Comic book and TV writer Martin Pasko, known for his work on DC titles, passed away on Sunday, May 10, 2020 of natural causes. He was 65 years old.

Born Jean-Claude Rochefort in Quebec in 1954, Pasko regularly appeared in comic book letter columns and fanzines, such as Fantazine, the title he cofounded with Brennert. He started writing comics in 1972 on Creepy and Vampirella.

Within two years he was regularly writing for Superman, DC Comics Presents, and Superman Family. Among his well known stories was the “Private Life of Clark Kent” backup feature in Superman #277 (July 1974). He and Curt Swan created Atomic Skull in Superman #323 (May 1978) and Master Jailer in Superman #331 (January 1979).

He wrote a solo Doctor Fate story in 1st Issue Special #9 (December 1975) in which the spirit of Nabu lived in Doctor Fate’s helmet and controlled Fate’s alter ego Kent Nelson. Roy Thomas used the changes in All-Star Squadron which then led Pasko’s backup story in The Flash, featuring Kent and his wife Inza.

Additionally at DC, he wrote for Wonder Woman, Justice League of America, and Saga of Swamp Thing.

At Marvel, he was a regular scripter for their Star Trek comic in the early ’80s as well as the Star Trek comic strip.

He continued working in comics through the 1980s, while becoming a TV writer and story editor for Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Thundarr the Barbarian, The Twilight Zone, G.I. Joe, Max Headroom, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

In the ’90s, Pasko was a writer and story editor on Batman: The Animated Series and Batman: Mask of the Phantasm – winning an Emmy for Batman.

Pasko worked on Disney Comics in the early 1990s and at DC as the mass market group editor and liaison to Warner Bros. Studios through 2005. In the latter position, he consulted on developing projects, such as Smallville and Birds of Prey.

“[The] odds are you’ve read his work, credited or not, or enjoyed a comic or cartoon or TV show or even a theme park event he made better, even as he relentlessly complained about the difficulties of making it as good as it ‘should’ be. Marty didn’t have a genius for making anything easy (especially for him), but he had a real genius for making creative magic,” former DC president Paul Levitz posted on Facebook.