Gerry Conway, Marvel and DC Comics Writer and Co-Creator of Punisher, Ms. Marvel, Firestorm and Vixen, Dies at 73

Gerry Conway Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images Logo text

Gerry Conway, the influential comic book author who co-created dozens of characters for DC and Marvel, among them The Punisher, Ms. Marvel, Firestorm and Power Girl, and some of the most impactful Spider-Man stories ever published, has died. He was 73.

Conway, who served briefly as an editor-in-chief at Marvel in the mid-1970s, had been battling cancer. He made what would be his last convention appearance at CCXP in Brazil in December and did a store signing near his home in Thousand Oaks in February.

“Gerry Conway brought real stakes to his writing, able to weave together sensational super heroics with the human and relatable, and in doing so created some of the most memorable stories and characters of all time,” Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said in a statement. “His writing has been hugely impactful across our comics, but it has also inspired so much of what we’ve done onscreen, from Werewolf by Night to Daredevil to Spider-Man and Punisher. Gerry was a wonderful collaborator and friend to so many and will be dearly missed.”

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Conway was part of a new generation of talent that flooded the comic book industry in the late 1960s and early ’70s, among the aspiring writers and artists who grew up loving the art form and becoming nerdy fans, unlike the industry’s then-gatekeepers. Alongside contemporaries including Len Wein and Marv Wolfman, he brought a new vitality to stories, infusing an electricity of emotion and realism that resonated with readers in their twenties.

“The Night Gwen Stacy Died.” Courtesy of Marvel

Born in Brooklyn in 1952, Conway began writing comics as a teenager. He would sneak into DC offices to meet with editors, eventually securing work on horror and suspense titles, then began pitching stories to Marvel, which was known for having a much cooler vibe than the more staid DC at the time. Soon enough, he was writing stories across several titles.

He had already been working on the Spider-Man-centric Marvel Team-Up when Stan Lee put him in charge of Marvel’s flagship Amazing Spider-Man. He was only 19 at the time. A year into the job, he wrote the two-parter “The Night Gwen Stacy Died,” which killed off Peter Parker’s girlfriend Gwen Stacy and the villain Green Goblin, too. It is considered by many to be one of the most important stories ever published by Marvel, one that still resonates today.

A few months later, Conway introduced Frank Castle, aka the vigilante The Punisher, as well as the villain the Jackal. He was so prolific in the 1970s that if you read a Marvel or DC comic back then, there was a very reasonable chance it was written by him.

“From Spider-Man to the Avengers, Iron Man to Captain Marvel, Gerry Conway has deftly written almost every character in the Marvel Universe,” Marvel Comics editor-in-chief C.B. Cebulski said in a statement. “He thrilled us with new characters like the Punisher and broke our hearts in emotional tales like ‘The Night Gwen Stacy Died,’ a story that affects Spider-Man to this day. Gerry Conway’s legacy has made an undeniable and indelible impact on the superhero stories we know and love. He will be dearly missed.”

Ms. Marvel Courtesy of Marvel

After his unsatisfying stint as Marvel’s editor-in-chief, Conway bounced between Marvel and DC, eventually doing more and more work at the company where he began his writing career. At DC, he wrote for its flagship title Justice League of America for eight years and co-created the heroes Firestorm and Power Girl, the latter Superman’s cousin from an alternate universe.

In 1983, he introduced Jason Todd, a character who took over the mantle of Batman sidekick Robin from the original Dick Grayson. Todd was later controversially killed off after fans voted to off him in a telephone poll, though the character was resurrected in the early 2000s.

Like many in the field at the time, Conway moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in TV and the movies and unlike many found enough steady work to be considered successful. He, along with fellow Marvel writer Roy Thomas, worked on Ralph Bakshi’s animated movie Fire and Ice (1983) and on the sequel Conan the Destroyer (1984). He also continued to write comics as well.

Conway also worked in the Saturday morning animation world and in primetime television, writing on such procedurals as Diagnosis: Murder, Matlock, Father Dowling Mysteries and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Conway has influenced Hollywood for decades. Even separating the Gwen Stacy storyline, which has been playing itself out in movies one way or another since the Sam Raimi originals, Conway’s Punisher has headlined his own movies and shows and is poised to play a big part in this summer’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day as well as next month’s Disney+ special The Punisher: One Last Kill. Jon Berthnal is portraying the character. Brand New Day also features several villains co-created by Conway. His villain Killer Croc, meanwhile, is a key character in Absolute Batman, DC’s biggest monthly comic book seller.

Survivors include his wife, Laura, and two daughters from previous marriages.