Mars Attacks creator Len Brown died on August 11, 2026. He passed from arteriosclerosis at a memory care facility. Brown was 84 years old.

Brown was a writer, editor, comic creator, and radio personality best known for creating Mars Attacks and co-creating T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.

He was born in Brooklyn, New York and began working for Topps Chewing Gum after he graduated from high school. As the creative editor in their Product Development Department, Brown developed concepts for sports and non-sports trading cards. Brown spent 41 years with Topps where he worked on Garbage Pail Kids, Wacky Packages, and Civil War News.

He pitched Mars Attacks in 1962, after he drew inspiration from Wally Wood’s work in Weird Science #16 (November 1952). Topps hired Wood to produce rough sketches, then Bob Powell penciled the designs, and Norman Saunders painted the 55-card set. The trading card set was a big hit for Topps and was adapted as a feature film by Tim Burton in 1996.

Brown’s work at Topps put him in contact with a lot of comic book artists who provided art for the cards. He and Wood started a creative partnership in the mid-1960s. It started with superhero concept designs that grew into the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents bimonthly comic series. Brown’s concept came from his appreciation of Captain Marvel and the Thunder Riders in The Phantom Empire serial. Wood fine-tuned Brown’s idea and the series was born.

Brown contributed to Topps’ The X-Files and Mars Attacks comic series, and he wrote for Creepy magazine. He also wrote several books about trading cards, country music, and rock music. Brown became DJ for country radio stations in New Jersey, and then in Dripping Springs, Texas.