Read on Twitter
I gather the great cultural reassessment of Stan Lee going to be 'Maybe he wasn't perfect! So what'
Should we talk about this https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/02/15/who-really-created-the-marvel-universe
No? OK great, here are my thoughts:
It's a really cogent and balanced explainer! Until the very end, where it's just like..... I genuinely don't know where to start
"Like Troy or Rome, every new Marvel story exists on layers of foundations laid by various hands."
Come on now, lol
Come on now, lol
This is surely the most bombastic version of "comics aren't just for kids" in human history. Which is itself remarkable
...but whatever, that's harmless enough. It's a lot worse to say, 'Sure Jack Kirby deserves credit. And so do all the colorists who ever worked on that title and the fans who wrote in about plot points, etc.'
That's not even remotely the same. Come onnnnnn
That's not even remotely the same. Come onnnnnn
If we're talking about assessing Stan Lee's legacy, it seems to me the central point is that the myth the man created for himself was leveraged by Marvel to whitewash its egregiously exploitative practices. He was the mascot for what remains, in many ways, a shithole industry
What does it mean that the entire Marvel Universe was built on the ethos of a glorified used car salesman?
Among other things, it means someone at the New Yorker can compare Marvel to Troy & Rome (lmao) without ever acknowledging the deep deep human harm this business has done
Among other things, it means someone at the New Yorker can compare Marvel to Troy & Rome (lmao) without ever acknowledging the deep deep human harm this business has done
The "Marvel Method" isn't about collaboration and teamwork. That is not the takeaway
The Marvel Method is about exploitation. It is a process that has by every indication ruined lives
The Marvel Method is about exploitation. It is a process that has by every indication ruined lives
Can we stop romanticizing this stuff? Stan Lee is dead, and Marvel Comics really, truly deserves your contempt. Thanks
