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Did Stan Lee use a ghost writer??
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106 posts in this topic

Stan Lee, from a 1974 interview with Jae Maeder. Lee is referring to how he conceived the FF and Spidey:
 
'So I figured okay, I’ll do it as I’ve always done it, I will do as he says and give him a superhero team. Only this time I’m going to make it totally different from anything before. As different as I could make it. I figured, I’m sick of stories where the hero always wins and he’s always one hundred percent good and the villain is one hundred percent bad and all that sort of thing. So I figured, this time I’m going to get a team of characters who don’t hew to the mold. Fighting amongst themselves...the Torch wants to quit because he’s not making enough money. The Thing wants to get out because he’s not getting enough glory and he thinks Reed Richards is hogging all the headlines. Occasionally a crook gets away or beats them up. They’re evicted from their skyscraper because they can’t pay the rent because Reed Richards invests all their reward money in stocks and the market takes a nosedive...I tried to do everything I could to take these super-powered characters and in some way to make them realistic and human. To have them react the way normal men might react if those normal men happened to have super-hero powers.
And then I carried it forth with Spider-Man. So he’s got the proportionate power of a spider, or whatever. Isn’t it still conceivable that he might have halitosis or fallen arches or dandruff or acne? Mightn’t he have problems with money? Does it follow that just because he’s Spider-Man all the girls are gonna love him?
I tried to figure how many fallible features I could give Spider-Man.'
 
Notice the amount of errors in the above descriptions of the FF and Spidey? It's almost as if he didn't really know the characters or their sub-plots.
Edited by kustomizer
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7 hours ago, kustomizer said:

'They’re evicted from their skyscraper because they can’t pay the rent because Reed Richards invests all their reward money in stocks and the market takes a nosedive.'
This sounds very similar to the plot of Fantastic Four #9.

'And then I carried it forth with Spider-Man. Mightn’t he have problems with money?'
This sounds like the backstory in every Spider-Man issue from #1 - #38.

Sorry, but I just don't buy it.

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16 hours ago, kustomizer said:
Stan Lee, from a 1974 interview with Jae Maeder. Lee is referring to how he conceived the FF and Spidey:
 
'So I figured okay, I’ll do it as I’ve always done it, I will do as he says and give him a superhero team. Only this time I’m going to make it totally different from anything before. As different as I could make it. I figured, I’m sick of stories where the hero always wins and he’s always one hundred percent good and the villain is one hundred percent bad and all that sort of thing. So I figured, this time I’m going to get a team of characters who don’t hew to the mold. Fighting amongst themselves...the Torch wants to quit because he’s not making enough money. The Thing wants to get out because he’s not getting enough glory and he thinks Reed Richards is hogging all the headlines. Occasionally a crook gets away or beats them up. They’re evicted from their skyscraper because they can’t pay the rent because Reed Richards invests all their reward money in stocks and the market takes a nosedive...I tried to do everything I could to take these super-powered characters and in some way to make them realistic and human. To have them react the way normal men might react if those normal men happened to have super-hero powers.
And then I carried it forth with Spider-Man. So he’s got the proportionate power of a spider, or whatever. Isn’t it still conceivable that he might have halitosis or fallen arches or dandruff or acne? Mightn’t he have problems with money? Does it follow that just because he’s Spider-Man all the girls are gonna love him?
I tried to figure how many fallible features I could give Spider-Man.'
 
Notice the amount of errors in the above descriptions of the FF and Spidey? It's almost as if he didn't really know the characters or their sub-plots.

Stan used to write such at times. We will never know how much Stan actually did. Jack and Steve were far too modest to get into  it, while Stan "Flashman" Lee was "super salesman"

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Stan Lee, 1967:

"Some artists, such as Jack Kirby, need no plot
at all. I mean, I’ll just say to Jack, ‘Let’s let the
next villain be Dr. Doom’... or I may not even
say that. He may tell me. And then he goes
home and does it. He’s so good at plots, I’m
sure he’s a thousand times better than I. He
just about makes up the plots for these stories.
All I do is a little editing... I may tell him that
he’s gone too far in one direction or another.
Of course, occasionally I’ll give him a plot,
but we’re practically both the writers on the
things.”
 

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10 minutes ago, Unca Ben said:

In other news, I have a theory that it was Roz who drew all those pages for Jack.

Gimme some time, and I'll find some facts that fit my theory.  'Cause that's how it's done. :D

You may be right.  After all, she was signing for him...  lol

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On 9/12/2020 at 8:41 AM, kustomizer said:
Stan Lee, from a 1974 interview with Jae Maeder. Lee is referring to how he conceived the FF and Spidey:
 
'So I figured okay, I’ll do it as I’ve always done it, I will do as he says and give him a superhero team. Only this time I’m going to make it totally different from anything before. As different as I could make it. I figured, I’m sick of stories where the hero always wins and he’s always one hundred percent good and the villain is one hundred percent bad and all that sort of thing. So I figured, this time I’m going to get a team of characters who don’t hew to the mold. Fighting amongst themselves...the Torch wants to quit because he’s not making enough money. The Thing wants to get out because he’s not getting enough glory and he thinks Reed Richards is hogging all the headlines. Occasionally a crook gets away or beats them up. They’re evicted from their skyscraper because they can’t pay the rent because Reed Richards invests all their reward money in stocks and the market takes a nosedive...I tried to do everything I could to take these super-powered characters and in some way to make them realistic and human. To have them react the way normal men might react if those normal men happened to have super-hero powers.
And then I carried it forth with Spider-Man. So he’s got the proportionate power of a spider, or whatever. Isn’t it still conceivable that he might have halitosis or fallen arches or dandruff or acne? Mightn’t he have problems with money? Does it follow that just because he’s Spider-Man all the girls are gonna love him?
I tried to figure how many fallible features I could give Spider-Man.'
 
Notice the amount of errors in the above descriptions of the FF and Spidey? It's almost as if he didn't really know the characters or their sub-plots.

:facepalm:

He was just giving examples of how to make them more realistic, not trying to give a perfectly accurate history of the characters.

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The history of comics turns on a few things. One is Jack Schiff upsetting Jack over a newspaper serial. DC lost a major talent, and Jack rebooted the Challs at Marvel with some tweaks. I think the lack of heavy editorial control at marvel may have been attractive to Jack as I think he was given a lot of latitude. Correct me if I am wrong, but had not DC at that time signed a very attractive contract with Bob Kane for batman rights ?? If that is the case I am sure it did not escape Stan's attention. Funny how in later years he came across as so accessible to the fans, whereas if you read fandom fanzines etc. it was almost impossible to get into his office.

What did someone once say "to the victor goes the rights to write history" ..

Stan was basically last man standing

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Stan's recollection seems okay to me.  What did he get wrong?  (shrug)  

Torch leaves the FF? Check.  The Thing complaining about Reed?  Check.  FF get evicted because Reed mismanaged their funds?  Check.  The FF lose a few fights?  Check.  Sources upon request.

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