Len Wein, co-creator of Swamp Thing and Wolverine, has died at 69

[pullquote class=”right”]“Hi, I’m Len Wein creator of Wolverine, Swamp Thing and god knows how many other characters…”[/pullquote]

Legendary comic book writer and editor Len Wein, co-creator of Swamp Thing and Wolverine, has died at the age of 69. 

Wein was partly responsible for the revival of the X-Men in the 1975 Giant-Size X-Men #1, an issue that introduced Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Thunderbird, and made Wolverine a part of the X-Men world.

Wein’s first professional comics story was “Eye of the Beholder” in DC’s Teen Titans #18 in late 1968, and began a successful career at both DC and Marvel, including a brief stint on Daredevil, co-written with staff writer/editor Roy Thomas.

Of course, it was with The House of Secrets #92 that he co-created Swamp Thing with artist Bernie Wrightson, who also passed away in March this year. The character would go on to high profile status under Alan Moore, and become a platform for the introduction of other characters such as John Constantine. After his stint at Marvel, that included his X-Men work, he returned to DC to edit historic series such as Camelot 3000 and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ iconic Watchmen. 

The House of Secrets #92 (cover date July 1972). Writer: Len Wein. Artist: Bernie Wrightson

He had undergone heart surgery in 2015, and as recent as 8 September his official account tweeted “Out of latest surgery, which went very well.”

Wein was once kind enough to record a brief bumper for our podcast Behind the Panels back in 2013, that began “Hi, I’m Len Wein creator of Wolverine, Swamp Thing and god knows how many other characters.” It seems like a fitting summation of a career that has touched so many corners of the comic book world that we’ll be feeling their impact for years. He will be missed.