Houston Southard
a name that looks so fake you'll care just as little to learn it's not
Abraham Riesman - True Believer - The Rise and Fall Of stan lee
They say you should never meet your heroes, but what about the hero maker himself?
Stan Lee has about as much star power as any a-list movie star. We know him from being the creator/writer of most of the most popular superhero comics of all time. But what if he didn't write any of them.
Taking credit for others' work is a tale as old as time. The 20th century DC and Marvel behemoths taught creators a lot about how to do business. Today's writer's strike is a perfect example. If you don't compensate the inventors, they will stop inventing. That's why 30 years running, Image Comics remains the best contemporary publisher. They're exclusively creator-owned, giving IP rights to the writers and artists who create its profitable content.
Kudos to Robert Kirkman and Todd McFarlane.
The adage of never meeting your heroes is a lazy one. We should always meet our heroes to better understand that no one deserves sacralization. Heroes aren't moral authorities, they're messed up nuanced people like the rest of us. Heroes aren't relatable. People are.
In the end, Stan Lee was a propagandist. For most of his career he was ashamed of being associated with the comics industry. He'd omit comics association during interviews, instead lauding himself solely as being in showbiz. He was also a bit of a cheat, allowing those who made his publishing company the giant it is to go uncredited and uncompensated.
Apologies to Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko and countless others.
Make no mistake, though. Stan Lee was an iconic giant. He was a pioneer. For better or worse, a lot worse, what we have is largely a result of him. He's known for crusading equality, but his real legacy is standing up to the paranoid parents and US Senate in its 1954 attempt to ban comic books on the "temptation of cruelty in youth readers." Censorship abounds.
Sound familiar?
The same reason why much comic canon doesn't translate right to the silver screen is the same reason it's the superior medium of time-based art, the only one able to describe thoughts alongside showing external. Paneling allows perfect pacing and tension.
'Nuff said.