Neal Kirby, the son of iconic Marvel artist and writer Jack Kirby, questioned whether audiences should assume fellow comic book visionary Stan Lee “had a hand in creating every Marvel character” in response to a newly-released documentary about Lee’s life.
Jack Kirby co-created several notable Marvel characters with Lee over the years including the Hulk, the X-Men and Thor.
Jack Kirby’s son – in a statement shared by Jillian Kirby, his granddaughter, over the weekend – took aim at the “Stan Lee” documentary that premiered at Tribeca Film Festival before its Disney+ release on Friday.
“It’s not any big secret that there has always been controversy over the parts that were played in the creation and success of Marvel’s characters,” wrote Neal Kirby.
“Stan Lee had the fortunate circumstance to have access to the corporate megaphone and media, and he used these to create his own mythos as to the creation of the Marvel character pantheon. He made himself the voice of Marvel. So, for several decades he was the ‘only’ man standing, and blessed with a long life, the last man standing (my father died in 1994).”
He later added that Lee is listed as a co-creator of every Marvel character besides the Silver Surfer, a character created by Kirby, from 1960 to 1966.
“Are we to assume Lee had a hand in creating every Marvel character?” wrote Neal Kirby.
“Are we to assume that it was never the other co-creator that walked into Lee’s office and said, ‘Stan I have a great idea for a character!’ According to Lee, it was always his idea. Lee spends a fair amount of time talking about how and why he created the Fantastic Four, with only one fleeting reference to my father.”
Neal Kirby closed with claims that Lee had “uncontested publicity” in the years since his father’s death before remarking that his father’s first screen credit occurred in 2008 with the release of “Iron Man.”
“It’s way past time to at least get this one chapter of literary/art history right. ‘Nuff said,” he wrote.
You can read more of the statement below.
JS has reached out to Lee’s estate and Disney+ for comment.