A Comic Mastermind
stan lee and his cohorts invade gotham city
This past weekend, New York City played host to dozens of multi-colored anime and manga characters. Poison Ivy, a few Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Princess Leia, the Hulk, and countless be-caped, spandex-covered femme fatales and superheroes could all be found in the flesh at ComicCon, a convention devoted completely to comics and the largest popular culture convention on the East Coast. ComicCon has a very specific costume-weapon policy for attendees—no paintball guns, crossbows, or something called “nunchaku” are allowed—and with good reason, judging by these characters’ notorious reputations.
This year’s convention, which took place last weekend, was spread out over three floors of the huge, futuristic Jacob Javits Convention Center in midtown. Getting to ComicCon was easy—Spider-Man was waiting at the 34th Street subway stop to greet attendees and lead the way to the convention. Stormtroopers, in full costume despite the 60-degree weather, took care of stopping the flow of traffic so that visitors could cross 11th Avenue safely.
The New York ComicCon is only in its third year (it’s an offshoot of San Diego’s original convention), yet it is growing at an incredibly fast pace, as is the entire comic book universe. The sheer magnitude of ComicCon is overwhelming, and it is indicative of the vitality of the comic industry today.
The living embodiment of this vitality is Stan Lee, probably the most famous figure in comic books. A writer and editor at Marvel Comics and co-creator of some of the most well-known comic book heroes—such as the X-Men, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and the Incredible Hulk—drew the largest crowd of all the featured events with his question-and-answer session. Fans ached to hear the man himself say “Excelsior!” and their wish was granted when one intrepid audience member made the request.
Even for someone unfamiliar with Lee’s catchphrase—which also happens to be the New York state motto—the enthusiasm as Lee entered the auditorium was contagious. Everyone stood to catch a glimpse of the small man, wearing his trademark aviators, as he sat down to shouts of “You’re the man, Stan!” and prolonged applause. It was then announced that, at the age of 85, Lee is going back to work with Virgin Comics as writer, editor, and art director.
Stan Lee was the creative mastermind who revolutionized comics in the 1960s and has been an important force in the industry ever since. At Virgin, he gets to begin all over again—except this time with money. When asked if he is excited to go back to his roots, he answered yes—mostly because Virgin owner Richard Branson is rich and can afford to hire the best artists and writers. “They’ll do the work and I’ll get the credit,” Lee said. “It’ll be great.”
He then irreverently made his way through a long-winded question put to him by the president of Virgin Comics, Suresh Seetharaman, shrugging off his excessive flattery and joking that reading comics makes people more well-adjusted.
Lee said that the comic book industry works in a series of ups and downs, and the industry is currently going through a boom. The magnitude of ComicCon bears witness to this fact. At the convention, different panels focused on every aspect of the comic industry. Most were devoted to specific comic books or their movie versions, while others were based on themes or trends (“Our Gods Wear Capes,” “Giant Robot Rumble,” or “Geek Love”). There were also sneak previews to attend: a new trailer for The Dark Knight, a presentation of Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy II, a panel on the new X-Files movie, the next installment of The Chronicles of Narnia, as well as various movie screenings. On the show floor were representatives of different newspapers, publishers, movies, and video game distributors. There was also an impressive selection of souvenirs, including action figures, plush dolls, collectibles, stickers, pins, podcasts, and comic books.
The influence of the Internet is changing the way comics are viewed and distributed, and its presence was felt at the convention. It creates a freer forum for discussing comics that liberates writers from the constraints of the written page and editorial guidelines. They spoke with glee of the difference between sitting down with a pen and a piece of paper and sitting in front of a computer monitor, where the formatting, graphics, and color possibilities are limitless. Online, authors can handle their own Web sites and make money by self-publishing. Web comics also involve the aspect of community building by allowing for free exchange between authors and readers. Nonetheless, it is an area that must somehow be strictly monitored in order to guarantee that authors and artists are still making money. Towards this end, some have considered the possibility of creating specialized hand-held devices to distribute comics—a variation of these devices already exists in Japan.
But perhaps the clearest proof of the buoyancy and diversity of the comic book industry is the ComicCon attendees. Most make their elaborate costumes themselves, with stunning results. They’re more than happy to pose with you for a picture—although some of them stay permanently in character, which sometimes means that they can’t speak to you. It is an incredibly enthusiastic crowd, all willing to help the “outsiders,” clearly bewildered newcomers to this strange scene. These are the most devoted fans of the comic book universe, and they readily agree in unison that, though their shape, size, and scope might be changing, there will always be a need for comics. \\\