he "used to have artists, especially at DC, guys like Irv Novick and a few of the others, who would come into the office waiting for their next assignment and ask [editor] Julie Schwartz, 'Do you have any Len Wein scripts lying around? He's always easy to draw.'"[8]
DC editor Joe Orlando hired both Wolfman and Wein as freelance writers.[8] Wein's first professional comics story was "Eye of the Beholder" in DC's Teen Titans #18 (Dec. 1968), for which he co-created, with Wolfman, Red Star, the first official Russian superhero in the DC universe. Neal Adams was called upon to rewrite and redraw a Teen Titans story which had been written by Wein and Wolfman. The story, titled "Titans Fit the Battle of Jericho!", would have introduced DC's first African American superhero but was rejected by publisher Carmine Infantino.[9] The revised story appeared in Teen Titans #20 (April 1969).
Wein's first superhero work for Marvel was a one-off story in Daredevil #71 (Dec. 1970) co-written with staff writer/editor Roy Thomas. Wein later began scripting sporadic issues of such DC superhero titles as Adventure Comics (featuring Supergirl and Zatanna), The Flash, and Superman, while continuing to write anthological mysteries, along with well-received stories for the semi-anthological occult title The Phantom Stranger #14–26 (Aug. 1971 – Sept. 1973).
Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson created the horror character the Swamp ThinginThe House of Secrets #92 (July 1971).[11] Over the next several decades, the Swamp Thing would star in DC series and miniseries – including an initial 1972–76 series begun by Wein and Wrightson,[12] and the early 1980s The Saga of the Swamp Thing, edited by Wein and featuring early work by writer Alan Moore—as well as two theatrical films, and a syndicated television series. Abigail Arcane, a major supporting character in the character's mythos, was introduced by Wein and Wrightson in Swamp Thing #3 (March 1973).[13] Wein wrote the second story featuring Man-Thing (written circa May 1971, published in June 1972), introducing Barbara Morse and the concept that "Whatever Knows Fear Burns at the Man-Thing's Touch!", and later edited Steve Gerber's run on that title.
In the fall of 1972, Wein and writers Gerry Conway and Steve Englehart crafted a metafictional unofficial crossover spanning titles from both major comics companies. Each comic featured Englehart, Conway, and Wein, as well as Wein's first wife Glynis, interacting with Marvel or DC characters at the Rutland Halloween ParadeinRutland, Vermont. Beginning in Marvel's Amazing Adventures #16 (by Englehart with art by Bob Brown and Frank McLaughlin), the story continued in DC's Justice League of America #103 (by Wein, Dillin and Dick Giordano), and concluded in Marvel's Thor #207 (by Conway and penciler John Buscema).[17][18] As Englehart explained in 2010, "It certainly seemed like a radical concept and we knew that we had to be subtle (laughs) and each story had to stand on its own, but we really worked it out. It's really worthwhile to read those stories back to back to back – it didn't matter to us that one was at DC and two were at Marvel – I think it was us being creative, thinking what would be really cool to do."[19]
He briefly wrote the "Batman" feature in Detective Comics and produced a storyline with artist Jim Aparo and in which Batman was framed for the murder of Talia al Ghul[22] and battled Sterling Silversmith for the first time.[23]
In the early 1970s, Wein began writing regularly for Marvel Comics. He succeeded Roy Thomas as editor-in-chief of the color-comics line in 1974, staying a little over a year before handing the reins to Wolfman. Remaining at Marvel as a writer, Wein had lengthy runs on Marvel Team-Up,[24]The Amazing Spider-Man,[25]The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Fantastic Four, as well as shorter runs on such titles as The Defenders[26] and "Brother Voodoo". Wein co-created Wolverine with artist John Romita Sr. during his run on The Incredible Hulk.[27] Wein's story "Between Hammer and Anvil" from The Incredible Hulk vol. 2, #182 (Dec. 1974) was later cited in Tony Isabella's book 1,000 Comics You Must Read.[28]
In 1975, he and artist Dave Cockrum revived the Stan Lee / Jack Kirbymutant-superhero team the X-Men after a half-decade's hiatus, reformatting the membership in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975).[29] Among the characters the duo created for the series were Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus, and Thunderbird. Wein plotted the early "new X-Men" stories with artist Cockrum. These issues were then scripted as Uncanny X-Men #94-95 by Chris Claremont, who subsequently developed the title into one of Marvel's leading franchises. In 2009, Claremont said, "The history of modern comics would be incredibly different if you took [Wein's] contributions out of the mix. The fact he doesn't get credit for it half the time is disgraceful. We owe a lot of what we are – certainly on the X-Men – to Len and to Dave [Cockrum]".[30]
In 1977, following an offer to script the "Batman" feature in Detective Comics, Wein left Marvel to work exclusively at DC Comics as a scriptwriter and editor.
Following his second stint at DC and a move to the West Coast, Wein served as editor-in-chief of Disney Comics for three years in the early 1990s. After leaving Disney, Wein began writing and story editing for such animated television series as X-Men, Batman, Spider-Man, Street Fighter, ExoSquad, Phantom 2040, Godzilla, Pocket Dragon Adventures, ReBoot and War Planets: Shadow Raiders. In 2001, he and Wolfman wrote the screenplay Gene Pool for the production company Helkon, and later wrote a prequel to the screenplay for a one-shot comic book for IDW Publishing.
Wein's first wife was Glynis Oliver,[49] a comics colorist who spent years on the X-Men titles; they were married some time prior to 1972. Following their 1985 divorce,[50] he married Christine Valada, a photographer and attorney, in 1991, and became stepfather to Michael Bieniewicz-Valada.[1]
On April 6, 2009, Wein's California home burned down with considerable loss of property and mementos, including his Shazam Awards. He and his wife also lost their dog, Sheba, to the fire.[51] Beginning October 26, 2009, Valada appeared on and won the television game show Jeopardy!, becoming a four-time champion with winnings of over $60,000. She indicated on the show that she would use the money to recover or replace much of the artwork and books the couple lost in the fire.[52]
Wein underwent triple-bypass heart surgery on February 10, 2015.[53] He died on September 10, 2017.[1]
^"Past Recipients- 2000s". Comic-con International: San Diego. SAN DIEGO COMIC CONVENTION. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
^Friedt, Stephan (October 2014). "Here Come the Microbots". Back Issue! (76). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 11–13.
^McAvennie 2010, p. 146: "Swamp Thing' was the name of Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson's turn-of-the-century tale, and its popularity with readers led a modernized version of the character into his own series a year later."
^McAvennie 2010, p. 153: "Following his debut in House of Secrets #92 in 1971, the Swamp Thing grew into his own series, albeit with a reimagining of his origins by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson."
^McAvennie 2010, p. 154: "Scribe Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson left Swamp Thing some company... the woman who would become Swamp Thing's soul mate, Abigail Arcane."
^McAvennie 2010, p. 152: "Through an impromptu team-up of the JLA and the Justice Society on Earth-2, writer Len Wein and artist Dick Dillin ushered in the return of DC's Seven Soldiers of Victory."
^McAvennie 2010, p. 156: "The annual Justice League-Justice Society get-together resulted in scribe Len Wein and artist Dick Dillin transporting both teams to the alternate reality of Earth-X. There, Nazi Germany ruled after winning a prolonged World War II and only a group of champions called the Freedom Fighters remained to oppose the regime."
^McAvennie 2010, p. 160: "Through the words of scripter Len Wein and the art of Dick Dillin, the masked menace of Libra established himself as a grave threat to the World's Greatest Heroes."
^McAvennie 2010, p. 153: "Starting as a back-up feature in the pages of Action Comics, scribe Len Wein and artist Carmine Infantino introduced Christopher Chance, a master of disguise who would turn himself into a human target – provided you could meet his price."
^Manning 2014, p. 118: "Len Wein and artist Jim Aparo began a five-issue uninterrupted storyline that was quite an event in 1975. In this interesting tale, Batman was framed for murder by his old enemy Ra's al Ghul."
^Manning & Cowsill 2012, p. 85: "To signify the start of this new era Spider-Man's new regular chronicler writer Len Wein would come onboard with [The Amazing Spider-Man #151]."
^DeAngelo, Daniel (July 2013). "The Not-Ready-For-Super-Team Players A History of the Defenders". Back Issue! (65). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 6–7.
^Sanderson 2008, p. 167: "Len Wein wrote and Herb Trimpe drew Wolverine's cameo appearance in The Incredible Hulk #180 and his premiere in issue #181."
^Buttery, Jarrod (February 2014). "Hulk Smash!: The Incredible Hulk in the 1970s". Back Issue! (70). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 11–12.
^Sanderson 2008, p. 169: "[Editor Roy] Thomas realized that if X-Men was to be successfully revived, it needed an exciting new concept. Thomas came up with just such an idea: the X-Men would become an international team, with members from other countries as well as the United States. Writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum were assigned to the new project and the result was Giant-Size X-Men #1."
^McAvennie 2010, p. 180: "Batman #307 (Jan. 1979) Writer Len Wein and artist John Calnan introduced Bruce Wayne's new executive, Lucius Fox, in this issue of Batman."
^McAvennie 2010, p. 179: "Writer Len Wein and artist Marshall Rogers vividly depicted Batman's battle with a third Clayface."
^Manning 2010, p. 187: "Written by Len Wein, with art by John Byrne and Jim Aparo, The Untold Legend of the Batman... delved into the origin of the fabled Dark Knight."
^Manning 2010, p. 195: "Written by Len Wein and illustrated by José Luis García-López, the comic saw... Batman and the Hulk doing battle with both the Joker and Marvel's ultra-powerful Shaper of Worlds."
^Mangels, Andy (February 2011). "Opening the Box: Pandora Pann's Lost Adventures". Back Issue! (46). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 37.
^Manning 2010, p. 219: "The Blue Beetle swung into his own DC series with the help of writer Len Wein and artist Paris Cullins."
^Greenberger, Robert (August 2017). "It Sounded Like a Good Idea at the Time: A Look at the DC Challenge!". Back Issue! (98). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 36–43.
^Manning 2010, p. 221: "DC's next big crossover showcased John Byrne's pencils on all six of the miniseries' issues. Entitled Legends, this new limited series was plotted by writer John Ostrander and scripted by Len Wein.... By the series' end, the stage was set for several new ongoing titles, including... the Suicide Squad, as well as the Justice League."
^Schedeen, Jesse (November 20, 2014). "Batman '66: The Lost Episode #1 Review". IGN. Archived from the original on November 23, 2014. Writer Harlan Ellison got as far as pitching a Two-Face-themed episode before the combination of the villain's gruesome appearance and Ellison's conflicts with ABC executives killed the idea. Decades later, that pitch has become the inspiration for this oversized Batman '66 comic.
^Thomas, Roy. "Bullpen Bulletins". Marvel comics cover-dated January 1974.
^"Glynis Oliver (b. 1949)". Grand Comics Database. Spouse - Len Wein (b. 1948). Notes: Divorced in 1985.
McAvennie, Michael (2010). "1970s". In Dolan (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year.
Manning, Matthew K. (2010). "1980s". In Dolan (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year.
Manning, Matthew K.; Cowsill, Alan (2012). "1970s". Spider-Man Chronicle: Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 68. ISBN978-0756692360.
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