LEE: Well, what we usually do is, with most the artists, I usually get a rough plot. By a rough plot, I mean as much as I can write in longhand on the side of one piece of paper … who the villain will be, what the problem will be and so forth. Then I call the artist, whoever’s going to draw the strip … I read it to him … what I’ve written down, these few notes … and we discuss it. By the time we’re through talking for about 20 minutes, we usually have some sort of plot going. And we talk it out. Lately, I’ve had Roy Thomas come in, and he sits and makes notes while we discuss it. Then he types them up which gives us a written synopsis. Originally — I have a little tape-reorder — I had tried taping it, but I found that nobody on the staff has time to listen to the tape again. Later … so it’s just too much of a waste. But this way he makes notes, types it quickly, I get a carbon, the artist gets a carbon … so we don’t have to worry that we’ll forget what we’ve said.

Then the artist goes home … or wherever he goes … and he draws the thing out, brings it back, and I put the copy in after he’s drawn the story based on the plot I’ve given him. Now this varies with the different artists. Some artists, of course, need a more detailed plot than others. Some artists, such as Jack Kirby, need no plot at all. I mean, I’ll just say to Jack, “Let’s let the next villain be Dr. Doom.” … or I may not even say that. He may tell me. And then he goes home and does it. He’s so good at plots, I’m sure he’s a thousand times better than I. He just about makes up the plots for these stories. All I do is a little editing … I may tell him that he’s gone too far in one direction or another. Of course, occasionally I’ll give him a plot, but we’re practically both the writers on the things.