More adventures in intellectual property -- the other other Captain Marvel

Comic books have always been the badlands of intellectual property law, but even by the slack standards of the industry, MF Enterprises' Captain Marvel was exceptional.

The man behind the other other Captain Marvel was Carl Burgos, who had created the original Human Torch back in 1939. Burgos had tried to sue Marvel when the Fantastic Four came out with a reworked version of Burgos' Golden Age creation (an approach that Stan Lee and publisher Martin Goodman had appropriated, with remarkable if not acknowledged fidelity, from DC's Julius Schwarz).

Perhaps it was bitterness over the suit that prompted Burgos not only to name his character after arguably the most popular character of the Golden Age (the original Marvel's titles had often outsold even Superman), but to use the names of other famous comic book characters to fill out the book.

Despite Burgos' role and a seriously goofy power (you really have to see it), this magazine came and went almost unnoticed except, according to some comic historians, by Stan Lee who immediately brought out his own Captain Marvel as soon as MF dropped the title (despite the fact that the original Captain Marvel was not in the public domain). The land grab worked, which is why DC has the right to publish the Golden Age character but not to use his name in a title.

Somehow, I suspect that Burgos didn't get a lot of satisfaction out of this particular contribution to comics history.

(If all of this isn't weird enough for you, check out the story of the MF behind MF Enterprises... Strange, strange stuff.)

The Stan Lee Files -- worst casting ever for the role of Crypt Keeper

Other than than the strange superhero tie-in, this is a good example of the many EC knock-offs Stan Lee put out in the Fifties.

The Stan Lee Files -- complete with cowlick

Stan Lee has a truly amazing body of work that revolutionized an industry and continues to generate billions of dollars. In order to truly appreciate his accomplishments, however, you first have to get beyond Lee's own self-mythologizing and the first myth that has to go is that Lee didn't really pay much attention to other companies titles.

The Stan Lee Files -- Homer the Happy Ghost

Another Stan Lee "creation."

Did Stan Lee borrow from Jack Cole... twice?

The previous post featured a character call the Comet, a particularly grim superhero whose eyes emitted deadly beams when not covered with a retractable visor, a power more than slightly reminiscent of the Marvel Comics' Cyclops, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Pretty much all of the great Silver and Golden Age creators borrowed stories and concepts, but Stan Lee's borrowing seemed to have struck a nerve (Stan Brag, Stan Me). Some of this was possibly driven by envy but the volume and his dismissive attitude toward his peers didn't help.

The Comet was an early creation of Jack Cole who would go on to create one of the greatest of Golden Age heroes, Plastic Man. Plas (as he was affectionately known) bore more than a passing resemblance to Kirby and Lee's Mr. Fantastic so it seems reasonable to ask if Cole contributed to a couple of Marvel heroes.

Probably not. When we talk about Lee borrowing from Plastic Man, Ghost Rider, Captain Marvel, Daredevil, Little Lulu, or EC's horror line, we can safely assume he was familiar with these titles. These were hugely successful comics that exceeded anything Timely/Atlas/Marvel would do until the early Sixties. Anyone who had leafed through a spinner rack had seen them and Lee had been producing comics since 1941.

But the Comet never even had a cover of his own and was dead (perhaps the first superhero murdered in the line of duty [excluding, of course, those who were murdered then became superheroes]) by the end of 1941. Kirby and Lee might have seen and remembered him but the odds are against it.

Stan Lee rips off Stanley

Comics creators are, without notable exception, compulsive thieves. There's no shame in it. It's part of the charm of the medium.

Stan Lee started his career as a magpie among magpies, producing almost two decades of incredibly derivative comics before hitting that amazing stretch in the early Sixties and even then continuing to borrow whatever DC's lawyers hadn't nailed down. None of that diminishes his legacy. However, his tendency to dismiss the work of other creators does.

Over at Stanley Stories, Frank M. Young has an example of Lee ripping off one of the giants, John Stanley, perhaps the best writer of comic dialogue to ever work in the field.

Ghost Rider -- the character Stan Lee stole twice

Stan Lee's claims in the Sixties that he didn't read other comic books were a lot like Milton Berle's claims that he didn't listen to other comics' material. Lee had spent two decades in a closely-knit industry jumping on trends and borrowing ideas, starting with DC and EC derived books and ending with an unacknowledged appropriation of Julius Schwartz' successful formula for rebooting Golden Age heroes with science fiction origins and streamlined looks.

The difference between Berle and Lee was that a large part of Lee's audience didn't get the joke. Many of them had gotten serious about comics in the mid-Sixties when Marvel had hit its stride and really was putting out the best and most innovative comics. For them, Lee's comically over-the-top claims seemed entirely reasonable.

It's safe to assume that in 1967, few of those teen aged fans had any idea that Marvel's new Western themed hero, Ghost Rider, had a strong resemblance to another company's hero, a resemblance that included having the same name, costume, concept, atmospheric look, and artist. The retread only ran for seven issues but that was enough for Marvel to claim ownership of the name and, a few years later, launch another Ghost Rider.

If you had to lift a character you could certainly do worse. Ghost Rider was one of the last great superheroes of the Golden Age, sharply written by Ray Krank (with guidance from Vince Sullivan) and beautifully drawn by Dick Ayers with an occasional assist by Frank Frazetta. Don Markstein described him as "perhaps the most visually striking comic book hero of the decade," but you can judge for yourself.