About the Project
An ambitious, young Stan Lee arrives at the offices of Marvel Comics as the new editor, only to discover that he is taking over a sleazy, two-bit company in free-fall. To make matters worse, the Comics Code Authority (CCA) are making Marvel write wholesome, septic storylines no red-blooded kid wants to read. After trying every kind of tacky new comic idea he can think of, Stan is forced to face the truth: the company is going under. He has to lay off most of his staff, and with only his core team left he announces that this is the end of the road.
The desperate situation is strangely liberating, and for their final edition, the Marvel Team tries a new kind of comic: not a ‘perfect hero’ like Superman or Wonder Woman, but a team that lives in the real world, and deals with the problems of regular people. For once, they stop trying to write for kids, and instead write a comic that they themselves would read. Against all expectations, The Fantastic Four is a huge hit.
The CCA’s director, Judge Murphy, berates Stan Lee for the irreverent tone of this new piece but, fueled by its success, Stan is inspired to create more comics with the same real-life, streetwise sense of energy. Soon Marvel have a list of hit titles – Spider-Man, Thor, The Hulk, The Avengers, Iron Man. Marvel is back in the game, and Stan Lee is enjoying the life of a celebrity, with all the temptations and superficiality that comes with it. Judge Murphy watches these developments with increasing frustration: what can be done to rein in this rebellious upstart?
With its growing readership, the Department of Health asks Marvel to create a story-line to help them fight the heroin epidemic that is ravaging American cities. Despite his new-found celebrity, Stan feels a calling to this project – can he be a hero himself, and actually help those in need? The project becomes Stan’s personal mission, and the Marvel Team throws everything they have into this special edition of Spider-Man.
Over at the CCA, Judge Murphy sees his chance to cut this trendy new company down to size: he refuses to approve the special edition. Despite a chronic heroin epidemic, the CCA decrees that under its rules no drug use should be shown, even if the intention is to warn against its use. Without their stamp of approval, the comic cannot legally be printed; to do so would risk the whole company being shut down. The special edition is dead in the water.
It is a moment of reckoning for Stan Lee: in every story he has written, his hero has faced a moment where they have to put it all on the line to help others. But it is different in the real world: if Marvel is closed it will end his career and those of his friends, and there won’t be any crowds to cheer him on in the fight. This is one he will have to face alone, in the quiet of a New York office. Despite everything, Stan picks up the phone: “Print the comic,” he says.
The special edition is published without the CCA stamp – the first comic to be published without approval since the CCA was initiated. This is just the excuse Judge Murphy needs: he comes down on Stan Lee with the full weight of the law, with the New York DA accompanying him to lock the presses. But as news leaks out there is a sudden and unexpected outcry from the public and the press in support of Marvel. Newspapers praise the edition as marking a moment where comics are no longer just for kids, but are a vital new medium for storytelling, creating characters that can help us struggle with the dilemmas of modern life. In the face of overwhelming pressure, the CCA is forced to back down.
It is a triumph for the young company, and the death knoll for the CCA. Stan Lee finds himself as a new champion of the comic world, but more importantly, he has learnt an important lesson. It’s not enough to write about heroes, and enjoy the success that it brings – sometimes you have to put it all on the line to help others. It’s just what heroes do.
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Production Team
