Whenever a writer or artist from my childhood dies, it's always a shock to me. Today, May 11, Marty Pasko died.
Pasko was a prominent writer for the Superman line in the 1970s and also wrote the fan-favorite First Issue Special 9 (1975), which featured a solo Doctor Fate story illustrated by Walt Simonson. This story was pivotal in that it introduced the concept that Kent Nelson was taken over by Nabu when he donned the Fate helmet -- an aspect of the character that has been with him ever since. With Keith Giffen on art, he wrote the great Dr. Fate backup stories in Flash years later.
Pasko also launched the title DC Comics Presents with artist Jose Luis ********Lopez, which featured a great two-parter with Superman and the Flash.
He was chosen to write Action Comics 500, which featured a 64-page retelling of Superman's life story.
With Curt Swan, he created the Superman villains Atomic Skull and Master Jailer.
He was also the writer on the early-1980s revival of Swamp Thing. His stories, on most of issues 1-19, are often overlooked because of Alan Moore's greater success with the character, but they're still worth a read and feature great art by Tom Yeats.
Of course, Pasko also had a successful career in animated cartoons in the 1980s.
I fondly remember his Superman stories of the 1970s along with the other regular writers, Cary Bates and Elliot Maggin.