In this post over at The Beat, Stan Lee (the man whom Marvel would have you believe created just about every major superhero in their stable) in an interview with Moviefone about the upcoming THE AVENGERS movie stated the following:
Moviefone: Fans of Jack Kirby are concerned that his name appears nowhere on the credits of “The Avengers.” What’s your take on their concern?
Stan Lee: I don’t know how to answer that because in what way would his name appear?
While there was a short-lived shit storm of criticism thrown at Lee over this remark (it turns out Jack Kirby and Stan Lee both receive credit for creating The Avengers during the end credits), it doesn’t necessarily remove Lee’s foot from his mouth.
I think what got most people ticked off (including myself) is how Stan The Man has a tendency to let people think he was the brains behind the majority of Marvel’s greatest characters including Spiderman, the Fantastic Four, Thor, Captain America, and others. And this is simply wrong.
Granted, I haven’t seen every Stan Lee interview and I’m in no way a scholar when it comes to comic book history. But I have read articles on the history of Marvel and I have also seen my fair share of comic-related docs and interviews with Stan Lee to determine that he has, indeed, taken the credit for creating these classic characters more times than stating he and some other creator created them together.
And maybe this is what has real comic fans upset. When Lee makes statements like this, it is like reopening an old wound that will never heal. It doesn’t help that he’s in every freaking Marvel movie. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a slap in the face if he was holding a head shot of the other creator responsible for the character the movie is based on when he makes his cameo.
My name is Wesley Craig Green and I'm a comic creator, freelance writer and screenwriter.
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