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Stan Lee Was My Ghost Writer
2007-03-06 16:16:10

Tom's first cover appearance

FANTASTIC FOUR #543

"Joe! We have a CRISIS!

The MOLE MAN’s taking over New York!"

Those are the fateful words I uttered on that harrowing day, the 45th anniversary of the Fantastic Four's journey into space. Except I didn't come up with them--Stan Lee did, for a story he wrote for FANTASTIC FOUR #543.

I've appeared in Marvel comics before, often in the background (I was a newsreader in CIVIL WAR #1), sometimes as a participating player (as in a whimsical story in FANTASTIC FOUR #50). I even had the rare privilege of appearing on the cover of a Marvel mag, the somewhat-strained SPIDER-MAN: 101 WAYS TO END THE CLONE SAGA, along with Ralph Macchio and Bob Harras. But this is a little different.

To be honest, I've always kind of felt that most of these sorts of appearances were self-indulgent, self-congradulatory twaddle. Yes, there's a long history of creators being drawn into the books, stemming back to FANTASTIC FOUR #10 wherein Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were enlisted by Doctor Doom in a bid to destroy the Fantastic Four. In fact, one of the earliest Marvel comics I read was FANTASTIC FOUR #176, which involved the Impossible Man invading and attacking the Marvel Bullpen, because he wanted to star in a magazine of his own. Heck, John Byrne drew himself into his stories so often that Marvel should own the rights to his likeness.

But these were all, you'll forgive me, real guys. People who mattered. Genuine contributors to the Marvel mythos. Not just a bunch of shlubs like the crew we've got working here now. And really, does any reader really care? I can see being interested if it's Brian Bendis or Jeph Loeb or Bryan Hitch or somebody on the page--they're the guys writing the stories or doing the artwork, so there's naturally an interest in them. But nobody really cares about the editor--nor should they. So I've always found these self-aggrandizing appearances off-putting, and vaguely in bad taste--a seeming attempt to pull the spotlight away from the characters and stories and people who really matter to the audience. Kind of sad, really.

Except this is Stan Lee. I don't know if anybody who began reading comics in the 1980s or later, after Stan was pretty much gone from the monthly pages including the Bullpen pages for the most part, can truly appreciate who he is and what he did, and how vital his work was when it first came out, as it now seems somewhat dated with the passing of time and the evolution of the medium. But really, Stan more than any other individual is why there's a Marvel Comics in the first place, and very much the reason why there's still a comics industry. So if he wants to put me in a story, then that's the way it's going to be.

And there's something strangely appealing about the guy who first put words into the mouths of Reed Richards, Ben Grimm and Sue Storm 45 years ago putting words into mine.

More later.

Tom B

I always enjoyed seeing the creators make appearances in the comics. I think it works when the creators have had long, successful runs on the title. It would go over new readers' heads but it's a sort of payoff for the dedicated readers who have supported the success of the series. The creators should have a pretty good gauge whether to make an appearance. If not, shame on them.

Speaking of Stan, I anticipate finding him in a scene in every Marvel movie. It's a greatly reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock with his films.

JoeyQ has made only one on-screen appearance that I know of. If I recall correctly, he was a pizza delivery guy in the Punisher. He was quite believable. At least Joe has something to fall back on in case this editor-in-chief thing doesn't work out.

Posted by Beta Ray Benny on 2007-02-08 10:10:44

They used to stick all the artists in the bullpen stories even though they rarely worked there. I think the more recent bullpen stories have gone in a more "realistic" direction, and to be honest, that kind of defeats the point of them...

Posted by Fetsur on 2007-02-08 13:15:02

Joe Q
was a pizza delivery guy in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, not sure about Punisher. (The lucky jerk also got to make out with Eliza Dushku in the deleted scenes.)

Posted by jaredgood1 on 2007-02-08 14:23:10

The best bullpen appearances I remember are FF 10, which Tom mentioned and also X-Men #94 (I believe) when the old writers catch Jean and Summers making out in the street and say something to the effect of "These new kids these days..." and it was a wink and nod to the new creative team and the new direction of the series.
I missed that 101 Clone Saga special. Sounds really funny.

Posted by bigdaddyhub2 on 2007-02-08 15:05:07

I think you undersell the importance/name recognition of editors, Tom (though perhaps that's speaking as an editor myself, if in a different field). I'm not saying every editor's going to be known, but I think some certainly built up a fan following (or fan hatred). I mean, I certainly mourned Mark Gruenwald when he died, and I basically knew him as an editor; you and Ralph Macchio are certainly names that are going to be known to many Marvel fans. Heck, now that letters pages are finally back, I think you definitely feel more of a connection if only to feel bad for Aubrey because everyone's so mean to ... her.

Posted by motteditor on 2007-02-08 16:40:29

before anthology remember there is funk
... oh right.....thank you.
you people seems to have
good time

Posted by notapotatoe on 2007-02-09 01:10:36

be yourself no matter what they said dixit
the clone saga was an excellent idea to redifine Spiderman,( kind of what if ?...) Another yourself who doesn't make the same choices, so who is better and who is different ?
Many ways to conclude, the longer , and the quick...

Posted by notapotatoe on 2007-02-11 15:42:08

Array

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About this blog:
Ramblings and musings from the mind of Tom Brevoort. "It won’t be clean. It won’t be fun. It mostly won’t be coherent."

About the author:
Tom Brevoort is Executive Editor for Marvel Comics, and oversees such titles as New Avengers, Civil War, and Fantastic Four.


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