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Gerry Conway, the influential comic book creator who co-created dozens of characters for DC and Marvel, including The Punisher and Ms. Marvel, Firestorm, Power Girl, and some of the most influential Spider-Man stories of all time. He was 73 years old.
Conway, who briefly served as editor-in-chief at Marvel in the mid-1970s, had been battling cancer. He made what would be his final conference appearance at CCXP in Brazil in December and did a store signing near his home in Thousand Oaks in February.
“Gerry Conway brought real danger to his writing, able to weave together exciting and relatable superheroes with humanity, creating some of the most memorable stories and characters of all time,” Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said in a statement. “His writing had a huge impact across our comics, but also inspired much of what we did on screen, from Werewolf by Night to Daredevil to Spider-Man and the Punisher. Jerry was a great collaborator and friend to many and will be greatly missed.”
Conway was part of a new generation of talent that flooded the comic book industry in the late 1960s and early 1970s, among aspiring writers and artists who grew up loving the art form and became obsessive fans, in contrast to the industry’s then gatekeepers. Along with contemporaries including Len Wein and Marv Wolfman, he brought a new vitality to the stories, infusing an electricity of emotion and realism that resonated with readers in their twenties.
Born in Brooklyn in 1952, Conway began writing comics as a teenager. He would sneak into the DC offices to meet with editors, eventually secure work on horror and suspense titles, and then begin pitching stories to Marvel, which was known for a much cooler atmosphere than the more staid DC of the time. He soon began writing stories across several titles.
He was already working on a Spider-Man game Marvel team When Stan Lee put him in charge of Marvel’s flagship Amazing Spider-Man. He was only 19 years old at the time. A year into his career, he wrote the two-part “The Night Gwen Stacy Died,” which also killed off Peter Parker’s girlfriend Gwen Stacy and the villain Green Goblin. It is considered by many to be one of the most important stories Marvel has ever published, and one that still resonates today.
A few months later, Conway introduced Frank Castle, also known as the Punisher Vigilante, as well as the villain The Jackal. He was so prolific in the 1970s that if you read a Marvel or DC comic of the time, there was a very reasonable chance he was written by him.
“From Spider-Man to the Avengers, Iron Man to Captain Marvel, Gerry Conway has brilliantly written nearly every character in the Marvel Universe,” Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski said in a statement. “He dazzled us with new characters like The Punisher and broke our hearts with emotional tales like The Night Gwen Stacy Died, a story that influences Spider-Man to this day. Gerry Conway’s legacy has made an undeniable and indelible impact on the superhero stories we know and love. We will miss him greatly.”
After his unsatisfying stint as Marvel’s editor-in-chief, Conway moved between Marvel and DC, eventually doing more and more work at the company where he began his writing career. In DC, he wrote about his headline Justice League of America For eight years he co-created the heroes Firestorm and Power Girl, Superman’s last cousin from an alternate universe.
In 1983, Jason Todd was introduced, a character who took up the mantle of Batman’s sidekick, Robin, from the original Dick Grayson. Todd was later controversially killed off after fans voted for him in a phone poll, although the character was revived in the early 2000s.
Like many in the industry at the time, Conway moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in television and films, and unlike many, he found enough steady work to be considered successful. He and fellow Marvel writer Roy Thomas worked on the animated film for Ralph Bakshi Fire and ice (1983) and on the sequel Conan the Destroyer (1984). He continued to write comics as well.
Conway has also worked in the world of Saturday morning cartoons and in prime-time television, writing for such procedurals Diagnosis: Murder, Matlock, Father Dowling Mysteries and Law and Order: Mens rea.
Conway has influenced Hollywood for decades. Even with the story of Gwen Stacy, who has been playing her in films in one way or another since Sam Raimi’s origins, being separated, Conway’s Punisher has been headlining his own movies and shows and is poised to play a big role this summer. Spider-Man: A Brand New Day Plus a Disney+ special next month The Punisher: One last kill. John Bernhardt portrays the character. A whole new day It also features several villains that Conway co-created. Meanwhile, his villain Killer Croc is a major character in the film The ultimate BatmanDC’s largest monthly comic book seller.
Survivors include his wife, Laura, and two daughters from previous marriages.
