PAUL KUPPERBERG | 13th Dimension, Comics, Creators, Culture

Dec28

PAUL KUPPERBERG: My 13 Favorite STAN LEE Comic Book Cameos

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Dec 28, 2024

PAUL KUPPERBERG: My 13 Favorite STAN LEE Comic Book Cameos

The celebrated Mr. K pays a BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE to Stan the Man, born Dec. 28, 1922… By PAUL KUPPERBERG How did Stan Lee get to be the Alfred Hitchcock of comic book cameos? According to a Business Insider magazine interview with “The Man” in November 2018, “The artists back then would draw me in as a joke or just to have fun then. And I would put some dialogue balloons there and it looked as if I intended it. I didn’t try to do cameos in those days.” Maybe… And here I must pause for full disclosure: I am a Stan Lee fan. All issues of who created what aside — which are not inconsiderable, and I don’t dismiss, but are not germane to the topic at hand — as the prime, and for a while, only writer/scripter of the line, Stan was the author of the unified Marvel Universe. As DC Comics’ system of editorial fiefdoms proved, editors of the individual major characters didn’t need or want the aggravation of sharing with other offices. Team-ups and crossovers in the 1950s were practically nonexistent; Superman and Batman together in World’s Finest were an exception, made possible by the fact that Whitney Ellsworth was the credited editor of all three titles. But Stan was in it right from the get-go, guest-starring the Fantastic Four in The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (March 1963), the same month as The Fantastic Four #13… which guest-starred the Incredible Hulk! Were the crossovers Stan’s idea or did Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby come up with them? I dunno. But putting the crossovers at the heart of the developing universe was ultimately Stan’s decision as editor. He set the template that later creators would expand upon to give us the unholy mess… I mean the rich and diverse modern day Marvel Universe. Which brings me back to Stan’s modest demurral concerning the origins of his cameo appearances in print. Again, I’m a fan, a reader of Marvel Comics from very nearly the beginning, and fortunate to have been an active fan and young professional when he was still a presence in the Marvel offices and to have several interactions with him back in the day. But if Stan had a superpower, it was the uncanny ability to attract attention. He was charming and charismatic, an extrovert and,...

Dec03

PAUL KUPPERBERG: My 13 Favorite 1960s COMIC BOOK TOYS — RANKED

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Dec 3, 2024

PAUL KUPPERBERG: My 13 Favorite 1960s COMIC BOOK TOYS — RANKED

A TOYHEM tour of the Swingin’ Sixties! — Welcome to TOYHEM! For the sixth straight holiday season, we’re bringing you a series of features and columns celebrating the toys of our youth, which often made for the best memories this time of year. Click here to check out the complete index of stories — and have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Chanukah and Happy Holidays! — Dan — UPDATED 12/3/24: This groovy column by Paul Kupperberg first ran in 2020 but it was so popular, we’re reprinting it this year. Dig it. — Dan — By PAUL KUPPERBERG We live in a golden age of comic book toys and tchotchkes. Action figures. Statues. Props. Accessories. Clothing. Jewelry. Home decor. Name it. But this wasn’t always the case. Even the explosive success of the 1966 Batman TV show gave way to a relatively small increase in such product. Still, a minor increase is better than nothing, but the appearance of a really great toy (singular, as opposed to entire toy lines like the later G.I. Joe or Masters of the Universe, et al) was a significant event. While I desired deeply, and for a variety of reasons, all of the following, I didn’t actually own all of them. Toys were expensive. And, hey, what were we? Made of money?! (Sorry. Childhood flashback there!) Thanks to Batman, 1966 seems to have been the pinnacle of toy activity for the decade, and I, the budding 11-year-old comic book reader and fan, was perfectly positioned to take in this sudden explosion of comics (and comic book-like) related toys and games. — 13. Aurora Super-Hero Model Kits (Aurora Plastic Corporation, 1960s). I was never much of a model builder. I didn’t have the patience or manual dexterity to do a very good job of it and I was always disappointed by my lopsided, over-glued results. I’d given up even trying after a few airplane and car models, but then those crafty bastards at Aurora Models started issuing a line of licensed DC and Marvel Comics plastic model kits: Superman, Superboy (and Krypto), Batman, Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain America and others, priced at 98 cents to $1.49 (“each wherever toys and hobby products are sold”). A buck was a lot of money to a kid in the 1960s — enough to buy six or eight comics depending on the year/cover price...

Home » PAUL KUPPERBERG