Richard Gagnon wrote:
>>You mean Stan Lee, who's had nothing but bad ideas since he's been forced to come up with them with Jack Kirby or Steve Ditko to do all the 
> work for him to put funny dialogue on. I still think Stan Lee is to Ditko and Kirby what Mike Love is to Brian Wilson.

I've known Stan Lee for something close to 20 years. As a comics' 
fan/retailer, I've known his work for more than 35 years. Stan was a 
creative force in comics for years. The fact that both Ditko and Kirby 
did their best work with Stan says something very powerful about his 
abilities as a writer, as an editor and a creative force. That Kirby's 
and Ditko's work without Stan's involvement were not up to the standards 
of what they did with Stan should be instructive to anyone who cares to 
learn the history.

That's not to denigrate the work of either Ditko or Kirby, two artists I 
greatly admire (I own originals from both). But this isn't an  either/or 
situation. Stan had his creative years, so did Ditko and Kirby.  We 
expect waaaaay too much of our creators--whether we're talking music or 
comics, etc. At the top levels of any creativity, each artist probably 
has 10-15 really great years----but so many of us expect them to keep it 
all on the same creative high for 35, 40, 50, 60 years. That's just 
unreasonable (unless you're Will Eisner, which is an exceptional, 
different story altogether).

Lee/Kirby and Lee/Ditko were more akin to Lennon/McCartney. Both 
geniuses in their own right---and never quite as good on their own.

On top of that, on a personal level, Stan has ALWAYS done right by me. 
The guy is aces in my book.

> Actually, Mike Love is a fine bass singer. I wonder what Stan's singing  voice sounds like...> 

Stan is a Howard Keel kinda guy. Big, loud manly showtunes are his forte.

Joe Field
Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool Stuff
Concord CA
http://FlyingColorsComics.com

NP: Spider-Man:Reflections of a Rock Super-Hero ;)