It seems I've read a "what if" conversation on a fan forum speculating "What If Stan Lee never went into the Comic Business?" There are too many variables for an obvious parallel universe result, but a case could be made there might not even be comics right now without Stan.
It's a mind-puzzler, requiring more inside knowledge of the market forces (and creative drives) of the 1950's-60's than I possess.
This morning BBC radio featured an interview with Patrick Stewart because...er, he played Professor X in the movies. It's a pity they didn't interview somebody from the comics world explaining what Stan Lee did for comics - as Big Murr suggested, superhero comics wouldn't exist now without the genius of Stan Lee. And Stan created Marvel UK which enabled British kids like me to discover the magic of Marvel - this coming Friday (November 16th) will be 44 years since I read my first ever Marvel comic, Marvel UK's Planet Of The Apes #5.
Stan Lee had as much a role in shaping who I became as a person as did Fred Rogers, James Joyce, Henry David Thoreau, Jacques Derrida or Martin Luther King, Jr. Via Marvel Comics, he was my Walt Disney. This sucks so bad. I will miss him.
That's indeed a very interesting point, Murray. Ordinarily I would be convinced that there would still be comics--but how successful and prolific they would be might be another matter. According to writer Sean Howe, Lee was instrumental in persevering after publisher Martin Goodman was forced to go with Independent News for distribution of Goodman's Timely comics--but because I.N. was owned by DC, the arrangement came with the condition that Goodman could only publish eight titles per month. That meant the end of Timely, with Lee tasked with letting go of much of the staff; but Lee held on, eventually rolling up his sleeves to produce Fantastic Four #1 with Jack Kirby. The Mole Man's creatures which resembled the monsters of the repetitious monster titles that both Kirby and Lee chafed at producing were symbolically buried on Monster Island for all time, and the rest is history. Goodman had the business acumen, but Lee had the vision and the drive--and as Goodman himself might have admitted at the time when Marvel began producing a bona fide line of superhero books, you can't argue with success.
Colin, I'd be curious to know if Stewart commented on any desire on his part as a kid to read the comics that were coming out in the early '60s (he would have been in his early 20s); if so, his perspective on Lee's initiative might have been interesting to hear.
CF, in the interview Patrick Stewart said he'd first heard of Stan Lee in the late '50s and he was definitely aware of Marvel long before he ever played Professor X. Stewart (oops, I mean Sir Patrick) was full of praise for Stan Lee but the short interview (only about 5 minutes long) concentrated on the films and specifically the X-Men films starring Patrick Stewart. The interviewer (Martha Kearney) asked him if he'd given Stan Lee any acting tips for his cameo appearance - "He didn't need any" replied Sir Patrick :D
9 comments:
A nice tribute.
It's hard to imagine the world without him.
M.P.
Thank you.
Excelsior!
It seems I've read a "what if" conversation on a fan forum speculating "What If Stan Lee never went into the Comic Business?" There are too many variables for an obvious parallel universe result, but a case could be made there might not even be comics right now without Stan.
It's a mind-puzzler, requiring more inside knowledge of the market forces (and creative drives) of the 1950's-60's than I possess.
Excelsior indeed.
This morning BBC radio featured an interview with Patrick Stewart because...er, he played Professor X in the movies. It's a pity they didn't interview somebody from the comics world explaining what Stan Lee did for comics - as Big Murr suggested, superhero comics wouldn't exist now without the genius of Stan Lee. And Stan created Marvel UK which enabled British kids like me to discover the magic of Marvel - this coming Friday (November 16th) will be 44 years since I read my first ever Marvel comic, Marvel UK's Planet Of The Apes #5.
Stan Lee had as much a role in shaping who I became as a person as did Fred Rogers, James Joyce, Henry David Thoreau, Jacques Derrida or Martin Luther King, Jr. Via Marvel Comics, he was my Walt Disney. This sucks so bad. I will miss him.
That's indeed a very interesting point, Murray. Ordinarily I would be convinced that there would still be comics--but how successful and prolific they would be might be another matter. According to writer Sean Howe, Lee was instrumental in persevering after publisher Martin Goodman was forced to go with Independent News for distribution of Goodman's Timely comics--but because I.N. was owned by DC, the arrangement came with the condition that Goodman could only publish eight titles per month. That meant the end of Timely, with Lee tasked with letting go of much of the staff; but Lee held on, eventually rolling up his sleeves to produce Fantastic Four #1 with Jack Kirby. The Mole Man's creatures which resembled the monsters of the repetitious monster titles that both Kirby and Lee chafed at producing were symbolically buried on Monster Island for all time, and the rest is history. Goodman had the business acumen, but Lee had the vision and the drive--and as Goodman himself might have admitted at the time when Marvel began producing a bona fide line of superhero books, you can't argue with success.
Colin, I'd be curious to know if Stewart commented on any desire on his part as a kid to read the comics that were coming out in the early '60s (he would have been in his early 20s); if so, his perspective on Lee's initiative might have been interesting to hear.
The world of wonderment & adventure wouldn't be (and won't be) the same without him.
Nuff said.
(Do I get a "No-Prize" for that?)
CF, in the interview Patrick Stewart said he'd first heard of Stan Lee in the late '50s and he was definitely aware of Marvel long before he ever played Professor X. Stewart (oops, I mean Sir Patrick) was full of praise for Stan Lee but the short interview (only about 5 minutes long) concentrated on the films and specifically the X-Men films starring Patrick Stewart. The interviewer (Martha Kearney) asked him if he'd given Stan Lee any acting tips for his cameo appearance - "He didn't need any" replied Sir Patrick :D
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