Jack Kirby’s family criticizes new STAN LEE documentary in Statement

Last weekend a documentary about the life and career of Stan Lee was released on Disney+. As you might imagine, the Doctor celebrates the life of Stan Lee and the legacy he left behind. I really didn’t expect the doctor to delve into one of Lee’s most frequent collaborators, Jack Kirby, who played a huge unsung role in building the Marvel Comics universe. After all, the document is titled Stan Lee.

But Kirby’s family was definitely upset about the doctor, and Jack Kirby’s son Neal released a statement on Twitter criticizing and criticizing the doctor for not really giving Kirby the credit he deserved. The statement said:

“It’s no big secret that there has always been controversy about the parts that have been played in the creation and success of Marvel’s characters. Stan Lee has had the fortunate circumstance of having access to the bullhorn and corporate media, and he has used them to create its own creation mythos of the pantheon of Marvel characters.”

He adds, “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 goes noted and It is generally accepted that Stan Lee had limited knowledge of history, mythology, or science. On the other hand, my father’s knowledge of these subjects, which I and many others can personally attest to, was extensive. Einstein summed it up best: “More knowledge, less ego. Less knowledge, more ego.'”

Neal’s statement also criticized the credits Lee has received when it comes to creating a character for Marvel, noting that Lee is listed as co-creator of virtually every character Marvel created in the 1960s. He said:

“Are we supposed to assume that Lee had a hand in the creation of every Marvel character? Are we supposed to assume that it was never the other co-creator who walked into Lee’s office and said, ‘Stand up, I’ve got a great idea for a character!’ According to Lee, it was always his idea. Lee spends a lot of time talking about how and why he created the Fantastic Four, with only one fleeting reference to my father. In fact, most comic book historians acknowledge that my father has based the Fantastic Four in a 1957 comic he created for DC, Challengers of the Unknown, also starring Ben Grimm (The Thing) as his father Benjamin, and Sue Storm as my older sister Susan.”

The scathing statement was signed with “’nuff said.” It’s completely understandable that the Kirby family feels this way. I just didn’t expect this document to really delve into anything regarding Kirby’s work for Marvel because that wasn’t the focus of the document.

That said, I would love to see a good documentary made about Jack Kirby and all he did to help build Marvel.