Len Wein Quotations

A true friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be anywhere else.

I always wanted to fire rays out of my fingertips.

I try to find what makes even the worst, most despicable character sympathetic at his or her core.

Lord of the Rings, I think, is far and away the most brilliantly done stuff.

The most unrealistic thing I've ever read in comics is when some group of characters calls themselves the Brotherhood of Evil or the Masters of Evil. I don't believe any character believes their goals to be truly evil.

There is an ancient legend which warns that, should we ever learn our true origin, our universe will instantly be destroyed.

It all depends on which side of the desk you're sitting on.

When someone writes to tell me something I've written made them laugh or cry, I've done my job and done it well. The rest is all semantics.

You can read a dozen different textbooks or how-to manuals that will tell you the basic rules of what makes a story - a beginning, a middle, and an end.

Art is always in the eyes of the beholder. Only posterity has the right to point out our mistakes.

I try not to violate what came before me and to leave lots of wiggle room for those who will follow.

I've never sat down and thought about the difference between plot and theme. To me, that's never been important.

When I got my first glimpse of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, my breath caught. In that single instant, he was Wolverine.

In these litigious times, if you're a beginner, it's becoming harder and harder to get your work to the people who might actually be able to hire you.

It's all about who's where on the food chain. When I'm the story editor, I expect my writers to follow my vision. When I'm working for another editor, I'm obliged to follow their vision.

A writer writes. Period. No matter if someone is buying your work or not.

I think there's something inherently dishonest in trying to go back and mess with the past.

I became an art major, took every art class my school had to offer. In college, I majored in Advertising Art and Design.

I had never really thought of myself as a writer; any writing I had done was just to give myself something to draw.

I hate the crazy, neurotic characters beyond a certain point.

I realized the only thing I owed my audience was my own judgment and my own best effort.

I was a very sickly kid. While I was in the hospital at age 7, my Dad brought me a stack of comic books to keep me occupied. I was hooked.

I'm a neurotic New York Jew by birth. Creating characters is second nature to me.

I've had editors over the years who couldn't find a clue if it was stapled to their butt.

If a story isn't working, I'm simply unable to finish it. That's what usually tells me something is wrong.

In general, shorter is better. If you can encapsulate your idea into a single captivating sentence, you're halfway home.

The bottom line always remains the same: What is the basic humanity of the character? How do I make them resonate with the reader?

These days, it seems that if you're not already in place, you can't get there from here.

Unfortunately, there are writers whose only concern is how good they could make themselves look on a title.

What makes a story is how well it manages to connect with the reader, the visceral effect it has.

People who were more concerned with themselves and looking good to their readers then they were with the characters sacrificed a series for the sake of a story.

Were there stories I wrote along the way that were terrible clinkers? God, yes. But they were all a product of their time, and I did the best I could.

When I'm my own editor, there's very little difference between the first draft and the final. I write what feels right to begin with. I rarely make any major changes.

I've always thought of myself as an organic writer, rather than a cerebral one. I feel my way along as I go, hoping I'll get to the place I intend to reach.

Sometimes you're not even sure which of your stories were failures. There are things I've written that I thought were complete catastrophes when I finished with them that have gone on to generate some of my most positive feedback.

Never be embarrassed by the things you cannot do. Be embarrassed by the things you can do and don't do well.

The villain is always more entertaining because he has fewer limitations. The hero is bound by honor, by justice and by the law, sometimes.

I consider myself the luckiest man in the world. I have spent a lifetime doing what I love.

I've never had to work out of the arts. I've always either been a writer or an editor, or something where I've made my living from doing what I love. You can't get any better than that.

My father brought me my first stack of comics, when I was seven years old and in the hospital. I was not a well child. And that's where my love for comics began.

When I submitted samples, I had only written stories to give myself something to draw. I was told, "The art is good, but not quite professional yet. But, I like the writing." I've been a writer for almost a half a century. It's very cool.

I would like immortality.

I've always been the audience that I wanted to reach, so I write for myself.

I'm still a fanboy geek. I always will be. In many ways, if my work still resonates with the audience, it's because I'm still writing from the point of view of the fan, so I'm geeked out constantly.

I was a very sickly kid. While I was in the hospital at age seven, my Dad brought me a stack of comic books to keep me occupied. And I was hooked. When my eighth grade art teacher, Mr. Smedley, told me he thought I had actual art talent, I decided to devote all my efforts in that direction in the hope that I might someday get into the comics biz. I became an art major, took every art class my school had to offer. In college, I majored in Advertising Art and Design.

I think every time you take a female character, a black character, a Hispanic character, a gay character, and make that the point of the character, you are minimalizing the character,

There are very few of us, who reach my advanced age, who are still working in the business, as writers. As artists, people can hang out longer.

The curse of comic book adaptations, when I was younger, was that the director or producer would go, "Don't worry about it, it's just a comic book."

I think jazz and comic books are probably the two uniquely American art forms.