Comic book writer Len Strazewski passed away in the late hours of April 27, 2026.

In the 1990s, Len wrote a wide range of projects for DC Comics. He handled the Phantom Lady feature in Action Comics Weekly, took over from Roger Stern on Starman, and wrote two Justice Society series—one set in the 1950s and another in the present day, focusing on the team’s return from exile and their struggle to adapt to a changed world.

He also wrote a modern take on Jack Kirby’s Fly for DC’s “Impact” line and contributed guest stories to The Flash, including a Jay Garrick story for the 1990 50th anniversary special and a Wally West tale in the main title. As a founding member of Malibu’s Ultraverse, he co-created Prototyp,e as well as the popular series, Prime, with artist Norm Breyfogle. When Marvel acquired Malibu in 1995, the line was quickly folded and abandoned. Len stepped away from comics—but not entirely.

I met Len in 1993, when he was writing DC’s Justice Society of America with artist Mike Parobeck. Through a chance encounter, Mike began mentoring me, reviewing my work each month. When he moved to Florida, Len took over. He didn’t go easy on me. My first showing, he tore my art apart—pointing out every flaw, and then some. I listened, adjusted, and kept working. The best advice he gave me was simple: Don’t waste space—treat each page like a paragraph, get in and get out. He backed that up by giving me Prototype and Prime scripts to practice on.

While I studied at the American Academy of Art in the late ’90s, Len continued to review my work, even building stories around my class assignments. After I graduated, I began working professionally, starting with educational comics. Len brought me onto an independent project he was doing through Columbia College Chicago, where he taught journalism. He later helped me secure more consistent work with AC Comics, where we collaborated on several Stormy Tempest stories. After that he brought me in to pencil Superhuman Guide to Business which was to be a business book, half-text and half-comics, with his friend, Dave Galanti. Paul Fricke, who had worked with Len and Mike Parobeck on DC Comics’ The Fly did the inks. The art still exists although the book has not been published.

Since 2016, I have been self-publishing an indie series called Visitations, about a group of ghost superheroes. When I first came up with the idea, I took it to Len. He loved it and helped me develop backstories for all the characters. (I’ll be honest—he actually came up with all of them.) Even though he never claimed credit, a great deal of Visitations came from Len, including a story about Barack Obama the night before the 2008 election (Issue #7), the story of a horse delivering milk after its owner had died—saving the family farm—and the gruesome end of one of the main characters (Issue #9).

Len avoided COVID for years, but it finally caught up with him this January and hit him hard. Though the virus passed, the complications left him bedridden for months. I visited him often, and he was getting stronger. Then, last week, an infection set in, and he didn’t recover.

Len Strazewski was a very good writer and an extremely generous man. I am deeply grateful for his lessons, his encouragement, and, most of all, his friendship. Much of his 1990s work remains out of print, though some can be found in collections like The Flash by Mark Waid Vol. 1 (2016), The Justice Society of America: A Celebration of 75 Years (2015), and Justice Society of America: The Demise of Justice (2020). His single issues are still out there in comic shops. Visitations continues through me, and I’m working with other artists to bring his unpublished work to a wider audience.