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Poor Stan Lee

Filed under: Imported

How the smilin' have fallen

In case you missed it on Friday, here's an absolutely ridiculous news item about an upcoming cartoon series.

"A unit of Playboy Enterprises Inc. on Friday said it plans to develop a new animated television series starring Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy magazine, and his famed centerfold girls in another move to introduce the Playboy brand to younger generations.

"Hefner, an icon of the American sexual revolution, will be the mastermind behind a sexy, sophisticated squad of Playmates that will fight the 'enemies of the democracy' in Hef's Superbunnies, the cartoon series to be developed by Stan Lee."

I admit, when I first read this, the comics-loving boy in me couldn't help groaning, "What the fuck, Stan!" It's not like he's ever been a shining example of artisitic integrity-- over the past four decades, he's already sold out more than Mannheim Steamroller concerts in Des Moines-- but still, those of us who grew up with the original '60s Marvel books can't help but be saddened by this pathetic attempt of Stan the Man's to cash in so blatantly. It begs the question: Didn't Spiderman, The Fantastic Four, et al make him rich enough to avoid doing crap like this?

But wait! According to this story from the Sunday edition of the L.A. Times, his company, Stan Lee Media Inc., not only has never made a profit but its executive vice president Stephen M. Gordon is possibly going to jail for his role in breaking the company. (Feel free to use my username & password to read it: couchpundit/couchpundit)

"One, for $63,788.48, went to Wolfgang Puck's restaurant Spago, for catering. Another, for $12,800, paid Rogers & Cowan for publicity. Yet another, for $30,048.31, covered a private jet trip for Cher.

"This was New Economy money: Stan Lee Media had never turned a profit. It had value thanks to the dot-com bubble and the reputation of its namesake chairman, comic book genius Stan Lee.

"Ultimately, the checks written that summer would contribute to Stan Lee Media's collapse and help trigger a sequence of events that may lead to a prison sentence for Gordon."

Very sad. Despite his crass commercialism, I have a soft spot in my heart for Stan, who has always been a warm, funny guy on the page, in interviews and with the fans. And I've felt his pain in recent years as he's watched his work turned into mega-million hit movies without receiving any of the profits.

But the truth is, when true comics genius Jack Kirby tried to get his original artwork back, company-man Stan did his part to thwart him, as well as other pioneering Marvel artists who wanted the same. In other words, Lee was a staunch supporter of the same kind of work-for-hire agreement (where the writer/artist sells his creation for a one-time page rate) that has come back to bite him on the ass in his old age (he'll be 81 this year). None of these guys ever envisioned a day when their "lowly" work would generate the kind of money it does today, and it's severe but poetic justice that the smilin' one has to now deal with it himself.

Still, I like the guy, and hope he wins his so-called "friendly" lawsuit against Marvel for royalties on the Spiderman movie. (You can read even more about it here-- start at the top and keep a-scrollin'-- at the website of a magazine I once called my freelance home, The Comics Journal.)

P.S. For a really good overview of Stan's career, check out this old Salon "Brilliant Careers" piece.

Posted by Steve Monaco at July 22, 2003 12:21 AM

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