The Stan Lee Documentary on the Disney Channel.

[Barry]

The Stan Lee Documentary on the Disney Channel.

First, I had helped Stan Lee over the years, not so much with research, but with memory. He had forgotten several things that he wrote 50 years ago.  I also was a co-writer of the Taschen book, “Stan Lee,” which he was part of.

Stan:  “Hey, many thanks, Barry. And it's nice to know that you are so helpful.  It's like having my own research bureau!... By the power vested within me, I hereby award you an oak leaf cluster for your F.F.F.”

The Disney channel faced a problem every Stan Lee history really has.  There is no compelling scandal here. Stan was never arrested or anything so they had to make a documentary without anyone getting upset! This is an interesting documentary about Stan and the rise of the Marvel Age of Comics.  They go over a lot, but some details are left out. For example, the publisher, Martin Goodman, was a relative, he was married to Stan’s cousin. I enjoyed it and had a BIG SURPRISE.

Stan has one somewhat controversial item. Throughout the 40s, 50s and 60s, publishers did not give any credit, or published credits, to the creators of their stories.  Marvel was the first company to give published credits to their writers and artists. Some feel that Stan got too much credit. That is examined here.T he documentary is an enjoyable, good 90 minutes to watch, with one surprise for me.

Under government pressure, comics were censored by “The Comics Code” and every comic carried their seal of approval. Drugs were forbidden to be mentioned, but Stan, in 1970, got a letter from our government’ s H.E.W. requesting that they do an anti-drug story.  They did in Spider-Man #96, 97 and 98 and it was published without the seal.  The documentary shows this and the letters of support they got. I did not know this till I saw it on Friday night but the second letter they showed WAS MY LETTER! FROM 50 YEARS AGO!!!!!!  And it was published in Spider-Man #100! I am a one second part of this documentary!

[SRW1000]

That's a great story, Barry!  How cool is it to see your letter featured in the documentary?

And you spent time with Stan Lee?  Man, that's an experience most of us who are Marvel would cherish for a lifetime!  He was such a larger-than-life character; it was exciting to see him getting a real touch of fame with the general public in his later years.  He always came across as much of storyteller as promoter and was excellent at both.  Was he the same person in real-life as on screen?  He seems like a guy that was always full of boundless energy.

We don't have Disney Plus anymore, but maybe this documentary will make its way to some other streaming service in the future.  I'll keep an eye out for your letter when I do watch it.

Very cool, Barry, very cool.

Scott

[David Vaughn]

Awesome story Barry...too bad they didn't interview you for the documentary as well. I bet you would have made it all the more better with your knowledge of "everything" Marvel!

I'll have to check it out. Thanks for sharing.