“It Was a Dichotomy that Made No Sense”- Reexamining 2011’s ‘Lee & Kirby: The Wonder years’

I’ll admit to being a bit conflicted upon reviewing Mark Alexander’s sentimental study of Stan Lee & Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four run from 2011, ‘Lee & Kirby: The Wonder Years‘, published by TwoMorrows Publishing (and doubling as the 58th issue of The Jack Kirby Collector, albeit in a deluxe, trade paperback format) for what I’d […]

“I Always Had So Many Outside Interests”- Stan Lee’s Love of Comics

We often see Stan Lee described with sobriquets such as the “Geek Godfather” and “Comics Maestro” and it’s truly understandable that the general public would keep up their association with this collective image of the man. But what occurs to me as someone who has spent years and years reading through nearly every article and/or […]

“…Created By The Most Successful Creator of Intellectual Property of Our Time.” – Digging Deeper Into The Post-Mortem Fake Creations of Stan Lee

It’s been barely two months since we commented on the exciting announcement of Stan Lee Comics, an upcoming publishing venture consisting of apparently unreleased original Stan Lee creations headed up by his acolyte and sometimes ghost writer Michael Uslan. If you tragically missed that glorious post, you can read it here, o frantic one: https://fourcolorsinners.wordpress.com/2023/07/15/to-a-global-audience-as-never-before-the-endless-fake-creations-of-stan-lee/ […]

“Par for the Course for The Kirby Family”- A Look Back at 20/20’s Marvel Anniversary Special

When the long-running television news program 20/20 aired on ABC the evening of July 24th, 1986, it had to be a rather exciting event for comic fans and professionals alike. In 1986 the cultural assimilation of Marvel into pop culture was still over two decades away; being featured on “mainstream” news was another step forward […]

“Just Too Damn Sensitive For Their Own Good…” How The Politics Of Roy Thomas Influenced His Dismissive Attitude & Shit Writing

Believe it or don’t, I’d much rather keep this site apolitical. It’s only that bringing up someone’s political beliefs- which of course they are entitled to- must today be brought up in a larger context, insomuch as it pertains to their public statements and creative work and how that creative work may or may not […]

“He Looked A Lot Like The Old One…” The Second Life & Grand Delusion of Roy Thomas

Roy Thomas is ubiquitous, seemingly everywhere and far more visible in the world of comics than he has been in decades, partially due to the rise of general interest in the Marvel Universe itself and partially due to the machinations of his omnipresent manager, John Cimino. Thomas’s presence and billing as Stan Lee’s protege and […]

“As far As I’m Concerned, There’s No Controversy”- Disentombing 2011’s Breezy ‘With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story’

You’re sick of it. I’m sick of it! When I publicly declared that I would comprehensively review every documentary and every biography of Stan ‘The Man’ Lee, I never knew how quickly I’d fatigue from the slog of the same ol’ folk tales and talking heads praising and regurgitating the usual tired tropes. To add […]

“One Night He’s Seized By All-Consuming Originality!”- Digging Up The 1995 Stan Lee Doc

No Disney/Marvel production seems to have spurred as much discussion in 2023 as June 16th’s Stan Lee, with the debate and reactions still raging on nearly two months after it’s official release. The topic’s importance in the current conversation was sustained a little longer thanks to the esteemed Jeet Heer’s excellent How Stan Lee Became […]

“He Kinda Looks Like A Supervillain”- A Look at the Clues- And Responses- To Funky Flashman

This is not an article which attempts to inform you on the history behind Jack Kirby’s character Funky Flashman, a brilliant send-up and factually correct satire of Stan Lee. That’s been covered numerous times to varying degrees of success and factual correctness, notably on the excellent According to Kirby blog. No, today we’re going to […]

“Look, Stan’s relationship to the truth is very interesting…” Evaluating the Exhausting ‘Stan Lee: A Marvelous Life’

Among the various comments I’ve seen regarding Four Color Sinners, one stood out to me, and its content was not surprising: when our article about POW! Entertainment’s many failed ventures were shared to someone’s Facebook page, a guy remarked- without reading, natch– that this was the product of a “Stan hater.” This is to be […]