Paul Levitz started out as a fan, established a broad base of historical and contemporary knowledge about the field, developed as a writer, and eventually became the leader of one of the two biggest comic book companies. After writing and co-publishing the long-lived fanzine The Comic Reader, Paul Levitz could have called it a day and still been lauded for his contributions to the four color world.

Good thing for us, though, he didn’t stop there.

As a writer, he’s known for writing the Earth II adventures of the Justice Society of America in the revived All Star Comics in the 1970s, a period in which he co-created The Huntress. In the 1980s, he wrote a lengthy run on Legion of Super-Heroes, and he recently returned to scripting Legion of Super-Heroes, another of his well-founded claims to fame.

He’s probably best known, though, for his stint as President and Publisher of DC Comics, where he worked tirelessly to promote their characters as well as the history and future of the medium.