“That’s The Way It’s Supposed to Be After a Lifetime of Writing”- an Interview with Christine Valada, Defender of Creative Rights & Spouse of Len Wein

Christine Valada was already a fascinating human being even if she’d never been the beloved wife of the late Len Wein– a person of immense strength and wide breadth of talent, genius and skills- so, I almost regret that the main crux of my interview with her consists of the recent credit theft of Roy Thomas over the creation of Wolverine, a character and property whose characteristics, while further developed by other creators over the years, were initially established and defined by Wein’s early take on the popular mutant.

Christine now finds herself in the unenviable position of having to defend her husband’s legacy and fight for his contributions, however Thomas frames it. I want to again thank this great woman for taking the time to talk to me in what is obviously a very trying time.

She also noted that her son “noticed that it’s very hard to find stuff on line about this at the moment, like things have disappeared.”

That- is not a coincidence. There’s been a genuine effort to pull back and subtly retreat after the immense pushback that Thomas and Marvel’s actions incurred, which isn’t too illogical considering how passive fandom can sometimes be. But that is another conversation, for another time.

Ms. Valada, the general response to Roy Thomas receiving co-creator status on Wolverine has largely been negative. Whether from fans or industry professionals alike, the general consensus is that Disney/Marvel’s decision was a poor one and that Thomas’s behavior is ghoulish and embarrassing. If you could speak with Roy today, what would you say to him?

“I do not think that I have much to say to Roy Thomas. He took a chance claiming co-creator status on Wolverine, possibly without thinking anyone would care about his lie.

I care, and I am grateful so many of Len’s colleagues care. All Roy has done is soiled his own legacy. I am not someone who can judge that, but suspect his obituary, should it run anywhere of note, will read “second Marvel Editor-in-Chief, who falsely claimed co-creatorship of the noted Len Wein character, Wolverine, has died. As acknowledged by Marvel for 50 years, Wolverine was created by writer Len Wein with artist John Romita, Sr., and first drawn in Incredible Hulk #180 by Herb Trimpe in the story written by Wein.“

You’re being forced into a truly traumatic position, having to defend your husband’s legacy against a corporate behemoth and I’m sorry. For anyone that wasn’t familiar about Len Wein and his work, what’s something you’d want people to know about him?

“Len was fun to be around and he was incredibly kind to the fans who came up to him at conventions. He was also good about apologizing for mistakes.

Len was an incredibly talented writer and editor, in both comic books and television. He liked to say “if it wears a cape and flies, I’ve written it.” Many of the characters he created with various artists made the transition from the page to media, such as Swamp Thing (which made his and Bernie Wrightson’s careers) and the Human Target, long before any of the X-Men made it off the page.

He was incredibly lucky with excellent casting of Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Maddrox in the Fox movies, and I know I am not alone in anticipating Hugh Jackman’s return as Wolverine in the first Disney branded film.

Len wrote many hours of animated television, which resulted in the posthumous WGA Animation Caucus Life-time achievement award. As an editor, he spent about a year as the Editor-in-Chief of Marvel and, later, two years with that title developing and producing Disney Comics in house. He was a senior editor at DC, where he is probably best known for bringing Alan Moore to the states to take over writing Swamp Thing, and then ushering Watchmen to print (and as the hands-on editor for about 2/3 of the issues.) Much of his work is available in reprints from Marvel and DC. He was particularly fond of his work on Batman and the Hulk, and, of course, revamping the X-Men with Giant-sized X-Men #1.”

The Forbes coverage of this story was, unfortunately, the primary press that people referenced. You’d told me the interview you granted had misquoted you; is there anything you’d like to clarify for the record or simply share to the public about this story right now?

“I haven’t looked at the Forbes article in a while. I think there was something in it or perhaps I was asked about whether or not Len was giving credit to his artists as co-creators. I’m not sure I answered that particularly well, because I don’t think I ever heard or saw him on a panel where he failed to give credit by name to the artists with whom he worked. If that information was missing from the banners that were at his tables, let’s be real: I don’t think I’ve seen many other writers or artists acknowledging co-creators on booth banners either.”

(note from Four Color Sinners: Ms. Valada refers to an incident where Len’s convention banner listed him as the “creator” of multiple characters, including Wolverine, which Thomas took exception to. It is worth noting that- besides Wein rectifying that, since he didn’t create the banner, it is still the ONLY INSTANCE of this I have found regarding Wein- and I’ve looked- but I have found, to date, 9 instances of Roy Thomas being credited as the SOLE CREATOR of Wolverine, a few of them I’ve posted here to accompany my articles on Thomas’s misdeeds.)

What was it like going to conventions with Len and witnessing his interactions with fans?

“Conventions were fun up until the last two years of Len’s life, then they were pretty stressful for me, and frankly my son, making sure that he got to panels and his booth or other obligations he had to meet.

The last year of his life, particularly the final San Diego Comic Con was more upsetting than I can possibly describe. He went to the convention with some severe problems and was scheduled for surgery right after we got home. We needed a nurse to treat his foot every day of the convention. He skipped dialysis to be there, and he should not have. He died less than two months later.

But I want to say, he felt extremely loved by his fans at that last convention, mentioning people who just came by his table to shake his hand and say “thank you” for how his work had impacted their lives. That was a blessing as I watched him slipping away.”

Thomas’s manager John Cimino repeatedly savaged you and Len online, notably commenting on various interviews with Len that were on YouTube. He made several snide- and sexist- remarks, implying you, with your background as a lawyer, were responsible for Len’s status as the primary creator of Wolverine, the implication being that Len’s wife was controlling and influencing him. Cimino said “as Wolverine’s fame grew, so did Len’s ego…” which is both offensive and ironic, considering the late-in-life remaking of Roy Thomas. If you could say something to Cimino, what would you tell him?

“I don’t know Cimino. He did not know either Len or me. He sounds like a profoundly unhappy person.”

What can supporters do to help keep this story alive?

“I’m not sure what people can do besides what they’ve already done. Make corrections wherever they see someone stealing Len’s credit is best. I don’t mess with Wikipedia or IMDB myself. I am reluctant to respond to some of the damned stupid things I’ve seen people write–like they can’t understand why I just won’t “let” Roy have this credit.

If Roy wanted to be famous for creating characters, that’s what he should have done for his employer, Marvel, instead of waiting 50 years to steal someone else’s glory.

Len did the work he loved, wrote the stories he wanted to read, without concern that he would not have rights to the material. He was very grateful when royalty checks started rolling in later in his life. At one point he said to me “I made more money in royalties this year than in new work,” and I said to him “THAT’S THE WAY IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE after a life-time of writing. You should be able to take it easy.

I want people to go and enjoy this movie. If it’s successful, I’m sure there will be more and I’ll be able to keep my house a few years longer.

Len handled his own business before I met him. After I met him, he still handled his own business, though I did work on some negotiating points every now and then. Usually, I’d make suggestions, but whether he followed through? Up to him. He often wouldn’t even tell me about some things because he knew I’d go through the roof.”

Roy Thomas sounded condescending in his Forbes interview, especially when referring to you as “Len’s widow” rather than your name, and giving a dismissive “I hope she gets rich off it“- is Roy missing the point of this, or is this a tactic to distract people from recognizing this is primarily about credit theft and diluting Len Wein’s work in developing the Wolverine character by making it seem like you’re just trying to get money?

“I don’t know anything about Roy Thomas’ financial arrangements and I frankly do not give a damn. And he knows nothing about mine. Let’s keep it that way. This is about legacy. It is about proper attribution.

Marvel/Disney fucked this up royally by letting this petty little man claim credit he did not earn. Len did the work with John and Herb. The record is pretty clear. Roy got the only credit he deserved by Len acknowledging where the name came from.

For me to see Roy plagiarizing Len’s exact description about the research he did to create Wolverine is laughable. I can show you things written by Len years ago AND PUBLISHED BY MARVEL that Roy has cribbed claiming he did the research on Wolverine. Pure bullshit.”

Who is Christine Valada? Your life has been rich, diverse, and accomplished. What are the things you’re passionate about? I want people to know you beyond your marriage.

“Me? I’m the person who tried to keep Len alive as long as possible. Before we met, I had worked on creators’ rights issues in Washington, D.C., trying to change the Copyright Act to eliminate work made for hire in the freelance arena. I helped get a case to the Supreme Court on that exact issue, and we got a 9-0 ruling in our favor clarifying when work for hire was appropriate.

It should never have applied to comic books. When you have a writer and artist working together, that’s a joint work, as the 2nd Circuit pointed out about Superman in 1974, before the 1976 Act went into effect, and that’s why the Siegel family, the Kirby family, the Simon family, and others have been able to go back into court against DC and Marvel.

I started law school six weeks after I met Len. My final project for law school was a paper on how creators were treated under the law (badly), but in it, I pointed out that because of the 1974 ruling, Siegel and Shuster could go back into court to cash in on the copyright extension that came with the 1976 Act–an inalienable right.

The paper was published in L.A. Lawyer Magazine in 1995. I know the Siegal and Shuster families saw it, because I spoke to members of both families about it. I don’t wish litigation on anyone, and I don’t think the courts have done a good job of applying the plain language, but I am glad to see credit and money going to the older, afore-mentioned creators who did their work under the 1909 act.”

“I also got photography included under the Visual Artists Rights Act that Ted Kennedy sponsored. The legislation was pretty worthless to most artists who do commercial work, but I pointed out that photographers like Ansel Adams should have their fine art work covered. I made my argument to the lawyer with whom I was working and he took it to Kennedy’s “people.” I also spoke directly to Kennedy at a press conference about this (I get to say I was cornered by Ted Kennedy, who said he would “look into it,” and did. I only wish the right of attribution, which is so important in other places, was part of our law. I could use it right now.

Other things about me: I was the outside general counsel for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. I was California Legislative Counsel for the American Society of Media Photographers for several years. I represented Harlan Ellison in his case against AOL (which taught me sole practitioners shouldn’t litigate against deep-pocket corporations.) I look forward to being totally retired from the law very soon.

I am a photographer. My work has been published all over the world. Some of it has been exhibited in places I’ve never been. I met Len on a photography project. I’ve photographed around 500 writers and artists. I made my reputation as a photographer as a freelancer for the Washington Post over a five-year period. “If you want to be a famous photographer, photograph famous people,” said Greg Heisler one night, and he was absolutely right. I photographed Sylvester Stallone, Victoria Principal, Andy Gibb, Jack Klugman, Alan Alda, Christopher Reeve, Sally Field, and others and when a photograph runs 3 columns under the Style mast-head of the Post, art directors noticed.

I was pretty good. That’s what I did before law school, and I’m shooting celebrities again for the Go Fact Yourself Podcast, which is great fun.

I’m also a very good cook. After photography became my profession, cooking became my hobby. I have something like 1200 cookbooks right now. I founded a cookbook book club eight years ago, and it’s a wonderfully eclectic group of women who have been very supportive of me during Len’s final illnesses and since then.”

All of the understandable stress (an understatement, I know) aside, are you excited about the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine film?

“I am absolutely over the moon about the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine movie. I will be combining my trip back east to my mother’s 100th birthday party with the premier.”

I’ve observed a noticeable cooling over this story that makes me consider that Disney/Marvel purposely pulled back a bit once they saw the largely poor response over Thomas’s co-creator credit. Do you think that’s also why they’ve not responded to you?

“Why Marvel & Disney chose not to directly respond by mail to me is anybody’s guess (though perhaps there might be a clue in my answer to question #8.) Rumors abound, of course.”

I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you about your status as a four-time Jeopardy! Champion. (Unless you’re tired of talking about it!)

“Jeopardy! was a great experience. I fell in love with the show when it premiered in 1964 and I could only watch it during school holidays or in the summer. I tried out for the show my last year in college, and did not make it. The guy I dated my first year in college was on the show a couple of years later (came in second.) I tried out again when I moved to L.A., and nobody made it the day I took the test.

I tried again when they did the first on-line test, and made it through the interview process, but a friend was working for Digital Domain on special effects for Spider-man, so they wanted to avoid any appearance of impropriety. I made it on my fourth try, the second time I took the on-line test. As you pointed out, I was a four time champion (I played for an entire week–the last week of October in 2009, and also played in the Tournament of Champions in May 2010. Nightline was doing a story about Jeopardy! the day I played (five games in one day, exhausting), so I was on Nightline the week my episodes ran.

Len was also a big fan of the show. It was like religion in our house. I once relayed an entire episode to him when he was at LAX and I was in Cleveland watching that night’s episode. I couldn’t get him to try out, though. Len told me he and Hugh talked about me being of Jeopardy! when Len was in Canada to shoot his scene for Days of Future Past.”

What’s your favorite Len story? He had such a diverse body of work, but is there anything he did specifically that you’re the most fond of?

“I cry at the end of the first Swamp Thing story (“If tears could come, they would”). I had my friends Ben Blacker and Ben Acker direct it as a play the night Len received his posthumous life-time achievement award from the WGA and it was performed by three of the “Work Juice Players” from The Thrilling Adventure Hour, Marc Evan Jackson, Craig Cackowski, and Annie Savage.

I think Len would have been pleased. I like Len’s episode of the original X-Men animated series called “Old Soldiers,” which was Wolverine and Captain America in WWII.

I’m very fond of Brother Voodoo, another property that editor is trying to claim credit for, as if the man who wrote about the bayous of Louisiana needed his help with voodoo and zombies.

Len’s look at the DC Universe, Legacies, is pretty great. He got to work with so many artists from so many eras of DC. He was very proud of it. DC did a nice compilation of his work after he passed away and DC finally published the ULTIMATE SWAMP THING of Len and Bernie’s run about 18 months ago.”

post-script: I asked Christine about sharing her cooking blog, and she did clarify that it has not been updated in some time; “after Len died, I couldn’t face putting my broken heart on the page. Last time I checked, Len’s blog was still up and I find it very entertaining.”

valadakitchen.blogspot.com

https://lenwein.blogspot.com/

My sincere thanks to Christine Valada for her generosity and patience. Dedicated to the memory of Len Wein. Thanks to Michael Hill and James Romberger especially for their support of Four Color Sinners recently.