| Len Wein |
Article Index for Len |
Website Links For Len |
Information AboutLen Wein |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT LEN WEIN | |
| 1948 births | |
| american comics writers | |
| comic book editors | |
| jewish american writers | |
| living people | |
| people from new york city | |
|
. Cover art by EARLY CAREER Wein's first professional comics story was "Eye of the Beholder" in DC's '' Teen Titans '' #18 (Dec. 1968), where with co-writer and fellow future-pro Marv Wolfman he introduced the male character Starfire who was eventually renamed Red Star . Late the following year, Wein was publishing Anthological mystery stories for DC's '' The House Of Secrets '' and Marvel's ''Tower of Shadows'' and ''Chamber of Darkness''. He additionally began writing for DC's Romance comic ''Secret Hearts'' and the company's Toy-line tie-in '' Hot Wheels ''; Skywald Publications ' Horror -comics Magazines ''Nightmare'' and ''Psycho'' and its short-lived Western comic books; and Gold Key 's '' Mod Wheels '', '' Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery'', the toyline tie-in '' Microbots '', and the TV-series tie-ins '' Star Trek '' and '' The Twilight Zone ''. DC AND MARVEL COMICS Wein's first Superhero work was not for DC but Marvel, with 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 all but one issue of the semi-anthological Occult title '' The Phantom Stranger '' #14-26 (Aug. 1971 - Sept. 1973). Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson created the Horror character Swamp Thing in ''The House of Secrets'' #92 (July 1971). Over the next several decades, Swamp Thing would star in DC series and miniseries — including an initial 1972-96 series begun by Wein and Wrightson, and the mid-1980s ''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 . He wrote a highly well-regarded run of '' Justice League Of America '' (issues #100-118) with artist Dick Dillin . He co-created, with artist Carmine Infantino , and wrote the backup feature " The Human Target " in '' Action Comics '', '' Detective Comics '' and '' The Brave And The Bold ''. In the early 1970s, Len 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 '' The Amazing Spider-Man '', '' The Incredible Hulk '', '' The Mighty Thor '' and '' Fantastic Four ''. In 1975, he and artist Dave Cockrum revived the Stan Lee / Jack Kirby Mutant - Superhero team the X-Men after a half-decade's hiatus, reformatting the membership. Among the characters the duo created were Nightcrawler , Storm , and Colossus ; Wein had additionally created Wolverine earlier, with artists John Romita Sr. and Herb Trimpe , in ''The Incredible Hulk''. Wein plotted the next two X-Men stories with artist Cockrum. These issues were then scripted by Chris Claremont , who subsequently developed the series into what became, with Spider-Man, one of Marvel's leading franchises. RETURN TO DC At the end of the 1970s, following a dispute with Marvel management, Wein returned to DC as a writer and then eventually an editor. He scripted a long run of '' Batman '' and collaborated on '' Green Lantern '' with artists Dave Gibbons and Mark Farmer . He also dialogued the mini-series '' Legends '' over the plots of John Ostrander and the artwork of John Byrne and Karl Kesel . As editor, he worked on the first mini-series '' Camelot 3000 '', and such successful series as '' The New Teen Titans '', '' Crisis On Infinite Earths '', '' All-Star Squadron '', and Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons 's acclaimed and highly influential '' Watchmen '' Miniseries . Wein later wrote a '' Blue Beetle '' revival, scripted a revamped '' Wonder Woman '' over Penciller George Perez 's plots, and created the superhero '' Gunfire '' with artist Steve Erwin . LATER CAREER Following his second stint at DC, Wein began writing and story editing for such '' for Dark Horse Comics . He has also written comic-book stories for Bongo Comics ' TV-series tie-in '' The Simpsons ''. His first wife was Glynis Oliver , a comics Colorist who spent years on the ''X-Men'' titles. His second wife is M.C. Valada , a Photographer and entertainment attorney. Wein won the Shazam Award for Best Writer (Dramatic) in 1972, for '''', from DC's Vertigo imprint. REFERENCES |
|
|