Len Strazewski, writer of seminal comics classic such as Prime, Justice Society of America, and The Fly, passed away Wednesday night. According to a statement released on behalf of his family, he had just been released from the ICU of a Chicagoland hospital after battling an infection. He was 71.
“I’m sorry to report that Len died last night. Following months of infections and hospital stays, he died in his sleep at a quiet, peaceful nursing home in Evanston. Thank you for your thoughts and for your prayers,” a nephew said on social media. “Now turn your thoughts to all the ways that Len made you laugh, made you think and, yes, made you groan from time to time. That should keep us all busy for a while yet! Details on arrangements to come.”
Strazewski may best be known as one of the founding creators in the Malibu stable of yore, helping to create indie superhero juggernauts Prime and Prototype. In addition to Malibu, Strazewski wrote a series of hits at DC including Starman, JSA, The Fly, The Flash, and Action Comics Weekly amongst others.
Though folks around these parts will know Strazweski for his comics work, his natural calling may have come in the form of journalism. He notched bylines at both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times, and spent decades writing about healthcare verticals, even performing training sessions on behalf of Society of Professional Journalists, Investigative Reporters and Editors.
He also served as a journalism professor at Columbia College Chicago, where he also served a member of the college’s Board of Trustees.
Our thoughts are with his friends and family at this time.
