Weekend At Stanley's

This week Marvel Studios and Genius Brands signed a twenty year deal with Stan Lee Universe, giving them permission to use the name and likeness of Stan Lee, the beloved co-creator of popular comic book characters such as Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and hundreds of others.

Lee gained newfound fame and notoriety in his later years, as he made cameo appearances in nearly every Marvel movie and TV project, until his death in November 2018.

Under the terms of this new deal, Marvel Studios will have the rights to use Lee's name, voice and likeness in future films and TV series, as well as in its theme parks and cruise lines. 

According to the agreement, Lee would appear through the use of archival footage, digital technology and "other forms." So you know what that means— Off-putting, uncanny valley CGI Stan Lee!

Andy Heyward, chairman and CEO of Genius Brands (a partner of Stan Lee Universe) had this to say about the deal: "The company is proud to be the stewards of the incredibly valuable rights to Stan Lee's name, likeness, merchandise and intellectual property brand.. we are thrilled to see his memory and legacy will continue to delight fans through this new long-term agreement with Marvel."

Yeah, fuck right off with that, Andy.

This is in poor taste at best, and downright ghoulish at worst. By all accounts, Stan was heavily exploited in his waning years, by his business partners and family alike. He was trotted out to numerous comic cons, where he was forced to sit for photo ops and sign hundreds of autographs, despite his failing health.

Even in death the poor man can't rest, as now Marvel's literally gonna prop up his digital corpse to perform for the masses.

Stan Lee brought me hours and hours of joy as a kid, as I loved reading the stories and characters he helped create. He never wrote down to his youthful audience, and it's because of him I learned words like "annihilate" and "omnipotent."

I can honestly say I loved Stan, and when he died it felt like a family member had passed. I enjoyed seeing his cameos in all the Marvel movies too. It's been four years since he died, and I still miss him.

But all good things must come to an end. Stan's cameos were fun while they lasted, but it's time to close the book on them and move on. I don't want to see an obviously fake Stan Lee pop up in the latest Marvel offering. It just wouldn't be the same, as it'd be in very poor taste.

That said, I wouldn't be completely opposed to a different kind of "appearance." I feel like putting his image on a billboard, magazine cover or TV screen in the background would be acceptable. It'd be a subtle and reasonably respectful reminder of him, without straying into grave robbing territory. 

They did something like this in Deadpool 2 (even though Stan was still alive at the time) and it was fine. It was a nice little "Oh, look, there's Stan's face on that sign" moment.

But I gotta draw the line at dodgy-looking CGI Stan Lee homunculi. Have some respect for the co-architect of your universe, Marvel Studios, and let the guy rest in peace!

Just another in a long line of reasons why the MCU should have ended for good with Avengers: Endgame!

Excelsior!

It's hard to believe, but it's been TWO FULL YEARS since we lost Stan Lee! He died on November 12, 2018. Back in the Before Time.

I gotta say, I still miss him.

One Year Ago Today...

It seems impossible, but Stan Lee died a year ago today on November 12, 2018. I swear it feels more like three or four months ago.

However long it's been, I still miss him. R.I.P. Stan.

Thank You, Stan & Jack

On the eve of the premiere of the much-anticipated Avengers: Endgame, let's take a moment to thank Stan Lee & Jack Kirby. If it wasn't for their pioneering comic book work, there'd be no Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Thanks, Stan & Jack!

R.I.P. Stan Lee

Dang, this one really, really hurts. Stan Lee died this morning at age 95.

We all knew this day would eventually come, but it's still a bitter pill to swallow. It honestly feels like someone in my family died.

What can you say about the man who co-created the entire Marvel Universe? I've been a comic book fan ever since I was old enough to read, and I always preferred Marvel to DC. That's because Stan Lee's characters all had personalities and were fallible, just like his readers. They felt far more real than the stiffs populating DC's books.

Even though Stan was writing primarily for kids, he made it a point to never talk down to his audience, peppering his scripts with words and phrases far beyond our vocabularies. His work actually challenged me, causing me to look up and actually learn the words I didn't understand!

I won't be the only one saying this today, but Stan's prodigious output inspired me and fanned my own little creative flame. There's no doubt in my mind that I wouldn't be an artist and aspiring writer if not for him.

Sadly, I don't have any stories about meeting Stan Lee. I did have a near encounter with him at a comic show about ten or twelve years ago though. This was before the Marvel Cinematic Universe was a thing, so he wasn't as widely known as he is today and there wasn't a huge mob of people around him. I decided I was going to walk over and tell him how much his work meant to me. 

Unfortunately right as I got to Stan's table, a huge sweaty nerd who looked exactly like The Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons elbowed his way in front of me. He plopped a stack of literally a hundred comics down in front of Stan and said, "Sign the covers of ALL these, please." Sigh... 

Being the gentleman that he was, Stan tried his best to accommodate this "fan." I wasn't gonna stand there waiting a hour while he scribbled his name on all those covers, so I just walked away, glaring at the Comic Book Guy. In hindsight, I wish I'd Stooge-poked that jerk in the eyes and swept his precious stack of mint condition comics onto the floor. But I digress. I didn't get to meet Stan, but I did come withing three feet of him, and can confirm that he actually did exist.

Anyway, thanks for all the thousands of hours of entertainment you gave me and the rest of the world, Stan!

Happy 100th Birthday To Jack Kirby!

Happy Belated Birthday to the one and only Jack Kirby, who would have been one hundred years young on 8/28. 

Kirby passed away back in 1994, but fortunately fir us his amazing body of work lives on. Kirby, together with writer Stan Lee, created most of the Marvel Comics Universe back in the 1960s. The two of them had an unusual working relationship, which they dubbed the "Marvel Method." First they'd briefly discuss a general idea for a plot. Kirby would go off and draw the whole thing, often adding new characters and ideas they'd never talked about. Then Lee would come in and write the dialogue over the art. It was an offbeat way of producing comics, but it worked! And how!

I've been a fan of Kirby's bold, stylized work ever since I was old enough to hold a comic book. He had the ability to infuse his drawings with action an energy, resulting in still images that almost looked like they were moving. 

His characters also stretched the boundaries of human anatomy to often ridiculous lengths. It's like he broke the rules and put them back together in a completely new and different way for his own purposes. Somehow it worked though, as his figures always conveyed an amazing sense of power and grace.

Oddly enough, Jack Kirby actually LOOKED many of the characters he drew! Or maybe it's the other way around.

Kirby's influence lives on in comics of course, and in film as well. There would be no Marvel Studios movies without Jack Kirby, as every frame is filled with his characters, designs and ideas. It's too bad he didn't live to see the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Happy 100th, Jack Kirby!

Happy Belated Birthday Stan Lee!

December 28th was the birthday of one Mr. Stanley Lieber, better known to the world as Stan Lee.

Stan Lee is probably the only comic book creator in existence who's recognized by the general public as well as the world of fandom. Lee, along with artist Jack Kirby, created most of what we know as the Marvel Universe back in the early 1960s.

For the first time in comics, Marvel's superheroes actually seemed like real people, rather than stiff mannequins (I'm lookin' at you, Superman). Stan Lee's heroes had relatable flaws and even (gasp) bickered with one another from time to time.

Stan Lee never talked down to his audience either, which may be one factor that explains his enduring popularity. He regularly used words that sailed well above the heads of his grammar school readers (like me), prompting them to crack open a dictionary to learn what words like "annihilate" meant.

Back in the day I naturally assumed that Stan Lee wrote every monthly comic that Marvel published. Of course the fact that every book was emblazoned with a line proclaiming "Stan Lee Presents" probably helped reinforce that notion. In a similar vein I also used to think that Hanna-Barbera was a woman who wrote and drew all the Flintstones and Jetsons cartoons.

I almost met Stan Lee ten years or so ago. I was at Wizard World in Chicago and saw him sitting at a table. I was walking over to him to tell him how much I enjoyed his work when suddenly an ill-mannered, foul-smelling stereotypical fanboy cut in front of me and plopped a stack of at least a hundred comic books on the table in front of Stan, demanding that he sign each and every one. Not wanting to wait in line for an hour behind such a basement dweller, I walked off. So close!

I hope Stan Lee has even a small inkling of what his work has meant to me over the course of my life. Because of him (and Jack Kirby) I tried my hand at making my own comics as a kid. I probably wouldn't be an artist (and fledgling writer) today if not for him.

So Happy Belated 89th Birthday, Stan Lee! Here's to another 80 or 90 years!

 

Just for fun, here's a shot of Stan from the 1970s, when apparently everyone looked like a porn star.