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Posts: 1816
Aug 1 11 2:13 PM
BillyBatson4360 wrote: It seems we have two sides here talking past each other.One side is talking about the finer points of law - which as many on this same side will admit, does not get into what is "fair" or "morally right," but what is the letter of the law.The other side is very concerned with what is "fair" or "morally right." Because they feel Stan Lee has lied or misrepresented the amount of creative input he had, the fine points of the law don't matter and the Kirby family should win the case because the other side is "cheating."I am perfectly willing to concede that Stan Lee may be lying or exaggerating in certain accounts. But I also know that Jack Kirby lied or exaggerated in statements he made as well.I was exchanging online messages last week with someone who had interviewed Jack towards the end of his life. This interviewer was not really knowledgeable about comic book history and so had taken everything Jack told him at face value. One of the things, he related was that Jack claimed to have created both Captain America and the Shield, and created both out of his anger and resentment to the Nazi movement.There had been no mention of Joe Simon's participation in (and I would say PRIMARY contribution to) Captain America and the statement about the Shield was a double lie. Kirby had nothing to do with the character's creation - and when he was involved (again, with Joe Simon) in the character's revamp, the main villains were Communists, not Nazis.I realize the nature of this exchange may raise credibility issues with those championing Kirby's cause. If interested, here's a link to the exchange: Captain America On Screen. As with the statements to the LOC from the owner of Ditko art, I feel the statements attributed to Kirby are definitely in line with many other statements Kirby made late in life in published interviews and accounts where he exaggerated his own accomplishments and downplayed or denied the input of his co-creators.I do know this - there is a certifiable difference between the comic books Jack Kirby created by himself and those he created in collaboration with Stan Lee. This leads me to the independent conclusion that Lee made a contribution to the creation and development of those characters. There was also a continuity in style on those books after Kirby left Marvel - indicating that Lee, somewhat like Walt Disney, was able to shape the creative tone and style of the Marvel line in his editorial capacity.I also know from my own experience as a work-for-hire creative type that creation is not the issue. Everything I do I pretty much create 100% on my own with zero creative input from my clients, but because I was given the general assignment, they are the owners of that creativity.
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