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THE_SOURCE
October 12, 2008
When I was a kid, I treated
"Stan Lee's Soapbox" (a one
page spiel run every month in
all Marvel comics) as gospel.
But later I realized that Stan
Lee had this smarmy, egomaniac
vibe about him -- he was the
boss with a lock on the The "Marvel Method" of production
communications channel, began with a story conference
feeding the kids whatever line including writer and artist, then
he felt like... the artist went to work on the
drawings, and only afterwards
would the writer add dialog.
I once saw Lee and Kirby
interviewed on some talk show. This can make the
Kirby was answering a question -- "who did what"
saying what I don't remember. question hard to
settle.
Lee interjected "This is the The artists working at Marvel
last time I bring anyone on certainly did more than just
television who talks more draw pictures -- they may well
than I do." have contributed to the concept
and plot, and they certainly
Kirby gives him this grim, sour controlled the pacing and
look without even a trace of a presentation of the story,
weak smile at this "joke", and
it spoke volumes about what Kirby himself denies that
Kirby really thought about Lee. it makes sense to call Lee
"the writer": Lee filled in
the dialog using hints
When Kirby quit Marvel and began Kirby wrote in the margin.
working for DC (or "Brand Eecch",
as Lee liked to call them in his
Soapbox), I was vaguely shocked,
with a sense of confused loyalties. SOUL_SO_DEAD
I reluctantly began reading "The New Gods"
series, and found it to be some of the
best work that Kirby had ever done. It also took me some
Certainly better than anything that had had time to discover the
"Stan Lee"s by-line plastered all over it. Neal Adams/Denny O'Neil
rendition of "Green
Lantern/Green Arrow"
(meticulously rendered
60s-style Relevence).
The "Brand Eeech" sneer
In retrospect, some of had some justice to it
the stories Lee liked in the early sixties,
to tell seem to be but they snapped out of
intentionally it eventually.
insulting to Kirby --
And Marvel had
Stan Lee kept going some trouble
around talking about hanging on to the
how he had to get Kirby claims "Marvel Magic".
Ditko to do Spider-man that Spider-man
because Kirby just was an idea he
couldn't bring himself worked out long More recently I've
to draw a skinny before with Joe read Ditko on the
teenager. Simon. subject: Ditko's
contribution to the
But back in the idea was significant.
early 40s Kirby He gave Spider-man
drew a gang "The Newsboy the full mask that
of kids ala "The Legion", covers his face,
Bowery Boys"... sidekicks of and changed the
"The Guardian" web-shooter from a
side-arm to a
concealed, flat
One of the more puzzling bracelet... in other
entries in the New Gods words he made Spider-
series: Kirby took control man creepier.
of the (formerly) rather
dull, cheesy "Jimmy Olsen" Ditko discusses the fact
title. that there were many
obvious predecessors to the
Maybe the point was to show Spider-man idea: there were
one more time that he could pulp heroes named "the
indeed render teenage kids. Spider" and various insect
heros like "the Blue
Beetle". The idea of doing
a "Spider-man" just wasn't
Sep 2021 that... uh, *amazing*.
(I've heard the story that he
asked for the book with the
lowest sales, to show he
could turn it around.)
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