STAN'S THE MAN
Stan Lee reflects on his marvelous life in comics
One has to wonder if a lifetime spent in the comic-book business hasn’t bought Stan Lee the fountain of youth.
The co-creator of SpiderMan, X-men, Iron Man, Hulk, The Avengers and a huge portion of the vast Marvel Comics universe (he has more than 500 characters to his name) will turn 90 in December, but if he’s slowed down at all, it’s hard to tell.
The writer, editor and media personality — who is appearing at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo at the BMO Centre on the Stampede Grounds this week — is still Marvel Entertainment’s greatest spokesman, promoting the company and making cameos in the many block- buster films based on his characters.
Meanwhile, as the chairman of his own POW! Entertainment venture, Lee’s got his hands on a striking number of projects including an Nhl-themed superhero team, an action-musical and a multimedia comics imprint for children, Stan Lee’s Kids Universe.
For the energetic Lee, retirement is simply not in the cards.
“I think if you enjoy what you do it’s like playing and you can’t stop,” says Lee, who sounds as sharp, upbeat and charismatic as ever in a recent phone interview. “Most men want to retire at a certain age. ‘I can’t wait to retire so I can golf or travel,’ or whatever it is. But I’m already doing what I want to do. It’s so much fun.”
Born Stanley Lieber in New York City, Lee, whose family barely scraped by during the Great Depression, was always ambitious. He dreamed of becoming a famous actor and when he got his first job in comics in 1939, working as an office assistant at Timely Comics (the earliest incarnation of Marvel), he saw it as a mere stepping stone, certain that he was destined to write The Great American Novel.
But by 1941 Lee was editor-in-chief and head writer at Timely and, with a family to support he was still holding those positions 20 years later.
By then he was frustrated by the limitations of comic books and determined to leave the industry.
Convinced he was on his way out, Lee began writing comics as he wanted to read them. Along with his collaborators, most notably artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he brought a new sophistication to his stories, imbuing such creations as Spider-man and the Fantastic Four with a humanity not previously seen in the genre.
Despite their superhuman powers, these new “Marvel age” heroes were flawed and emotional and they faced real-world dilemmas that made them relatable to a more mature audience. Suddenly, Marvel Comics were being read not only by the usual prepubescent crowd, but also by the residents of college dorms.
“I didn’t target them, but one conscious effort I made was to use college level vocabulary,” Lee says. He theorized that by not talking down to his readers, he might appeal to a larger base, and, if younger readers had to look up a word or two in the dictionary “that’s not the worst thing that could happen.”
Slowly, comics began to be taken seriously, a step into the modern era of the graphic novel where the genre is more often acknowledged as valid literature rather than disposable trash.
Lee and his collaborators had revolutionized the mainstream comic book business. But the politics of that move were complicated.
In the wake of Marvel’s innovation, the company found itself in the media spotlight and Lee — an outstanding promoter and natural ham who thrived in the role — was focused on as the company’s sole guiding light. He became the media darling.
His top artists Kirby and Ditko, meanwhile, felt as if they were being regarded not as co-creators but rather as sidemen to Lee. This contributed to rifts with both artists. As beloved as he is, to this day Lee faces criticism within the realm of fandom that’s he’s a glory hog who neglected to give his collaborators their proper due.
It’s a charge that has always troubled the writer.
“I don’t know what people mean about me not giving enough credit,” Lee says. “I was the first guy to give credits on the first page of every book to the writer, artist, inker ... I wanted to make each story almost like a little movie where the reader knows who did what.”
How crucial were the artists in the creation of iconic properties like Spider-man and X-men?
“Incredibly important,” says Lee, without hesitation. “I don’t think the characters would have been as effective without them. . . . I worked with the best in the business. . . . They contributed a lot to the stories.”
Will Hess, who co-directed With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story (which screened Sunday at the Globe Cinema as part of the Calgary Underground Film Festival) says Lee gets a bad rap in this regard.
“This goes hand in hand, to a certain extent, with anybody who steps into the limelight,” Hess says. “Stan is very sensitive to the issues that artists have brought up and he’ll be the first to thank them, credit them and bring them up at comic conventions.”
Perhaps time has mended some fences. Lee says he last met with the notoriously reclusive Ditko, co-creator of Spider-man, “some years ago” in the Marvel offices.
“It was very friendly. . . . We even discussed maybe doing something together, but we never got around to it.”
As for Jack (King) Kirby (a title Lee gave Marvel’s chief artist during the 1960s), Lee saw him at a comic convention a few months before his death in February 1994. He says they, too, parted on good terms.
“Jack always felt like he hadn’t been treated well by the comic industry,” says Lee. “Maybe by Marvel, maybe by me, I don’t know. But he last time I saw Jack, he was very friendly.”
Lee remembers one part of that conversation most vividly. Its importance to him couldn’t be more evident in the suddenly vulnerable tone of his voice.
“He said a strange thing,” Lee recalls. “It was the last thing I remember him saying to me. ‘You know, Stan, you have no reason to have any regrets.’”
Fans will have a chance to meet Stan Lee at an intimate reception (with less than 200 tickets for sale) April 27 at the Fairmont Palliser Hotel. See calgaryexpo.com/parties for details.