I’m Alex Grand, author of Understanding Superhero Comic books (published by McFarland & Company) and creator of Comic Book Historians & we’re dedicated to creating a multimedia experience to learning the intricacies of Journalistic Comic Book History, to fit the comic books and strips that we know and love into a visual historical context. Who created what? Why was it created? Where did all these stories and characters come from? What do they tell about our country or world at those points in time? Why does that matter? If these characters weren’t always this way, how did they get created? This is a place where research is presented with facts in an overall picture to get at the truth whether it’s an Interview, Article, Podcast, Interactive Facebook group, Instagram or RU-vid Channel. If you enjoy the content here, please consider contributing to the Comic Book Historians patreon at patreon.com/comicbookhistorians .
Hi, Jess! Thank you for your father's Shieldmaster issues! I recently read your Shielddmaster issues! They transported back to the Prize Comics era of the early silver age! I need to get back to NYC to hangout with you again! A great interview. I'm glad your creating these memories working with your dad! Joe is a legend! I just read an issue of Bullseye and it was so fun!
I mean they aren’t wrong. Writers were very liberal and they do mock Christians and we know that Claremont was a perv who put all sorts of sexual stuff in it.
I met Steranko last month, he was wearing the exact same outfit in this video😂. He was a super nice guy, he charged the most of anyone for his autograph ($50) but he made me feel like someone he knew. After he signed a poster I was about to walk away and he pulled me aside and showed me his personal art book that he’s been experimenting with. Lots of little portraits. He knows how to make you feel welcome.
Cool! I thought I'd heatd all of the Steranko panel bits on youtube, then here you go with some unheard (by me, anyway) stuff. Big cheers to you and your channel, sir! Here's hoping you have some more in the future!!
I had the privilege of meeting Jim Steranko back in April. He was such a nice guy and very patient with my stupid remark of wanting to shake his hand solely because he punched Bob Kane LOL. I kept my comments about his wig to myself, but he is such a great storyteller and historian.
😎 Steranko's description of Jack's method confirms my idea of how story conferences between him and Stan might have gone. Stan made have had the vocal imagery but Jack provided the visual ones that Stan needed to further develop the story. True , Jack didn't write the story and dialogue he only provided the images that created the story and dialogue.
Just wanted to let you know I dig your podcast. Steranko is the best. I love it when people whine about his political affiliations, liberals are the most discriminatory people I know. If you don’t think like them, they hate you.
Facts. They talk about tolerance and how you supposed to be understanding of them and all these groups but if they don’t like you they throw those standards away
First off my guy not all liberals and dont pretend conservatives are perfect because there not because its Republicans taking the rights of other people right now cut the bs out
Wow! Awesome interview David and sad to say that Festino of Spains comic con translation of 10 years to live actually came true. I believe tge person who got John into comics in 1948 was Nic Zurow?
Don't forget Sienkiewicz doing Moon Knight. It really was Marvel's peak era. I really liked Classic X-Men as a title, I never realized it was a desperation move. It was really welcome.
Thank you, I’m glad you like these. After I write the script, I have a colorist restore the images, then I use photoshop to create layers. Then I import the layers into after effects and animate everything on a timeline with sound effects and a music track. I was a film student and editor so I just got more techy and obsessive to make these. I also direct and write the lines for the voiceover actors and animate to that as well. It’s animation, writing direction and production so they take me forever to do, but… that’s entertainment.
What's with that toothless crackhead sitting next to the interviewer making clown faces all the time? 😂 Also he pisses Neal Adams off every time he opens his mouth. That's hilarious.
Thank God and YOU for putting together this series of interviews with these lost GIANTS of the comics industry. I started reading and collecting in the midst of what they now call The Silver Age and was hooked on comics until 2014 or so. Thanks for shining light on these dedicated men and women writing, drawing and editing and publishing pages and pages of pages of great printed cinema that kept me entertained for decades. I remember Carmine being a great and unique artist who became a counterpart of Stan Lee at Marvel. He was certainly not the self-promoter that Stan was and worked in relative anonymity in comparison. This interview (and the others I've seen) are pure GOLD for time-capturing the life and character of so many of these great talents that worked in so much obscurity. (I really loved the Marie Severin, John Buscema, Joe Sinnot and Tom Palmer interviews and will be re-watching a lot of them.) Kudos and salutes to whomever had the foresight to sit down and conduct these interviews with these creators who created so much of what is now widely consumed and commercially viable. I can't thank and compliment y'all enough for the great interview questions and agenda. Superb! (I love the fact that he said he drew and drew and drew until he got it all out of his system. What a guy!)
Thank you! David Armstrong had the foresight to sit down and interview/record these giants and I sincerely enjoyed editing, upconverting and publishing them for comic book scholarship. Cheers and thanks for watching!
@@ComicBookHistorians Does any intel exist on the most obscure letterers like Arties Simek and Sam Rosen? What a niche and what output by these people.
Great interview 👍 Savage Sword has always been my fav & it's neat to hear John say it's his too. I love his Silver Surfer, the deepest of all the superheroes. I guess not surprising that it didn't register with the US audience, whereas it did in Europe.
Steranko was NOT there when it all happened. He is not telling the truth here. He joined Marvel in the end of 1966. His first work was penciling and inking "finishes" over Kirby layouts in Strange Tales #151 (Dec. 1966). Steve Ditko left Spider Man and Marvel in spring 1966. And all the universe building in the Fantastic Four was already done by the end of 1966. So Steranko was NOT there, when all the characters were created and all the important stories of the 1960s have been written. That is not to say that Stan Lee did nothing. But it is well documented, that Ditko and Kirby were the main storytellers and inventors. Stan Lee did good work for Marvel at the advertisment front and he held the whole company together. But he delegated the invention and storytelling.
@@edfurnez6134 Yes. But still. Historics mark the end of Jack Kirby's inventive contributions with issue #67 of the Fantastic Four (mid 1967). Stan Lee rewrote the character "Him(later known as Warlock)" in a different way than Jack did in his side notes. That was the "last straw". From then on, no new interesting characters were invented in the Fantasic Four Lee/Kirby run. Kirby started to keep his "new character ideas" to himself and used them during his DC 4th world run. The later Doctor Doom story arc was a remade TV Prisoner episode (#84-87) and the Skrull story line was based on two Star Trek episodes (#90-93). The rest of the issues is almost all mindless android hordes. So Steranko also missed the essence of the Lee/Kirby work relationship.
@@ChimBrouer well then I guess by that logic, so did you. A lot of histrionics coming from you to cover the fact that Steranko and Kirby worked with Stan at the same time.
@@edfurnez6134 Of course, you are right. Steranko's first work at marvel was to finish Kirby layouts in Strange Tales (Nick Fury). So of course they worked together. What I am saying is, that at this point of the Lee/Kirby relationship, Kirby had kind of stopped to contribute new IP (Intellectual Property) to Marvel. So his enemies were either old established foes or mindless robots/androids. Kirby saved his new ideas for a time in the future, where he would be recognised as the creator (which later happened at DC). So, what I am saying is, that the whole creation of new IP (new characters) happend before Steranko arrived. Has Stan Lee by himself created anything of impact (before or after being editor of Marvel)? Has Jack Kirby done this? Of course. Starting with 1940 (he was age 23) with the creation of Captain America. He created a whole lot of characters before Marvel. And he did so after Marvel at DC. Darkseid, the DC badass is his creation, along with a long line of characters and world building. Is Stan Lee the better "writer" (in the sence of writing the captions). Yes, Jack Kirby's captions are a bit stiff. So Stan made Jack Kirby's work better!
@@ComicBookHistorians I watched that one too. I understand that there's no hard feelings, but these days, too many people are aggressive over things that are not directed at them. Shooter never hurt Jim Thompson.
His son is an obvious apologist for this evil man, and seems to share some his ego. He doesn’t seem to Mind: The worst is when he won the “Superman drawing contest” and insisted it was not “fixed” because they were the fix. WTF? Weisenger was a mean, backstabbing bully by all employee accounts who loved humiliating and dominating people. Total a-hole. His daughter seems to share this opinion as alluded too in the interview. That’s the one I want to hear.
Stan Lee was idea man but a mediocre writer. I seriously doubt he was super descriptive when coming up with a character. The artists contributed quite a lot in the creation of characters.
Jack Kirby is the mastermind behind the entire Marvel Universe, and Steve Ditko had created his own playground with Spider-Man and Dr Strange. Stan Lee just put words in the word balloons. You can see this e.g. if you look closely at the FF run. After #67 (July 1967) there is a masive downturn in the series, because Jack Kirby decided to bring no new ideas into the series, because he felt betrayed by Stan Lee. All the issues from then on feel uninspired, no new interesting villains, only mindless android robots. That is because Jack Kirby did all the story telling before and Stan only did the words.
😞" There is no honor among thieves" Alex and sadly this what Stan has truly been. I'm not merely speaking about the creative identity he willingly pilfered from Jack and Steve once it was apparent that Marvel Comics Group was undeniably successful. Of course he was generous with sharing credit in the early days because there was no expectation of the level of success that lay ahead. Stan stole our youthful belief in the ideals he was promoting in his credited authorship , his soap box comments , his open arms camaraderie with readers. Those of us with some knowledge of comics history , films and other pop culture entertainments were tolerant of Stan's recollections of creativity in the Origins books because we knew there was something more to it and were hoping pieces would fall into place. Stan was Marvel by right of nepotism and in his best Citizen Kane impression he would forget his humble oath of loyalty and purpose he envisioned Jack and Steve upholding with him once an empire came into being. It was uncomfortable to acknowledge Stan's pretentiousness in the footage you had once shown Alex with Stan attempting a discussion with college students and not one being of a minority identity , for someone who advocated for unbiased unity biased assumptions subconsciously revealed themselves. Like I said before Alex none of us were there with the trio or duo when the birth of costumed celebrity was taking form , none of us were in the conferences , at the lunch counters , on the phone , partaking of the public sights and sounds that could undoubtedly claim partial inspiration for images prosed and pictured. Witnesses can attest to the duo/trios physical presences but not to their verbal exchanges unless their are printed documents or audio recordings preserving them. Knowingly , willingly , unremorsefully committing contradiction to honorable actions encouraged is disappointing to say the least thereby souring continued comfort with publications that invoked an almost religious fervor in one to emulate the entities who reflected the higher standards. A theft was committed and condoned and now some condemn its existence encountering resistance. An empire's past glory erodes when its foundation is excavated and reveals contemptible premeditated motives.
One thing I can say is that Ditko, Kirby and many others added a whole lot to Marvel, but Stan is did a lot more then Ditko & Kirby perceived especially in the editing side of the dialogue and writing for the comics. A known fact is how he would often change or write his own ideas into the illustrations that Ditko & Kirby and others made so he was very creative on the writing end especially since their visuals certainly helped. Along with that he would often give either vague or grand concepts which Ditko , Kirby or others would often build off of with their side of making issues. It was always a team effort, now if you ask me who did the least work I would say Stan compared to everyone else despite all he added he couldn’t really contribute the biggest amount on his own either having to work with others or put in his ideas during the editing process. One thing I can give him was that in his earlier days he gave them a lot of credit and even admitted they added more then him in a lot of issues with building off his ideas or them bringing him stuff and him doing the editing after. Their collision started when Kirby didn’t like how he was being payed. He took it out at the closest authority to him Stan, and left for DC and other parts of the comic industry. Ditko left over a disagreement he had with Lee on Green Goblin’s identity. Lee wanting it to be Norman Osborn, and Ditko disagreeing. Lee was then told to cut out credit of Kirby and others that left when it came to iconic characters that were made when going over their inception by his bosses probably for good Public Relationsions/PR. The reality is Ditko added a lot to Spider-man in concept and form. Stan added a lot through writing dialogue, story, and personalities during his editing process as well as sharing his ideas at times with Ditko , Kirby and others during the work on these early runs. So I would disagree , Spiderman was a co creation from many people including Stan. And that goes for most of these iconic characters. Some added more to them then others but everyone contributed. Stan Lee didn’t just say Spiderman he added a lot to the comics in the editing room. Though these creators that were given the shaft do deserve more credit, and when push comes to shove I do agree that Ditko’s estate deserves the rights to Spiderman & Dr.Strange. Hopefully their can be a situation where they allow Marvel to still use these characters under a partnership that would also benefit them a lot of money and they can play big roles in the creative process owning the rights so that we can get amazing writing for both in film, comics, shows and games.
One thing I can say is that Ditko, Kirby and many others added a whole lot to Marvel, but Stan is did a lot more then Ditko & Kirby perceived especially in the editing side of the dialogue and writing for the comics. A known fact is how he would often change or write his own ideas into the illustrations that Ditko & Kirby and others made so he was very creative on the writing end especially since their visuals certainly helped. Along with that he would often give either vague or grand concepts which Ditko , Kirby or others would often build off of with their side of making issues. It was always a team effort, now if you ask me who did the least work I would say Stan compared to everyone else despite all he added he couldn’t really contribute the biggest amount on his own either having to work with others or put in his ideas during the editing process. One thing I can give him was that in his earlier days he gave them a lot of credit and even admitted they added more then him in a lot of issues with building off his ideas or them bringing him stuff and him doing the editing after. Their collision started when Kirby didn’t like how he was being payed. He took it out at the closest authority to him Stan, and left for DC and other parts of the comic industry. Ditko left over a disagreement he had with Lee on Green Goblin’s identity. Lee wanting it to be Norman Osborn, and Ditko disagreeing. Lee was then told to cut out credit of Kirby and others that left when it came to iconic characters that were made when going over their inception by his bosses probably for good Public Relationsions/PR. The reality is Ditko added a lot to Spider-man in concept and form. Stan added a lot through writing dialogue, story, and personalities during his editing process as well as sharing his ideas at times with Ditko , Kirby and others during the work on these early runs. So I would disagree , Spiderman was a co creation from many people including Stan. And that goes for most of these iconic characters. Some added more to them then others but everyone contributed. Stan Lee didn’t just say Spiderman he added a lot to the comics in the editing room. Though these creators that were given the shaft do deserve more credit, and when push comes to shove I do agree that Ditko’s estate deserves the rights to Spiderman & Dr.Strange. Hopefully their can be a situation where they allow Marvel to still use these characters under a partnership that would also benefit them a lot of money and they can play big roles in the creative process owning the rights so that we can get amazing writing for both in film, comics, shows and games.
Look I know people will probably use this video To continue The Anti-Lee Narrative that he had no creativity and didn’t contributing anything to the characters or their stories which is one of the worst lies in Comic Book Culture History but actual research of how things went down in the bullpen along with eye witnesses shows it was a creative collaborative effort between all parties involved and let’s be honest those who believe Jack , Steve & the other did everything themselves creatively with these stories & characters, those claims/beliefs don’t add up when it comes to consistency. Jack, Steve , Stan and everyone else involved have very questionable stories of how everything went down. None of them are consistent and make statements that are clearly driven by feelings Iger objective truth. Added the fact that all for them were older men when making these statements with selective memory or bitter resentment. Many eye witnesses claim they all worked together like a team so I’m willing to by the observations of outside parties who observed them during their creative processes then Stan, Jack , Steve and anyone else with an Axe to grind especially when it came to cash.
@@danielklos1 and the most compelling evidence against The Anti Lee Narrative as I call it is how the personalities behind what when Steve & Jack created after leaving Marvel wasn’t as iconic. I could point out that most of Jack & Steve’s creations before & after Lee was around were co creations with very few being independent ones but I’ll be the “better” man and leave you be.
Stan Lee was the mastermind of 60s Marvel the same way George Lucas was the mastermind of Star Wars. Neither came up with every idea, but.... they had the final say of what got included and what didn't. So everything had to have his "yes" or it didn't happen...making the end result his vision in retrospect. And Stan, same as Lucas, was THE person responsible for the success or failure of each title. Kirby and Ditko got paid either way, and were given more work either way, if it was a hit like FF and Spidey or a flop like the Hulk (original series). So while Stan does not deserve sole credit, he had a bigger stake than anyone else. It was HIS "yeses" that built the Marvel Universe. I think he deserves credit for that if it's worded that way.
Lucas came up with most ideas (90%) and was the person who got final say on Star Wars because he owned it. Stan, Steve & Jack were creative collaborators who equally worked on Marvel. Stan didn’t always get final say on what went in books either because he had bosses, even when he was higher up then the other a so these aren’t even comparable. I’d strongly recommend this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-olqVGz6mOVE.htmlsi=scdVqE3zZQESNrru
Lucas own Star Wars because he created it. Lee didn't create Marvel characters by himself. I work on the industry as an illustrator, and from what many older people told me, Kirby and Ditko created more than Lee. The difference is that Lee was more a business man than a writer. And he had a super developped ego, a big mouth and he was egocentric.
"So everything had to have his "yes" or it didn't happen" No. Steve Ditko (Spider-Man) and Jack Kirby (Fantastic Four, Thor and many others) did their own stories. Stan Lee got the fully pencilled 20 pages on his desk. The only way Stan Lee could influence these stories was by the words he put in the word balloons. And sometimes he would ask for a different version of the cover. Everything else was NOT in his hands. It was all done by Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby. This was the famous "Marvel method" of making comics. Not like today, where the artist is often given a complete script, like a film script, down to the point where individual shots (pictures) are described in detail.
@@ChimBrouer Exactly. Stan was a businessman, not a writer. But he had a big mouth and a huge ego, by that and by his hypocrit way of being, he made everybody believe that he was the mind behind each character. He wasn't a writer, he give the artists a line with what should be drawn on the comic, the artist did all the job, then he put the dialogues and said "this is the Marvel way of creating comics". No, Stan, it was your way of lying and stealing others creativity.
@@martinabreu566 "The difference is that Lee was more a business man than a writer. And he had a super developped ego, a big mouth and he was egocentric." Yep, but he was not all bad. With his ego and big mouth, via the bullpen letter pages, he created a community between Marvel Comics and its readers. This was a big contributing factor to the Marvelmania in the 1960s. I am just sad, that Jack Kirby died too early in 1994 and never saw the worldwide success of "his creation": the MCU.
Pretty sure due to this contract Stan Lee had his own name given to Marvel under copyright. It could explain why Stan had to fight Marvel later to create his own companies legally and wasn’t getting the majority of the Finnancial revenue he brought to the company.
Exactly it was a team effort between Stan Lee, Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko and yes Stan was hard writer always turning in work ten times over. Stan Lee had a creative collaborative system when it came to classic Marvel so of course idiots will argue that everyone else gave Stan ideas and he just took credit which is complete Bs. Jack & Steve didn’t even know what dialogue & script captions Stan wrote when they turned in their illustrations and notes half the time. Not forgetting all the endless back and fourth phone calls between Stan and then discussing the stories they’ll do in the comics and the story conferences they all had which Jack for some reason started denying later in his life despite eye witnesses at the time. Jim Steranko was right about Bob Kane & Stan Lee, Bob is a rip off artist and Stan is a true artistic visionary.
