Let’s Rebuild Len Wein’s Comic Book Collection!
From Mark Evanier:
Earlier this month, my friends Len Wein and Chris Valada lost a pretty good sized chunk of their house and belongings in a fire. They’re moving (today, I think) into a rental home for what might be a year while their regular dwelling is rebuilt. Insurance is paying for most of the reconstruction but there are things that just plain weren’t covered. One was Len’s book collection, most notably his shelves of comic books he’s written over the years.
The loss in that category is not primarily financial. Some of Len’s comics — like the ones in which he co-created Swamp Thing or Wolverine or Human Target — go these days for hefty bucks but many do not. They’re sitting in the bargain boxes at comic shops or in collectors’ piles of duplicates. The big problem here is the time it would take to track down all the issues of everything. Len has enough other things to do, just to rearrange his life these days. So some of his friends decided to take that chore off his shoulders.
In that spirit was born The "Let’s Rebuild Len Wein’s Comic Book Collection" Project. The goal is to…well, you can probably figure out the goal. Go to that page. Read about it. See what you can send. And please spread the word.
Just a quick note: the list that’s currently up at the site is only of books that Len wrote, none that he edited. We expect there will be a modified master list shortly, even if we have to compile it ourselves.
This is so sad to hear. I lost many valuable comics in a flood once. I hope they were able to save most of them. At least Len and Chris are alright, right? That really is the most important thing. Now to replace those comics and other things that they lost. It can be done.
I know I was collecting some of these titles and did have them at one time. Sadly, I gave away or sold many before moving to California from Brooklyn. If I have a chance this weekend, I'll go through my boxes and see if I have anything still needed. Len entertained me for years and sending him some comics is the least I can do to thank him.
The great thing about Evanier doing this "good deed" is that it reminded me to send some comics to a children's hospital. I suggest that others, especially Mr. Wein, do the same.