Once upon a time, comic books were a part of every kid's existence. They were cheap, available everywhere, and were irresistible. Their themes ranged from war to horror to comedy to romance to their biggest attraction: superheroes.
The list of famous names behind the scenes at comic book publishers is a short one. DC comics, purveyors of Superman, Batman, and the rest of the members of the Justice League of America, was largely a faceless corporate entity. I can't recall a single name that jumps out at me, despite reading hundreds of editions of their products.
But when you're talking Marvel comics, two names stand tall. One is Jack Kirby, artist/editor who will likely rate his own column here in the future. The second is Stan Lee, creator of a huge number of superheroes whose names have become as familiar to us as our own.
Stanley Lieber was born on December 28, 1922 in New York City. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Romania. Stanley loved reading as a child, and by his teenaged years had found a talent for writing as well. He made a few bucks writing obituaries for a press service and press releases for the National Tuberculosis Center. He also took on whatever other odd jobs he could find, helping out his family's Depression-ravaged situation.
In 1939, Stanley garnered a gig working for Timely Comics as an assistant. His duties were mundane, keeping inkwells full, picking up lunch, that sort of thing. But in 1941, he got his first big break. He was allowed to write up text filler for issue #3 of Captain America Comics. He used the pseudonym Stan Lee for the first time. His employers were impressed with his work. He was soon given a storyline of his own with a backup feature, "'Headline' Hunter, Foreign Correspondent." You should remember those backup stories, one- or two-page tales that would fill out the comic.
As Stan stretched his creative wings, he was given more opportunities to use his imagination. He soon came up with new superheroes Jack Frost and Father Time. Late in 1941, he was promoted to interim editor following the departure of Jack Kirby and editor Joe Simon.
Again, Stan showed savvy in his new duties. However, Pearl Harbor caused a major change in his plans and he enlisted in the army. His commission was a literary one, as he stayed stateside and produced manuals, slogans, cartoons, and training films.
After the war, Lee went back to work for Timely. In 1950, they changed their name to Atlas Comics. Lee wrote stories in every genre that Atlas produced, covering the full scale from romance to cowboy tales. But Stan craved more serious literary work, and considered leaving comics altogether.
In 1961, Atlas changed their name again to Marvel Comics. Lee was charged with coming up with new superheroes that would compete with DC's recent flood of new faces. He responded by coming up with The Fantastic Four, co-created by Jack Kirby, who had returned to the fold. Issue #1 was released in November of that year.
But he had only begun. Within a couple of years, he created with Kirby Thor, The X-Men, Iron man, The Incredible Hulk, and Spider-Man. He also created Daredevil and Dr. Strange with the collaberation of others.
Lee's superheroes were some seriously flawed humans. They had issues that DC's lineup, with the eventual exception of tortured Bruce Wayne, didn't exhibit. They got ill, squabbled among themselves, had to scramble to get bills paid, and sometimes acted in quite antisocial ways.
Comics were entering their golden age, the 60's and 70's, when their popularity would reach heights that were unsurpassed before or after. This was our time. Thus, we all remember well-worn copies of comic books laying around our rooms which were read over and over. And Lee's genius is responsible for many of the superheroes whose exploits we eagerly followed.
Lee the innovator also took on the Comics Code Authority, which was formed to reign in increasingly violent and sexual themes that were blossoming in the 50's. In 1971, a three-part storyline of Spider-Man was set to be published in which Peter Parker comes to the aid of a friend who had gotten addicted to pills. The CCA said no, and Lee went ahead and published the stories without the familiar seal at the top of the front page. He ended up forcing them to lighten up their standards, and they henceforth allowed drug use to be portrayed in a negative light.
Lee became the public face behind Marvel in the 70's. In 2001, he took on a gig at rival DC to create their Just Imagine series, which rewrote the life stories of familiar DC heroes.
As he has gotten older, Lee has stayed busy and creative. He usually has a cameo role in any Marvel-superhero-based film, and there have been a slew of those lately. He's been involved in producing direct-to-DVD films about new heroes. And he's currently hosting a fascinating History Channel series called Stan Lee's Superhumans, which focuses on people with remarkable physical abilities.
Here's hoping this creative genius stays active and busy for many more years. Stan Lee is a big part of our collective Boomer memories.
Comments (2)
When I was growing up, it was primarily DC, Harvey, and Archie comics that I got to read. Never saw hardly any Marvel. I did watch the Marvel Cartoons of Iron Man, Prince Namor, Thor, Hulk, Capt. America all around maybe 66-68. But they were everywhere and so many kids had them here and there. We never got many till about 1970 when we began buying 3 packs of Gold Key comics from the grocery store (Martins in Maine). They were a lot of fun. Harmless as best as I can tell.
You could buy them in many places. Today, they are usually found in stores that specialize in comics and a few other odd items. They cost much more and more adults, former comic kid readers, still love them. I haven’t read a comic in many years.
It was once accused by a doctor of psychology/Psychiatry (at about the same time as the communist investigations in congress) that comics were harmful and dangerous. Of course, everyone over-reacted and made a mountain over a mole hill. No surprise there. Americans were easily scared. It seemed to be the horror that offended most. I never really knew abut horror till a family moved in across from us in 71 and one of the boys about a couple years younger than me, bought and read horror. It was actually very funny stuff to me. Exaggerated, even campy at times.
Now, there is no doubt that comic books had long sought to appeal to young boys and used comics to mold and shape attitudes throughout WWII and for years after. But danger? The doctor found that most convicts read comics. Was it really the comics that made them criminals. Well, I’m sure not many will argue with me that it was not the comics that were the problem. But America has always loved escape goats and simple, pat, easy answers, even if they are not solutions.
Sadly, in the eyes of kids, and in my eyes, the adult world lost a lot of credibility along the way. This became part of that generation gap we all hear about. But the kids then threw out the baby with the bath water and rejected all and everything handed down to them, as if it were all bad or had no purpose. This was not so, either. The early boomers were just looking for an excuse to cast off all restraint and appease their libidos, at the sacrifice of future kids in general and just do whatever they wanted, usually favoring the easiest path of least resistance, rather than the high road.
My father often said to me, 2 wrongs do not make a right. We look back now with fondness for comics, and why not. The Vatican has apologized for any bad stuff they might have implied about the Beatles. I only ask, why does it usually take us 50 years to see things right? Could we do a little better? Are we still making much abut nothing at all? I think it might be possible.
Our past could teach us many things if we are willing to listen. But if we let the past pass without reflection and learning, then we certainly will be doomed to repeat history. It would seem a shame to me that a generation or 2 of boomers could have so much prosperity and goodness in their lives and then just lose it all. Previous generations failed us to some degree. Surely we do not also want to repeat the mistakes of our parents, do we?
I love the music and the comics I grew up with. I loved the day and age so much. Couldn’t we retrieve at least just a little bit of that? Its up to us, really, isn’t it. Go to YouTube and look up many good old classic songs. You read the same things again and again. They praise the music of the 60s-80s and scorn the present stuff. They praise everything of the bygone boomer age. And in comparison with now, it certainly does deserve praise. Surely that praise deserves some action as well. Maybe just a little bit more thought about how we got from there to here and now. That’s all I ask.
Posted by Scott I | August 22, 2010 6:43 PM
Posted on August 22, 2010 18:43
I am now herewith known as 'Scottie" on here, to differentiate myself from the other Scott...who writes beautifully and should start his own blog..
I also was weaned more on what we called FUNNY comics, like Scott's mentioning Hervey, per richie rich, Little Lotta, casper and such...I just could not comprehend the fantastic adventures and art of Marvel in the late 60's...the funny ones, like Peanuts, were more my speen, though I loved the MAD magazine paperbacks(remember ho popular THEY were?)...
Marvel and Stan Lee were more for slightly older kids, say 10-11 on up, and har enough going on to retain the interest of jr high age kids as well....DC was definitely a step for me in the direction of Marvel, like some drugs are stepping stones to the good, hard stuff...Marvel was def the hard stuff....DC was almost gay, in its simplicity and non-threatening material, though DC still came out with some really nasty horror compliations that were sort of a kiddie version of night gallery, called "Tales of the Crypt"...HBO did a great series that was a take-off of that years later...
Stan Lee had a great column called "stan's soapbox, which was a gossip column for comic fans of sorts, with a little light philosophy as well..and what great ads they had in those Marvel comics...Johnson products with the trick items, ads for 10000 toy soldiers, ABC ad's that placed TV shows in the same like the Batman series....and the classic ads for Palisades park in passaic new jersey, with actual coupons for rides..only I would remember that!
Yep, got into marvel bit about 7th grade to 14...great years trading em, and will never forget that viseral experience of buying a fresh new comic book at the grocery store!
Posted by scottie | September 12, 2010 11:13 PM
Posted on September 12, 2010 23:13