Showing posts with label Marvel Comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marvel Comics. Show all posts
Three new posters for "Spider-Man: Far From Home"
So, I'm guessing he somehow comes back to life in "Avengers: Endgame"?
Review: "Kirby & Lee: Stuf’ Said!: The Complex Genesis of the Marvel Universe, in its Creators’ Own Words"
Ask the average moviegoer who created the Avengers, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange or the X-Men and you'll more than likely hear "Stan Lee."
And that drives some comic book fans nuts. "What about Jack Kirby?!! What about Steve Ditko?!!!," they scream.
And they have a point.
The early Marvel stories were collaborative affairs and it's hard to pinpoint when the creation of a particular character took place and who all was involved. Not only did Kirby and Ditko develop the look of many of the superheroes we know and love today, they also were involved in plotting the characters' adventures and in shaping their personalities.
To truly get a handle on the creation of the Marvel Universe, you'd need to re-trace the steps of the various creators and characters chronologically and look for clues as to who did what and when. And that's exactly what John Morrow has done in this new book, which includes hundreds of quotes from Lee, Kirby, Ditko and others that shed light on the creative/collaborative process involved.
Over the course of the book, we come to see that, not only did these creators differ on who deserved credit for creating a particular character or writing a certain story, they differed on what terms such as "story," "script" and "plot" even mean. For Lee, coming up with a concept for a superhero was creation. For Kirby, a character wasn't fully created until he or she appeared on paper in visual form.
It could also be argued to that a character isn't really defined until he or she appears in a story. And, in this book ,we see how Kirby and Ditko, and the other Marvel artists who followed, deserve much of he credit for the plots, and sub-plots, contained in many classic Marvel tales.
By Lee's own admission, many comics created by these two artists followed "plot conferences" in which Lee provided very few, or no, suggestions. For example, Lee might simply tell Kirby that "Doctor Doom should be in the next issue." Kirby would then plane, pace out and draw the complete Fantastic Four story that included a battle with Doctor Doom, but also a lot of other stuff he'd come up with. And then Lee would add in finished captions and dialogue to the nearly completed result.
This practice came to be called the "Marvel Method," and Lee claimed the artist-first approach in resulted in more visually exciting stories. Which is hard to argue. But is "dialoguing" the same as "writing"? It's easy to see why the artists believed they deserved more credit.
On the other hand, it's hard to imagine classic Marvel stories without Lee's hyperbolic captions and engaging dialogue. Even if his contributions to a story may've been less than that made by Kirby or Ditko, his work was unique and vital.
Lee did sing Kirby and Ditko's praises. We see him doing that throughout this book. Oftentimes, he essentially gives them equal credit in the creative process and in Marvel's success. But then, a page or two later, Lee will say something that again puts himself in the spotlight - it's almost as if he can't help it. His gloryhound tendencies would almost be funny if it didn't come at the expense of artists who deserved at least just much acclaim as he received, not to mention a bigger cut of Marvel's profits.
Morrow has done a tremendous service to comics history here. This book is fascinating reading and should serve as a resource for anyone doing further writing about the creators it covers and the work they did.
It's nice to have all these quotes and background in one place, whether its as fodder for further arguments over whether Lee gets too much credit and Kirby and Ditko not enough (or vice versa), or to more deeply appreciate, and understand, the contributions all of these guys made. One thing that, I think, can't be argued is that Marvel wouldn't have been Marvel without all three of them.
You can oder "Stuf' Said!" here.
Coming Up: New book collects classic Marvel Comics pin-up art by Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Romita and more
Out July 9. Pre-order now from Amazon.
Details from IDW Publishing:
Jack Kirby, "Sturdy" Steve Ditko, Jim Steranko, Don Heck, John Byrne, Barry Windsor-Smith, John Severin, Wally Wood, Dan Decarlo, John Romita, and many more!
As part of the tremendous fun of Silver Age comics, artists created pin-ups of the most popular Marvel heroes and villains! Now the greatest of those works of art are gathered for the first time in a beautiful large-format hardback book! Included are rare examples of original art of The Thing, Spider-Man, and Dr. Strange.
An incredible artbook showcasing Spidey, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, The Avengers, Nick Fury, Daredevil, Millie the Model (!), and the ever lovin' blue-eyed Thing--and many marvelous more! Witty wordage, pulse-pounding patter, and zany zingers by Stan "The Man" Lee!
Coming Up: Spider-Man by John Byrne Omnibus
Out in May. Stay tuned for pre-order info.
Details from Marvel:
Written by BILL MANTLO, CHRIS CLAREMONT, RALPH MACCHIO, MARV WOLFMAN, ROGER STERN, JOHN BYRNE & HOWARD MACKIE
Penciled by JOHN BYRNE
Cover by JOHN BYRNE
Every Spider-Man story illustrated by the legendary John Byrne, collected in one huge hardcover! Spidey is put through his paces as he teams with the Hulk, the Wasp, Ms. Marvel, Iron Fist, Captain Britain, Man-Thing, Thor, Luke Cage and more — and battles Man-Wolf, Doctor Octopus and the Ringer! Revisit chapter one of Spidey’s history as the web-slinger faces his most fearsome foes for the first time! And a legend is reborn as Peter Parker returns to the Spider-Man costume, kicking off an amazing run featuring daring drama, fresh faces and classic foes!
Collecting MARVEL TEAM-UP (1972) #53-55, #59-70 and #75; AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #189-190, #206 and ANNUAL #13; PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN (1976) #58; SPIDER-MAN: CHAPTER ONE #0-12; AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1999) #1 (A & C STORIES), #2-11, #12 (A STORY) and #13-18; and MARVEL AUTHENTIX: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1.
1264 PGS.
Coming Up: Timely's Greatest - The Golden Age Sub-Mariner
Out in May. Stay tuned for pre-order info.
Details from Marvel:
BY BILL EVERETT - THE PRE-WAR YEARS OMNIBUS HC
Written by BILL EVERETT with CARL BURGOS & JOHN COMPTON
Penciled by BILL EVERETT with CARL BURGOS
Marvel proudly presents TIMELY’S GREATEST, a series of once-in-a-lifetime volumes presenting the greatest stories of the Golden Age, when Marvel was known as Timely Comics! Our debut volume celebrates the incomparable adventures of comics’ first antihero, Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner! Bill Everett’s Sub-Mariner cut a bold path, defending his undersea kingdom, invading New York City, fighting the Axis powers and battling both against and alongside the Human Torch! Like his signature character, Everett was an iconoclast ahead of his time. His lush, detailed artwork and engrossing ongoing storylines were unlike anything else of the era! For the first time ever, experience every adventure of Prince Namor from his 1939 debut through Bill Everett’s February 1942 induction into the armed services.
Collecting material from MARVEL COMICS #1, MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS #2-31, HUMAN TORCH COMICS #2-6, SUB-MARINER COMICS #1-4, ALL-WINNERS COMICS (1941) #1-4, DARING MYSTERY COMICS #7-8 and COMEDY COMICS (1942) #9.
864 PGS.
Coming Up: Marvel Horror Omnibus
Due out in May. Order from Amazon now.
Details from Marvel:
Written by STEVE GERBER, DOUG MOENCH, TONY ISABELLA, LEN WEIN, DAVID ANTHONY KRAFT, JOHN DAVID WARNER, STEVEN GRANT, MIKE FRIEDRICH, BILL MANTLO, SCOTT EDELMAN, DAVID MICHELINIE & MORE
Penciled by JOHN BUSCEMA, PABLO MARCOS, ALFREDO ALCALA, YONG MONTANO, RON WILSON, GENE COLAN, TONY DEZUNIGA, DON PERLIN, VAL MAYERIK, JACK KIRBY, DICK AYERS, BILLY GRAHAM, SONNY TRINIDAD, BILL SIENKIEWICZ, JOHN BYRNE & MORE
Cover by Larry Lieber
Marvel’s creepiest characters put the “super” into supernatural in this titanic tome of terror! A veritable who’s who of horror, this volume collects the complete 1970s adventures of the Zombie, Brother Voodoo, the Living Mummy, It! the Living Colossus, the Golem, Gabriel the Devil Hunter, the Scarecrow and Modred the Mystic — including hair-raising encounters with Werewolf by Night, Doctor Strange, the Hulk, the Thing, the Avengers and more! Read it if you dare!
Collecting STRANGE TALES (1951) #169-174 and #176-177; SUPERNATURAL THRILLERS #5 and #7-15; ASTONISHING TALES (1970) #21-24; DEAD OF NIGHT #11; MARVEL SPOTLIGHT (1971) #26; MARVEL CHILLERS #1-2; MARVEL TEAM-UP (1972) #24; WEREWOLF BY NIGHT (1972) #39-41; MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE (1974) #11, #18, #33, #41 and #95; DOCTOR STRANGE (1974) #48; INCREDIBLE HULK (1968) #244; FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) #222-223; AVENGERS (1963) #185-187; and material from ZOMBIE (1973) #1-10; HAUNT OF HORROR (1974) #2-5; MONSTERS UNLEASHED (1973) #11; BIZARRE ADVENTURES #33; MENACE #5; MOON KNIGHT (1980) #21; TALES OF SUSPENSE (1959) #14 and #20; and STRANGE TALES (1951) #74 and #89.
1328 PGS
Entertainment Weekly publishes special Stan Lee tribute magazine
Out today.
Stan Lee: A Life of Marvel tells the story of “Stan the Man” from multiple perspectives — including classic interviews with him detailing how he and the Marvel braintrust of artists and writers created Spider-Man, The Hulk, Fantastic Four, and other heroes and villains.
This collector’s issue spans the Silver Age of comic books, which Lee helped define, and explores how that Big Bang is still expanding into television and movies today.
Accompanied by galleries of photos and illustrations, A Life of Marvel includes:
• Exclusive interviews with other comic book and movie greats about Stan Lee’s influence (and influences).
• A breakdown of his most famous characters — as well as a rundown of Lee’s own many pop culture cameos and appearances.
• Tributes and remembrances of fans as well as the actors that brought his characters to life, including a first-person account from Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige about the last time he met with Lee.
Stan Lee: A Life of Marvel tells the story of “Stan the Man” from multiple perspectives — including classic interviews with him detailing how he and the Marvel braintrust of artists and writers created Spider-Man, The Hulk, Fantastic Four, and other heroes and villains.
This collector’s issue spans the Silver Age of comic books, which Lee helped define, and explores how that Big Bang is still expanding into television and movies today.
Accompanied by galleries of photos and illustrations, A Life of Marvel includes:
• Exclusive interviews with other comic book and movie greats about Stan Lee’s influence (and influences).
• A breakdown of his most famous characters — as well as a rundown of Lee’s own many pop culture cameos and appearances.
• Tributes and remembrances of fans as well as the actors that brought his characters to life, including a first-person account from Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige about the last time he met with Lee.
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