Scans_Daily

It's a sad day for comics and media fans, as we learn that Marty Pasko has died, of natural casues, aged just 65.

Starting out, as happened back in the day, as one of the more prolific letter writers to comics, he started a fanzine when those were a new thing, and moved on to a sort of intern position with DC in the early 70's, where he worked for Julie Schwartz

His output as a writer, and editor, was prolific (comics.org lists hundreds of stories and articles), and he worked on fltitles like Justice League of America, Doctor Fate, Metal Men and Wonder Woman (in the period just after she lost the mod street clothes look, and returned to her classic costume (He answers some questions about the experience (and the cross section of comics and media and inherent problems over the years) here, in his typically frank manner. though it ends with a comment which is terribly sad in light of today's news)

He is, though, perhaps best known for his prodigious output on Superman titles, where he set the tone for much of the 70's.

He also wrote an often, and unfairly, overlooked run on Swamp Thing, just before Alan Moore took over, which is going to overshadow pretty much everything that came before it I guess.

He also wrote perhaps the greatest Batman movie ever, "The Mask of the Phantasm", and if that had been all he'd achieved he would still be lauded for it, but he really did contribute so many stories over such a long period of time and that should not be forgotten either.

Mark Evanier posts an obituary here, and Bleeding Cool has a list of commemorative comments from pro's about him here,