Tag: Len Wein

The Justice League at 60, Part Three: Into Orbit

Tom Bondurant jumps into the ‘Satellite Era’ of the 1970s and ’80s this week, as he continues his look 60 years of the Justice League.

Check out part one and part two of this series!

What we’re calling the “Satellite Era” of Justice League of America began in November 1968’s issue #66, several issues before the team would move into its new headquarters stationed geosynchronously 22,300 miles above Metropolis. Still, writer Gardner Fox’s departure with #65 was the end of an era which stretched arguably back to the Justice Society; and successor Denny O’Neil was making changes even before the satellite was built.

Just as the Silver Age was dominated by Fox and artist Mike Sekowsky, the Satellite Era would be directed mostly by writer Gerry Conway and artist Dick Dillin. This period lasted until November 1984’s issue #232 (after which the team had moved out of the satellite for good); and of those 164 regular issues and two Annuals, Conway wrote 81 and Dillin pencilled 116. Because Conway arrived long after Dillin started, the two only collaborated on 39 issues. Nevertheless, one or the other was part of just about every JLA issue from November 1968 through February 1984.

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What Are You Reading? Justice League, X-Men and more!

See what the Smash Pages crew has checked off their “to read” list lately.

Welcome once again to What Are You Reading?, our weekly journey into the center of our reading lists. This time around, hear about Tom’s endless trek through old Justice League issues, Shane’s adventures with 1990s X-Men comics and my own scattershot batch of comics.

And as always, tell us what comics you’ve been exploring in the comments.

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Artists pay tribute to Wein + Cockrum in ‘Giant-Size X-Men’ recreation

Tribute issue arrives from Marvel in May.

Almost 40 artists will come together to recreate Giant-Size X-Men #1 for the milestone issue’s 45 anniversary. Each page will be redrawn by a different artist, including Mark Brooks, Carmen Carnero, Alex Ross, Chris Samnee, Kevin Nowlan, Kris Anka, Aaron Kuder and Mike Hawthorne, among many others.

“The artists were so excited to work on it because the art in this book inspired them all,” said Editor Jordan D. White. “Everybody involved loves this comic book and is doing amazing work. You’ve gotta check it out.”

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Wein’s final Swamp Thing story will appear in ‘Swamp Thing Winter Special’

The special will also include a new story by Tom King and Jason Fabok.

Before he passed away in September, Swamp Thing co-creator Len Wein was working with Kelley Jones on a follow-up to their 2016 miniseries featuring Alec Holland’s alter ego. Although the miniseries will never be finished, Entertainment Weekly reports that the first issue will appear in Swamp Thing Winter Special #1, with other stories.

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Writer, editor and Hall of Famer Len Wein passes away

The co-creator of Swamp Thing, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Human Target and so many more characters passes away.

Len Wein, co-creator of Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Storm and Swamp Thing, has passed away at 69, according to multiple comics industry professionals, including Paul Kupperberg.

While no cause of death has been reported, the 69-year-old Hall of Fame member has suffered from poor health over the last few years and has been in and out of the hospital for foot surgery over the last few months, according to posts on his Facebook and Twitter feeds.

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