WAITING
FOR TOMMY: TALKING ABOUT STAN LEE
By
Richard Johnston
Anyone who's coming
to Chicago WizardWorld, come by the Dynamic Forces booth and
say hi. Oh and buy a statue - these Dynamic Forces guys have
flown me out, I'm going to make sure they get their money's
worth. If I've been dragged away, you can call me on 011447801350982.
I'm only there Friday afternoon till Sunday afternoon, so
be quick about it!
Now then...
Next month, Tom
Spurgeon and Jordan Raphael will see their book STAN
LEE AND THE RISE AND FALL OF THE AMERICAN COMIC BOOK published
from Chicago Review Press. You can read the prologue here
and there's an extract in last month's Comics Journal, also
reprinted here.
The extract includes movie pitches written by Stan Lee with
Marvel characters including
THOR: "If Arnold Schwarznegger [sic]
had Robert Redford's face and Richard Burton's voice! Thor
is surely the handsomest, most heroic, most powerful, most
dutiful son any doting super-God ever had. The poor guy doesn't
lie, doesn't cheat, doesn't do drugs, and fights his fool
head off for truth, justice, and the Asgardian way of life.
One thing though -- he's great in the hay."
SILVER SURFER: "The Surfer races across
the Earth on his board. As he swoops down over New York, a
"tall, overdressed black man" enters the picture: "It's Sweet-Daddy
Wisdom, leader of New York's Black Mafia. He aims a hand gun
at the Surfer. He commands the Surfer to land gently and get
off the board. He says that everyone's been trying to get
a line on him. And now he belongs to Sweet-Daddy Wisdom. Ol'
Sweet-Daddy's gone and caught himself the world's choice prize.
He's captured the ultimate honky."
Both writers are ex-Comics Journal staffers,
with journalist backgrounds, so this promises to be a warts-and-all
book of revelations. But is it simply a hatchet job? Or have
the writers been won over by Stan's winning smile? I took
the writing duo to task. And what better place for scurrilous
hacks to meet than.well. over breakfast?
RICHARD JOHNSTON: So how much of this
is a hack job? A volume intended to expose the worst of Stan
Lee while sugar coating it with a few expressions of admiration?
JORDAN RAPHAEL: One sec... I'm just
eating a bowl of cereal to keep up my strength.
RICHARD: Is it a proper cereal or
candy in milk? JORDAN: Kix, which I think is neither.
I usually eat proper cereals: Cheerios, Crispix, granola,
Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies.
RICHARD: I believe this is what you
call avoiding the question. Are you Bill Jemas?
JORDAN: Right, right. Now, for your
question...
RICHARD:
Such as it is.
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