Batman Saved By Cheese!
STAN LEE, CENTERFOLD (photograph by Eliot R. Brown)
When Stan Lee visited New York in January 1983, the editorial staff was at the peak of its yuk-yuk, hand-buzzer giddiness. They’d been shooting photos of each other in superhero costumes for some of the covers—several staff members appeared on the cover of the last issue of SPIDER-WOMAN—and now they were putting together a comic that consisted wholly of photos of intra-office hijinks. They wanted to include Stan the Man. Lee, the original ringmaster, jumped at the chance to pose for a nude centerfold. Marvel staffers photographed Lee with an oversize comic book covering his private parts; soon after, they received a call from his assistant in L.A. “Stan is wild,” said the assistant. “He should not have been naked for your centerfold. Please. Don’t.” (A Hulk costume was later superimposed over Lee’s body in postproduction.)Laaaadies.
My God. This is right at the top on the list of things that should never, ever happen.
So wrong that it’s right!
Lobby card for one of the films re-edited from The Adventures of Superman for foreign markets. Dig that groovy alien!
I don’t think anybody will be able to see us behind those bushes over there.
1949 movie serial Batman
Photo of assorted Marvel comics, as well as those published by DC and Atlas, on display in a 1975 magazine store. The assorted black and white magazines are racked at the top, and MAD is on the floor, waiting to be displayed. Those Atlas books really were trying to look like Marvel mags, weren’t they?
