Stan Lee: 10% or $10 Million?

Stan Lee Biography

I was recently reading the biography, Stan Lee: Creator of Spider-Man with my son and I learned quite a bit about "The Man." But one little tidbit tucked in the back of the book really made me stand up and take notice.

The book says that Stan Lee has a contract with Marvel to get 10% of all profits from movies starring characters he created. That's 10% of EVERYTHING - not just the box office but all the ancillary profits from toys, video games, shirts, DVD's, licensing rights - you name it.

To put that in perspective, Marvel movies have made BILLIONS of dollars worldwide in box office alone. Now, sure, not all of that is Marvel profits but Marvel certainly sees a sizable chunk of that. Add toys on top of that (toys from the original Spider-Man movie topped over $100 million in sales in one year alone) and it's a virtual gold mine.

So if Stan Lee's gotten 10% of all of that, he's a very, very wealthy man - right?

Wrong. In 2002, Stan Lee sued Marvel (after the first few Spider-Man movies were a hit) because they weren't paying him and he won. But then Marvel appealed and the decision was overturned. Instead, Marvel paid Lee a one-time $10 million and Lee completely signed over the rights to all of the great characters he created.

Think of it. 10% would have been hundreds of millions of dollars (heck, maybe even a billion!) to date but instead Lee only got $10 million. Marvel should be ashamed of themselves because without Lee they'd be making NOTHING!

Still, I'll give Stan Lee a ton of credit - he still appears in these films, still promotes them for all he's worth, and still has a good attitude about the whole thing.

Stan Lee, to me, you'll always be "The Man" and it's a shame Marvel decided to stab you in the back when you're the one that built Marvel with your own two hands.

The Great Debate - Are Movies Good For the Comic Book Industry?

Let's start by asking the opposite question - Are comic books good for movies? The answer, of course, in every way, is a resounding, "YES."

Ock and Wolfman no steal Hulk's popcorn!

But how about the opposite - is all of this movie success good for comic books?

That's a much harder question to answer. It shouldn't be, but it is.

First, the movies influence quite a bit of influence over the comics. Comic book companies looking to cash in on movie success alter almost anything about their characters to make them more accessible to moviegoers. The X-Men changed uniforms, Spider-Man got unmarried, and the Hulk rejoined the Avengers. I can't think of another medium that is so influence by the movies produced from the source material.

Next, there's a real danger in planning future comic book projects solely to catch Hollywood's eye. That's like trying to create a video game going, "Gee, I hope Hollywood turns this video game into a movie!" No, you try to make the best video game you know how. If you're lucky, it becomes successful enough to warrant a movie.

Finally, movie success has failed to translate into actual comic book sales. I personally think the price of comics has a great deal to do with this but whatever the reason, the source material doesn't benefit like, say, the Harry Potter or Twilight books did. Since DC and Marvel are owned by movie producing companies already this puts them in a peculiar position. Are they comic book companies that happen produce movies or movie companies that happen to produce comics? The answer, more and more, is looking like the later.

Now it's not all doom and gloom. Certainly, a high profile movie can raise public awareness of your character greatly. Hellboy is one example of this. I think even Thor, the Fantastic Four, and Captain America were below the radar for a large percentage of people. Now they're part of the cultural language. That can't be a bad thing.

And money is money no matter how you make it. The fact that comic book heroes make tons of money only means that comic book fans will continue to enjoy a growing multitude of comic book options for the foreseeable future.

And don't forget about cross pollination - Sure, comic books spawn movies but the reverse is also true. Plenty of movies has been turned into comics. Some are one-shots, others are miniseries, but there have been a few quality ongoing series based on movies as well.

So are the movies good for comic books? I'll say this - I'd rather have successful comic book movies than not for the industry. So yes, movies are good for comic book industry.

Comic Books Unbound - Movie Reaction

Comic Books Unbound is a Starz documentary about the influence comic books have over Hollywood in today's market.

I hate it when the binding comes undone on my comics.

While this documentary is dated, I did enjoy watching it. Sure, the title is a little vague (it says nothing of the documentary's hollywood focus). And there is quite a bit of "no-duh" material in this film for anyone who's been paying attention the last ten years (Wait... comic book movies can be a SUCCESS? NO - REALLY???).

The thing I liked about this movie was the overview it gave on the relationship between comic books and the movies. The movie goes all the way back to the first movie serials featuring superheros. You really get a sense of the ebb and flow of the influence of comic books over film.

While this is in no way a "must-see" for comic book fans, it does serve as a good primer to start discussions about the relationship between comic books and movies.

What are my thoughts? Well, allow me to share more tomorrow...

The Month of Superman Movie Reviews

Here at 1LR November will be the Month of Superman, specifically focusing on the Big Blue Cheese's presence on the Silver Screen. Why? First because these movies are so... so... so... hard to accurately describe. And maybe that's why I'm dedicating this month to Superman movies: so I can use this blog as it was intended - as therapy for myself - and work out my feelings about the Superman movie franchise. Normally I'm so decisive and opinionated it's odd for me to not have a firm opinion. So, for the entire month of November 1LR will be giving thanks and picking apart the Superman movies like a Thanksgiving turkey.

1LR Marvel Movie Rankings

As I reported recently, there are 34 Marvel movies that Rotten Tomatoes reviewed for their Marvel Movie Madness. The list below is my rankings of these Marvel movies from best (#1) to worse (#34). I've seperated the films into three categories - Great, Okay, and Bad. This was extremely hard to do - especially at the top of the list.

GREAT -1-13
OKAY - 14-24
BAD - 25-34

1. Iron Man
2. Captain America: The First Avenger
3. X-Men: First Class
4. X2: X-Men United
5. Spider-Man 2
6. Spider-Man
7. Kick-Ass
8. Iron Man 2
9. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
10. X-Men
11. Thor
12. The Incredible Hulk
13. Blade
14. Fantastic Four
15. X-Men 3: The Last Stand
16. Spider-Man 3
17. The Punisher (2004)
18. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
19. Men in Black
20. The Punisher (1989)
21. Blade II
22. Men in Black 2
23. Daredevil
24. Red Sonja
25. Captain America (1990)
26. Hulk
27. Ghost Rider 
28. Punisher: War Zone
29. Elektra
30. Blade: Trinity
31. Fantastic Four (1994)
32. Captain America (1944)
33. Howard the Duck
34. Man Thing

The top spot - I'm not a huge fan of the character Iron Man but that film is a close to perfect as a Superhero film can come. Absolutely great movie! The rest of the top ten was tough to jockey around but all of these films are undeniably solid films.

The middle of the pack was difficult to arrange as well but only because you're measuring the releative sucky-to-cool moments from films like X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The Punisher. Not that these films are BAD, but certainly they fall short of the mark in some regard.

The bottom of the list was also tough. I'll admit that I've never seen the 1944 Captain America serial (it's not even on Netflix!), but from what I've read of it, it completely changed the character of Cap in every significant regard and is horrible, even when compared with other serials from the same time period. Although it's a close toss up between the 1994 FF and Man Thing, Man Thing takes the cake as the worst Marvel movie of all time. At least the FF appeared for more than five minutes in their own film!

As an aside, consider how many Marvel movies have been released since Blade (1998) - The VAST majority of this list have been released since then! Truly we live in the age of Marvel media! Perhaps in the future 1LR will have to review each of these movies...

Agree? Disagree? Let me hear your opinions!

BTW - Look for a MASSIVE 1LR Marvel Media project coming starting this December! You've been warned!

The Rules to Dressing in Costume for a Movie #1

In my previous post, The Great Debate: Is Dressing Up for a Movie Premier Cool?, I clearly explained why is, indeed, cool to dress up or prop replicas and other merchandise to a movie's midnight showing.  However, I would say that this is not without some rules one should follow if one wishes to dress up for such an occassion. This is the first in a series of postings detailing what those rules are.

1) Don't go alone. It's always better to go to the movies with a friend or ten but this is especially true if you wish to dress up in costume. Why? Well, if you show up alone and you're dressed in a fully body Ewok suit, you might come across as a little creepy. Having friends with you signals that you're okay - it makes it easier for the rest of the movie audience to accept you're not a lone weirdo. It makes it easier for others to approach you.



Does this mean that all of your friends have to dress up as well? No. Absolutely not. Sure, it would be great if you could persuade your friends to all dress up like Green Lanterns but it's not necessary. Just being seen with a friendly group, even without costumes, is good enough.



So rule #1 is - Use the buddy system. Remember it for your own good!