For Stan Lee, something was in the air about superhero creation
Stan the Man Lee was interviewed recently by the AP, and spoke about how he came to create as many superhero characters as he did while at a California Science Center exhibition:
AP: What was the first of the characters you came up with?Well, that's fun to know. As for when he began writing, I think I know when - it was late in the Golden Age, post-WW2. Before that, he'd certainly worked as an assistant around the offices his uncle managed, when the company was first known as Timely. When he began writing, in about 1946 or 1947, he wrote some of Marvel Mystery Comics, including some Sub-Mariner and Captain America adventures.
Lee: Oh, I wrote so many I don't even know. I wrote either hundreds or thousands of them. I started in about 1939 or 1940, but it wasn't until 1961 or '2 that I did the Fantastic Four, and that was the first of the Marvel characters. And after that I did X-Men, I think. No, I did the Hulk and then Spider-Man and then the X-Men and Daredevil and Iron Man and the rest of them. . . . It was like there was something in the air. I couldn't do anything wrong. Every one of them worked out beautifully and, as you can, see, they're still around.
AP: Do you have a favourite?
Lee: I love 'em all. It used to be that whichever one I was writing was my favourite at that moment. And I'd really get into it. My wife would come in and say, "Who are you talking to?" And I'd realize that while I was writing the dialogue I was saying it out loud. "Take that you! You won't get away with it!" (laughing).
AP: A lot of your characters seem to have gotten their powers through radioactive mishaps of one type or another. Is there a reason for that?Yup. And if today's writers could pay attention to that, I think we'd have a lot to find in what Lee helped to make popular in his day once again.
Lee: Well, if you're going to write about somebody who has a super power, how do you justify him having the super power? Now, when Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman (for rival DC Comics), they had him come from another planet. . . . When I did the Fantastic Four, that was the first of the Marvel heroes, I wanted to give them super power but I didn't want them coming from another planet. So I figured, well, I'll have them go up in a rocket ship and they're hit by cosmic rays. I had read about cosmic rays somewhere. I had read the name. I don't know what a cosmic ray is. I wouldn't know it if it hit me. But it sounded good, so we did that. . . . Then I needed something to make the Hulk the Hulk, so I said well I'll have him hit by gamma rays. So he was the victim of a gamma-ray explosion. I know less about gamma rays than cosmic rays. But again, it sounds good. With Spider-Man, I had run out of rays. I couldn't think of any other ray. So I figured I'll get him bitten by a radioactive spider. And that seemed to work.
AP: Did you study science very much in school?
Lee: Not at all. I wish I had. I mean I find it fascinating. I started working when I was 16 and a half, and even when I was in high school I was working in my spare time. So I never had time to go to college and just spent my time writing. . . . I was mentioning to somebody an example of how I try to, in a funny way, make things seem logical. We have a character called the Mighty Thor, the god of thunder. He has this weapon, a big hammer that he holds, and I wanted him to be able to fly like Superman. . . . He wants to fly, so he swings the hammer as fast as he can (at this point Lee leans forward to demonstrate) and then he lets it go. Well, it's attached to his wrist, so it pulls him along with it. So he could fly. So everything is very scientific (laughing). And you better say "he said that with a laugh."
AP: What do you think is the attraction of superheroes?
Lee: I think everybody loves things that are bigger than life. High-concept stories. I think of them as fairy tales for grown-ups. You know, I don't think there's anyone when he - or she - was young didn't love fairy tales. We all grew up with giants and ogres and witches. Well, you get a little bit older and you're too old to read fairy tales. But I don't think you ever outgrow your love for those kind of things, things that are bigger than life and magical and very imaginative. And that's what these superheroes' stories are, really. As I say, to me they're fairy tales for grown-ups. And . . . I don't think you're ever going to see monsters or villains like Doc Ock or Green Goblin in real life, just like you'd never meet the Wicked Witch of the West in real life. But in a comic book, they're fun and you can have the same kind of thrill and enjoyment you had when you were a kid reading those kind of stories.
Labels: marvel comics
