shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,871
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Post by shaxper on Jul 8, 2015 14:52:07 GMT -5
I think he's one of the most under-credited editors of all time, especially for his oversight of Batman and the New Teen Titans in the mid 1980s, at which time both titles suddenly experienced a huge amount of continuity and character development. He also brought the absolute finest artists of the time (Newton, Colon, Alcala) to the Batman titles.
As a writer, he was okay.
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Post by Action Ace on Jul 8, 2015 16:02:28 GMT -5
I find him a consistently above average writer and probably an even better editor.
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Post by berkley on Jul 8, 2015 17:39:48 GMT -5
Because of his run on Swamp Thing, I used to rate him pretty highly. But nothing else he wrote ever really stood out to me, so I've come to think of him as a dependable but unexceptional writer who got lucky once.
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Post by earl on Jul 8, 2015 18:04:50 GMT -5
I think Len Wein has a pretty strong legacy in comics both as a writer and editor. I always liked his Batman run and obviously the Swamp Thing, Hulk/Wolverine and Uncanny X-Men issues he did have become quite iconic. Haven't read that period of JLA, but any 70s JLA is pretty much when the title was 'classic' if of it's era. I think his Spider-man and Hulk were both solid 70s Marvel comics too. It's also hard to argue with some of the comics he edited for DC as some of those are obvious classics of the period. I always thought there was some very good artistic symmetry that Wein was the one to work with Alan Moore on Swamp Thing.
I know for me, I generally prefer 70s and 80s DC and Marvel comics to anything Marvel and DC afterwards as perhaps they didn't create the characters, they were true to them more often than not.
I think like Gerry Conway and others, he went into working in Hollywood in animation and tv. Like Conway, Chaykin and others have returned to comics to do some work late in their career
I thought Wein's one shot about Libra during Final Crisis was quite good.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,871
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Post by shaxper on Jul 8, 2015 18:19:32 GMT -5
Oh yeah. Len Wein on Hulk. That was classic.
And, of course, there would have been no X-Men revival without him.
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 8, 2015 18:51:14 GMT -5
He wrote my favorite Bronze age JLA run. Issues 100-114 were just great.
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Post by benday-dot on Jul 8, 2015 18:56:15 GMT -5
Len Wein on Hulk is definitive to me. I grew up with his take on 'ole Greenskin and nothing I've read before or since (including Peter David) comes to me as good as I take Wein's great run to be.
And yes, his Swamp Thing was great as well.
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Post by dupersuper on Jul 8, 2015 19:45:24 GMT -5
He seems like a nice young man.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jul 8, 2015 22:40:07 GMT -5
Len Wein has claimed that his favorite characters are Batman and the Hulk, so we're kindred spirits. I've read a big chunk of his Hulk run (from Sal Buscema's debut to Roger Stern taking over) and I think he's one of the few writers who understood how to use the savage Hulk properly and make his stories interesting; he actually enjoyed and wanted to write that version, so that certainly helped.
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Post by MDG on Jul 9, 2015 8:10:17 GMT -5
Because of his run on Swamp Thing, I used to rate him pretty highly. But nothing else he wrote ever really stood out to me, so I've come to think of him as a dependable but unexceptional writer who got lucky once. I agree, amending the end to " once in a while." |
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Jul 9, 2015 8:57:49 GMT -5
Len Wein on Hulk is definitive to me. I grew up with his take on 'ole Greenskin and nothing I've read before or since (including Peter David) comes to me as good as I take Wein's great run to be. And yes, his Swamp Thing was great as well. I'd assume due to my lack of many pre 300 Hulk issues Wein was early 200's or before? I have a splattering of Mantlo's issues (who would have thought a talking raccoon was best unintentional investment) in the 260-280's. Then I jump back to Warlocks appearances in 170's. How did Wein lay it out? Was it like Hulk's banishment with a different event each issue pretty much or an ongoing tale like Gray Hulk? Edit: And his Swamp Thing is some of the best comics period. Most any other ST is just average compared to his. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 9, 2015 9:29:09 GMT -5
Wein's run on Incredible Hulk ran from #179-220 (with Roger Stern scripting from Len's plots for the last three) plus Annuals #5-6 (with Chris Claremont scripting 5). He kept the title character as a slow-witted wanderer, with much of his sub-plotting focusing on the supporting cast. During his run, he introduced Wolverine, Hammer and Anvil, Paragon a.k.a. Her, Glorian and The Constrictor; guest-starred the Defenders, Man-Thing, Jack of Hearts and Nick Fury, featured rematches with the Missing Link, Wendigo, Zzzax, Mole Man, the Toad Men, the Shaper of Worlds, Abomination, the Absorbing Man, the Bi-Beast and the Rhino, returned Hulk to the microworld of K'ai , furthered the "They Who Wield Power" storyline he'd introduced in Marvel Team-Up, formally tied Doctor Druid and a buncha baddies from the pre-hero monster comics to the Marvel Universe, restored Doc Samson's super-powers, and killed two members of the supporting cast. Just listing all the above makes me want to go back and re-read it. Maybe I will!
Cei-U!
I summon the killer run!
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Jul 9, 2015 9:49:55 GMT -5
Paragon aka Her or Kismet?... that would be Annual #6 right? I do have that. Discovering Her became just as much an obsession to find Her appearances and much as Him/Adam.
That's quite the impressive cast of characters for 40 issues. I don't think I am familiar with Hammer and Anvil or Glorian. Nice to see Jack of Hearts and the Shaper of Worlds in there. I liked K'ai. Wasn't that were Hulk went when he was banished from Earth by Strange? Or am I mixing up my worlds Hulk has visited?
I will defiantly look into a collection of this, even if it's an Essential from the library. Though I'd imagine the lack of color would take a lot from it. Thanks for the information Cei-U.
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 9, 2015 10:03:14 GMT -5
Paragon aka Her or Kismet?... that would be Annual #6 right? I do have that. Discovering Her became just as much an obsession to find Her appearances and much as Him/Adam. That's quite the impressive cast of characters for 40 issues. I don't think I am familiar with Hammer and Anvil or Glorian. Nice to see Jack of Hearts and the Shaper of Worlds in there. I liked K'ai. Wasn't that were Hulk went when he was banished from Earth by Strange? Or am I mixing up my worlds Hulk has visited? I will defiantly look into a collection of this, even if it's an Essential from the library. Though I'd imagine the lack of color would take a lot from it. Thanks for the information Cei-U. You're most welcome, adam. K'ai is the world co-created by Harlan Ellison and Roy Thomas where Hulk has Banner's mind and intermittently rules alongside its empress Jarella. The dimension Strange exiles Ol' Purple Pants to is the Crossroads. Cei-U! I summon the interdimensional road map! |
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Jul 9, 2015 10:15:32 GMT -5
Paragon aka Her or Kismet?... that would be Annual #6 right? I do have that. Discovering Her became just as much an obsession to find Her appearances and much as Him/Adam. That's quite the impressive cast of characters for 40 issues. I don't think I am familiar with Hammer and Anvil or Glorian. Nice to see Jack of Hearts and the Shaper of Worlds in there. I liked K'ai. Wasn't that were Hulk went when he was banished from Earth by Strange? Or am I mixing up my worlds Hulk has visited? I will defiantly look into a collection of this, even if it's an Essential from the library. Though I'd imagine the lack of color would take a lot from it. Thanks for the information Cei-U. You're most welcome, adam. K'ai is the world co-created by Harlan Ellison and Roy Thomas where Hulk has Banner's mind and intermittently rules alongside its empress Jarella. The dimension Strange exiles Ol' Purple Pants to is the Crossroads. Cei-U! I summon the interdimensional road map! Peter David used, Jarella, Shaper of Worlds, and Glorian in his run when Hulk was Joe Fixit. So I do know who Glorian is. It just took me time to think where I read K'ai and Jarella. (There wasn't enough Jeff Purves Hulk issues.) |
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