In A League Of His Own!

I was very saddened to read of the passing of veteran comic book writer Len Wein. Wein was part of that wave of comic book talent which came onto the scene in the late 60's and early 70's, bringing a fan's adoration for the four-colored format. The old guard were beginning to give way as the youngsters who had birthed the comic book were reaching proper retirement age. Wein and his cohorts like Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, Mike Friedrich, Denny O'Neil, and especially his close friend Marv Wolfman brought a new energy to the field. My awareness of the particular talent of Wein was when he took over the Justice League of America with its centennial issue. He produced something which at the time was remarkable. (Some years before I'd been lucky enough to get hold of and read the evocative Teen Titans issue which introduced Red Star, and only later would learn this was Wein's first published tale written with his amigo Marv Wolfman and drawn with aplomb by vet Bill Draut.)

In tandem with longtime artists Dick Dillin, Joe Giella, and Dick Giordano, Wein crafted a tale for the celebratory centennial comic which not only teamed up the Justice League and their Earth-2 counterparts the Justice Society but added to the mix another team - The Seven Soldiers of Victory. The tale required three whole issues, remarkable in itself a time. Wein along with Dillin and Giordano went on to produce several years worth of League yarns which saw important things happen like the official entry of Elongated Man, Red Tornado to the list of heroes and brought back Fawcett's heroes from Earth-X redubbed the Freedom Fighters.  Snapper Carr made his amends sort of with the team he'd betrayed and the we learned of the tragic fate of Sandman's partner Sandy. Wein produced three of the classic JLA-JSA team-ups in his relatively brief tenure but they were three of the best.

Many will mention quite properly in remembrance of Len Wein how along with the late Berni Wrightson he co-created Swamp Thing and with the late Herb Trimpe the deadly Wolverine and how he had much to do with the early revival of the X-Men.

All this is true, but for me it will always be his turn on the JLA which stands in my memory, when Len Wein took the heroes fashioned by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky and refined by Denny O'Neil and Mike Friedrich and Dick Dillin and made them well and truly a league of his own.

Here are the lush and handsome covers for the JLA stories Wein wrote, some of Nick Cardy's best along with a nifty one by Dick Giordano.

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