Will Franz, Conscientious Writer (1950-2026)

Features Hank Kennedy | July 27, 2026 William Franz, November 1968, photo courtesy of Annalisa Franz On May 23rd, comic creator Will Franz passed away of heart failure at 75. Although his tenure in comics was relatively brief and confined solely to the war genre, it is outstanding both for the overall quality of the work as well as his youth when he produced it. William Stephen Franz was born on November 14, 1950. Growing up, the native Brooklynite passed over the superhero comics for titles like Gunsmoke, Classics Illustrated, Air War, and Combat. He particularly admired the art of Sam Glanzman, who became his most fruitful collaborator and mentor at Charlton Comics. At fifteen, Franz wanted to be a comics illustrator. He sent his art to Glanzman, who was at the time living on Long Island, for critique. Glanzman was amused to see that many of the images in Franz’s swipe file were his own work and encouraged him to send comic scripts to editor Dick Giordano at Charlton and subsequently gave advice on how to properly format scripts for Giordano’s approval. Franz’s first published story, “The Sniper,” appeared in 1967’s Charlton Premiere 19 when Franz was only 16. Giordano was impres...