Per his official Facebook page, writer Roger McKenzie passed away on the morning of Friday, August 21. He had been dealing with end-stage heart failure and kidney disease for several months, and died peacefully while in hospice care. McKenzie was best known for his run on Marvel’s Daredevil (issues #151-66) from 1978 to 1980, which saw the introduction of Ben Urich in issue #153, and Frank Miller join the series as artist on #158.
McKenzie also wrote Captain America (issues #226-237, #243-45), Ghost Rider (issues #28-34), and Battlestar Galactica (#1–7, 11–16) during the same period, and contributed to the anthology Marvel Fanfare sporadically from 1982 to 1987. He originally pitched the idea of Captain America running for President with Don Perlin, and received a story credit when Roger Stern and John Byrne used it in issue #250. Other publishers he worked for included DC, Comico (where he co-created Next Man), and Gold Key.
Born on November 8, 1950, McKenzie made his debut with a story in Warren’s Vampirella #50 (1976), and continued to contribute to the magazine, Creepy, and Eerie until 1981. He wrote the sci-fi adventure newspaper strip Star Hawks from 1980 to 1981, and then created the similarly themed Sun Runners with Pat Broderick, which ran at various publishers (including Marvel’s Amazing Comics imprint) from 1984 to 1987.
He founded the publisher Pied Piper Comics with Mark L. Hamlin, which lasted from 1986 to 1988. After a lengthy hiatus, he returned to comics as executive editor of the Charlton Neo imprint, where he wrote stories for revivals of The Charlton Arrow and Charlton Wild Frontier. He also launched a webcomic starring the Charlton hero Spookman with Sandy Carruthers, and returned to Marvel for a story in 2016’s Daredevil Annual.
McKenzie is survived by his wife Tami, and other family members, including three pets. Marvel responded to the news, saying he was “a gifted writer, [whose] work on Daredevil helped introduce the darker tone that defined the character for years. He’s had a lasting impact on Marvel’s storytelling, from Daredevil to Cap and beyond. Our condolences to his family and friends.”
