STAN LEE QUOTES III

American comic book writer & creator (1922- )

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I had a publisher who felt comics were just for little kiddies, so he never wanted me to use words of more than two syllables.

STAN LEE

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For the first week, I stood in front of that little thing on the sidewalk and wanted to punch anybody that stepped on it.

STAN LEE

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For many years we've been trying, in our own bumbling way, to illustrate that love is a far greater force, a far greater power than hate. Now we don't mean you're expected to go around like a pirouetting Pollyanna, tossing posies at everyone who passes by, but we do want to make a point. Let's consider three men: Buddha, Christ, and Moses ... men of peace, whose thoughts and deeds have influenced countless millions throughout the ages -- and whose presence still is felt in every corner of the earth. Buddha, Christ, and Moses ... men of good will, men of tolerance, and especially men of love. Now, consider the practitioners of hate who have sullied the pages of history. Who still venerates their words? Where is homage still paid to their memory? What banners still are raised to their cause? The power of love -- and the power of hate. Which is most truly enduring? When you tend to despair ... let the answer sustain you.

STAN LEE

Tags: love

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First I gave it to Jack Kirby to do, but Jack always drew these very heroic characters, like Captain America. I said to him, "You know Jack, I want this fellow Peter Parker, I want him to be just an average teenager. Don't let him look like your typical muscular superhero." I guess Jack was so used to drawing those kinds of people, that after he drew a page or two I looked at it and I said, "No, that's not right." So I said, "Forget it Jack. I'll give it to another artist." And Jack didn't care; he had a lot of other things to do, and we didn't realize this was going to become such a big script. So I gave it to Steve Ditko, who tended to draw things a little more realistically and more down to earth. And he did it, and I really don't interfere much in what the costume will look like. Steve pretty much invented the [Spider-Man] costume himself.

STAN LEE

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Face front, true believers!

STAN LEE

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Excelsior!

STAN LEE

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Everybody wants to feel that you're writing to a certain demographic because that's good business, but I've never done that ... I tried to write stories that would interest me. I'd say, what would I like to read?... I don't think you can do your best work if you're writing for somebody else, because you never know what that somebody else really thinks or wants.

STAN LEE

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DC, of course, is trying to catch up to Marvel. More power to them. It's good if everybody does well, but they're certainly starting from a ways back. They have a lot of catching up to do ... Marvel has so many heroes. DC just has Superman, Batman and maybe Wonder Woman. Perhaps they'll use The Flash. Green Lantern wasn't very successful, but we'll see.

STAN LEE

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Comic book should be written as one word. So from now on, I want you to remember that. I never want to see the word comicbook written as two words. They are not funny books. They are not comic books, they are comicbooks! Remember that, or incur my wrath.

STAN LEE

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Achilles, without his heel, you wouldn't even know his name today.

STAN LEE

Tags: weakness

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A superhero's catchphrase should be like a really memorable advertising slogan. It sticks in your head and you can't stop humming it. And let's face it, superheroes are just really selling themselves as products.

STAN LEE

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'Nuff Said!

STAN LEE

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The power of prayer is still the greatest ever known in this endless eternal universe.

STAN LEE

Tags: prayer

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Once, I'd written a Western story, and one of the panels was just a hand holding a six-shooter, and there was a puff of smoke coming out of the barrel, and a straight horizontal line, indicating the trajectory of the bullet. So that page was sent back to me from the Code office, saying that the particular panel was too violent. I asked them what they meant, and they told me--I swear--"The puff of smoke is too big." Well, of course. So I had the artist make the smoke a little smaller, and the youth of America was saved.

STAN LEE

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My favorite movie star, far and away, was Errol Flynn. I thought that this guy was the greatest because he always played such heroic roles. He was either the sheriff of Dodge City, or he was Robin Hood, or he was Captain Blood. When I would leave the theater, I'd be about 10 years old I guess ... I would imagine I had a little crooked smile on my face the way Errol Flynn did, and an imaginary sword at my side. I'd be looking around for little girls that might be [attacked] by some bullies.

STAN LEE

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It never occurred to us to save any of those things. We never thought they'd have any value later on. We worked in a very small office, and the printer would send back all the original pages of artwork, but we had no place to put them. So when we ordered food, we told the delivery guy, "Hey, would you mind taking these pages and dropping them in the trash on the way out?"

STAN LEE

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