Chaz Gower has written a new book called Stan Lee Lied. Full title, Stan Lee Lied: Your Handy Guide to Every Lie in The Origins of Marvel Comics. And it does exactly what it says on the tin. Dedicated to Bleeding Cool favourite Bob Beerbohm (Bleeding Cool gets itself a couple of mentions), it takes the Stan Lee-authored Origins Of Marvel Comics for its fiftieth anniversary, and systematically attempts to disprove as many of the statements in that book as possible, using recorded facts and archives, testimonies and memories of others. This is a case for the prosecution; there is no attempt to be even-handed, and anything that doesn’t challenge the tenet that Stan Lee didn’t co-create or write the comic books he claimed to have and was credited for is either not included or dismissed with a hand wave.
That 1974 volume Origins Of Marvel Comics is itself getting a deluxe hardcover printed from Gallery Editions next month for its fiftieth anniversary, so this is clearly well-timed. Maybe you could read them together? Here is just one small example to let you know where this is going…
“Stan Lee: “At the moment, the trend is monster stories… Jack and I were having a ball turning out monster stories with such imperishable titles as “Xom, the Creature Who Swallowed Earth”, Grottu, the Giant Ant-Eater”… “Fin Fang Foom”….”
“Stan Lee signed almost everything he ever did from… at least 1950 on. Most likely from Day One, but for SURE from 1950 on. He signed pin-up pages if he wrote even the smallest of dialogue on it, and paper doll pages in Patsy Walker comics… he rarely if ever missed an opportunity to sign his name to something, to get the credit and of course, the PAY. BUT… He never signed a single Jack Kirby monster story from those presuperhero years at Marvel Comics. Which means he didn’t write ANY of them. Not ONE SINGLE STORY. He signed NONE OF THEM. Which means he didn’t write ANY of them.”
What Chaz is doing here is not just aiming to show that Stan Lee lied about so much, but making that case that Stan Lee with a purpose, to increase his role, to gain plaudits, and even the small lies are used to build up a narrative that would justify his claim to create the Marvel Comics universe and profit from that reputation. And that without them, his claims would seem outlandishly false. That, basically, Stan Lee, was the Donald Trump of comic books.
“Stan’s Soapbox” said a lot of hard progressive things at times when not a lot of voices were speaking up for people.
Allegations that Stan took credit where not due are pretty well confirmed, if by no other source than Stan’s own apologies.
But a comparison with a man trying to disassemble what little democracy his country has while simultaneously selling it’s national secrets to a warmongering dictator seems unfounded.
I’m not worried about sullying Stan’s reputation here, but let’s not give that other scum the credit that this comparison invites.