The Creator of Spider-Man, X-Men, The Hulk, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Daredevil And Other Marvel-ous Creations Talks To DCM About His Life In Comics and The New Season Of WHO WANTS TO BE A SUPERHERO?

Stan Lee. If you want to talk about comic book creators with your non-comic friends, his name is one of a select few you can bring up with a good chance that he’ll be someone they’ve heard of. He’s not the father of the modern comic book—that title goes to men who came before him. He’s more like your favorite uncle, the one your mother isn’t too crazy about, but one who never forgets to bring you a surprise whenever he stops by to visit and who always has a treasure trove of amazing, incredible, and uncanny stories to tell, some of which might even be fantastic enough to be true.

Lee doesn't mind being called a legend—as long as he's being called a living legend. At 83, He’s as tireless as ever. Not only is he doing cameos in film versions of all the Marvel Comics characters that he helped create, but he’s creating more superheroes and delving into all kinds of new technology. The mastermind behind Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, the X-Men and others is now looking forward to the second season of his superhero reality show, Who Wants To Be A Superhero? which will air again on the Sci-Fi Channel.

We spoke with Stan "The Man" Lee a little over a week after his most popular creation, Spider-Man, returned to the big screen in Spider-Man 3.

Delaware County Magazine: Do you ever get tired of being called a legend?

Stan Lee: I don’t get tired of it as long as they say “living legend.” I love it! Gush all you want. I don’t get tired of it when people say nice things. Who would?

DCM: Are you aware of the worldwide impact that you've had on the world of entertainment and the medium of comics or do you think it’s just another day at the office?

Lee: I didn’t for a long time. But right now I meet people in the movie or television business who all they want to do is talk about these old comics that I did. That’s refreshing; that’s incredible. It used to be an industry that most comics creators were shunned to have worked in. But the popularity of the new movies is making it all mainstream now. It always was popular, but it was within a genre that only a certain amount of people were into on a daily basis. Now we’ve hit new markets and have picked up new fans.

DCM: What’s incredible is that you’re still going after all these years. Ever think about retiring at any point?

Lee: Well, 83. Most guys my age aren’t around anymore. Not being able to work would be punishment. I don’t really see a need to retire as long as I’m having fun. Yeah, I’m keeping busy but it’s all so much fun that I just want to keep on going.

DCM: Let’s talk about that. You have the second season for Who Wants to Be a Superhero? coming up soon as well.

Lee: It really is a funny idea for a show! It was a funny show in the sense of seeing all these people who came out to audition and wanted to portray a superhero of their own making. It’s like being a kid again and playing in the backyard! The main reason I wanted to be a part of it was that it put a bigger and more absurd spin on the normal reality shows that you see on TV most of the time. And the way we were filming the show, even I didn’t know what would happen up until the moment it was revealed so it kept it interesting for me as well. This is all entertainment. Comics, films, and TV. You try to do something that people will like, and they liked this show so we have a new season.

DCM: Why do some ideas work and others don't?

Lee: Comics are not just for little kids and shouldn’t be written that way. Although the comics of today are darker and written more for fans who are in their 30s and we need to get them back to a point where everyone can be able to pick them up and enjoy them at any age. In the past, back in the late 50’s, I had a publisher who felt comics were just for little kiddies, so he never wanted me to use words of more than two syllables. I wanted to keep my job, and when my wife suggested I write comics my own way, that's when I came up with Fantastic Four...You have to be interested in the character, you have to feel he’s vulnerable. I felt that way about Superman. He can’t be hurt, he can’t be killed, he can pretty much do anything. So where’s the suspense in that?

DCM: And your most successful characters are all human-based.

Lee: After Fantastic Four came out for the first time, we actually started getting fan mail. We never used to get fan mail. It hit a nerve.

DCM: With the Fantastic Four sequel coming out soon, what did you think of the first film? Did you like what they did with your characters?

Lee: It was the best time for the Fantastic Four to be made. Jack Kirby [who died in 1994] created all the art for the comics, and his work was brought to the big screen with state-of-the-art computers, so now we can put things on the screen we could not do for years. I thought it was beautifully acted; I was very excited for it. I especially liked all of the parts with the Thing.

DCM: What did you think of Michael Chiklis in the part of the Thing? That was some pretty good casting.

Lee: Chiklis was a fan of the comic book, and I got friendly with him on the set. He wanted to play the character since he was young kid. And to think one day he’d grow up and be The Thing. He’s the nicest guy in the world, but it was torture for him to wear that outfit. They had to pump some air in, but the guy could have collapsed. This was the most difficult costume anyone could have worn. It was heavy as hell, and once they put it on he couldn’t take it off, he had to wear it the whole time. He did a great job. They did fix it though on this new film so that they could take it off of him in-between takes so that he wouldn’t get overwhelmed.

DCM: What about Spider-Man 3?

Lee: The films couldn’t be in more capable hands than those of Sam Raimi. And the way it works is that I don’t have to butt in at all. These fellows do what they do and I think they are geniuses. Marvel is just so lucky that we have such competent people doing these movies for us. Sam approaches the films so intelligently. He does on the screen what I always tried to do in print and he treats Peter Parker as a very real empathetic character. A character that somebody can understand, somebody you can feel sorry for because he has a number of personal problems.

DCM: What kind of super power would you want to have if you could pick one?

Lee: I used to say “immortality,” because I have so many things I want to do, but now I keep forgetting people’s names, so I’d like to say a “super memory.” When someone comes over and shakes my hand I used to say, “Pleasure to meet you,” and they would tell me we just had lunch the day before, so now I say, “It’s a pleasure to see you,” just in case I forgot that I’ve seen them before! The only bad part about old age is forgetting so much of what has happened in one’s life.