Why Stan Is The Man (plus: Leave It To Busiek #1)

While I first got into Marvel comics, and while the bulk of my collection still consists out of Marvel back issues, I have lost a lot of my love for both the company and its universe ever since Joe Quesada arrived at the scene. A lot of this has to do with his boneheaded ideas, but also with his approach to the Distinguished Competition. His digs at DC not only feel childish and petty, they're also out of place because they almost invariably can be traced back right to his own company's practices. Back in the 70s, Marvel and DC were, as always, vying for the top spot as well, but as you can tell from Stan's Soapbox below (taken from the Hulk #231, cover-dated January 1979), he took shots as well, but it comes across as charming rather than obnoxious. Maybe I'm just overly sensitive to Quesada now, because I'm having to suffer through his creative decisions while anything decided by Marvel in the 70s is ages in the past. But I still think that Stan knew how to keep the fires stoked without becoming a snotnosed brat. I'll just let him speak for himself:

In that same issue, there is a letter from a certain fellow called Kurt Busiek. He was a regular letterhack in those days, whose writing would appear in many books across the board. I'm just sharing this one because it's always neat to see what current-day pros thought of their would-be colleagues back in the day. Of note is his desire to see Stingray again, a desire he carried all the way into his run on Avengers, where he had Walter Newell guest-star for several issues during his (all-too-long) Kang War storyline. I'm certain that upon my rereading of the 70s Marvel books in my possession, I'll stumble onto more Busiek-letters, which I'll gladly put up here, if only to underscore that yes, Busiek always wins (Fanboy Rampage reference, never mind).

That's all for today, as the midnight hour is close at hand. I planned on writing a little bit on Peter David's Flashback issue of the Hulk, but that'll have to be for tomorrow, which also marks me and my sweetheart's third anniversary as a couple. A joyous occasion, to be sure! :) Here's hoping I won't end up being too lazy to write it! ;)