Len Brown, creator of Mars Attacks and long-time Topps executive, dies at 84

Features John Kelly | September 23, 2026 Len Brown had his hand in the success of Wacky Packages, Garbage Pail Kids and many other products during his 40 year at Topps. Image courtesy The Card Life. Len Brown, a long-time executive at Topps Chewing Gum Inc. who, among many other things, created the Mars Attacks trading card series, died on August 11th, 2026. He was 84 and had been in failing health for several years. The cause of death was arteriosclerosis, according to his wife, Abby Demel Brown. During his four decades at Topps, Brown worked with scores of comic artists, including Wallace Wood, Basil Wolverton, Jack Davis, Jay Lynch, Art Spiegelman and many others to create bubble gum cards and stickers that delighted children and sometimes horrified their parents and teachers. "Len was really good at having an 12-year-old's brain," said Spiegelman, who worked with Brown at Topps for many years and on many projects, including Wacky Packages, Garbage Pail Kids and numerous others. "A large chunk of his brain was still exactly 12-years-old, so he knew exactly when he liked and what other kids would like." Brown, whose own father died when he was a young boy, joined Topps at the age...