Daily Inspiration Quote by Len Wein

Editors are supposed to be the adult supervision of publishing; Len Wein flips that job description into a slapstick indictment. The line lands because it’s crudely visual and professionally targeted: “a clue” becomes a physical object, “stapled” implies effort and permanence, and “butt” collapses any pretense of dignified gatekeeping. It’s workplace grievance delivered with cartoonist timing - a gag that’s also a warning shot.

Wein’s intent isn’t just to vent. It’s to reclaim authority in a hierarchy where creators are routinely second-guessed by people who may not understand the material, the audience, or even basic story logic. In comics, that tension is historically amplified: deadlines are brutal, continuity is labyrinthine, and editors can function as both saviors (coordinating chaos) and saboteurs (mandating arbitrary changes). Wein, who helped define modern superhero comics, knew how much invisible craft goes into making serialized fiction cohere. When he says some editors “couldn’t find a clue,” he’s not calling them picky; he’s calling them incompetent at the core task of comprehension.

The subtext is a broader critique of institutional prestige. Editing is often treated as the smart person’s job and writing/drawing as the messy art. Wein punctures that assumption with bathroom humor: if you can’t recognize what’s right in front of you, your authority is just a title. It’s cynicism with ink under its fingernails, the kind that comes from watching creative work get “improved” into incoherence.