Could Captain Marvel have inspired Spider-Man?
Jun 18, 2020 16:13:15 GMT -5
MDG and Prince Hal like this
Post by profh0011 on Jun 18, 2020 16:13:15 GMT -5
There IS a Captain Marvel - Spider-Man link... but it's not what I've seen mentioned above.
I wish I could remember WHERE I read this... it would be so easy to just post a link. But just take what I'm saying as from memory. (And, I read SO MUCH...)
After Fawcett SHUT down (sales were dropping in comics across-the-board, they decided to STOP doing comics, and, since they were going to stop already, they decided to "settle out of court" with DC, to STOP the decades-plus incessant stream of NUISANCE lawsuits against them), C.C.Beck was looking for new projects.
One that never quite got off the ground was "The Silver Spider". Think of it as a variation of The Green Hornet. I wish I could remember the details... but it seems this was done in connection with Joe Simon & Jack Kirby. Apparently, the proposal was submitted to some editor (who?) where?) who turned it down, but with a short list of suggestions, one of which included the feeling that the name and the costume was already too "old-fashioned" seeming. Kirby apparently did a revised version of the proposal under the name "SPIDERMAN". No S***. But it got filed away... for quite a few YEARS.
Later... Simon was working for Archie, reviving their long-dormant superhero line, and recruited a number of people to help out... including, of course, his #1 IDEA guy (AND writer, AND artist), Jack Kirby. Kirby remembered the old proposal, dug it out, made some revisions, and soon saw the debut of... "THE FLY". The Fly was a young boy who used a MAGIC RING to transform himself into an adult super-hero. Sound familiar??? (Can you say... "CAPTAIN MARVEL"
) It's been pointed out, the oddity, that Archie's "The Fly" crawled on walls, but could not actually... FLY. Heh.
Later, once "FANTASTIC FOUR" and "HULK" were a going thing, Martin Goodman wanted more, so he turned to his editor... who-- never having a single idea in his life-- turned to HIS idea guy (AND writer... AND artist)... JACK KIRBY. Kirby, already over-worked, dug out "THE FLY"... made some changes... and revived the EARLIER title... and added a hyphen... "SPIDER-MAN". Kirby created, wrote & drew the first 5 pages and submitted it to his boss. Kirby's "SPIDER-MAN" was a young boy who used a magic ring to change into an adult super-hero, who lived with his aunt & uncle. The idea was, Kirby would write & pencil, and STEVE DITKO would ink.
But Ditko allegedly took one look at those 5 pages and said... "You realize... this is Archie's THE FLY." Well, of course it was. Same guy involved in both cases. (Not unlike "CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN" and "FANTASTIC FOUR".) Somebody must have remembered when Archie (back when they were called MLJ) sued Martin Goodman over "CAPTAIN AMERICA" bearing too much resemblance to "THE SHIELD", and got real nervous. So, as Kirby was already over-worked, the ball was tossed into STEVE DITKO's court. It was requested he make enough changes to avoid any possible lawsuit. HE-- DID.
The first 41 "SPIDER-MAN" stories were all written & illustrated by STEVE DITKO. Several of the early stories, the ideas came from JACK KIRBY, but before long, Ditko was flying solo. 2 years in, he DEMANDED he start getting paid for all his WRITING... and that's when his boss got pissed off and stopped talking to him, and, began bad-mouthing him in bullpen pages and fanzine interviews.
There was actually a vague auto-biographical aspect to those stories...
Peter Parker - Steve Ditko
Betty Brant - Flo Steinberg
J. Jonah Jameson - Stan Lee
NO S***.
It finally reached a point where-- according to "Dial B For Blog"-- Ditko left Marvel because he felt "his boss was WORKING AGAINST HIM", and he just couldn't put up with that environment anymore. The shame... is that Peter Parker never quit working for Jameson. By rights, he should have.
Oh... and by the way... when the magic transformation aspect of "SPIDER-MAN" was rejected... Kirby turned right around and RE-USED it on another new series... "THOR"!!!
I wish I could remember WHERE I read this... it would be so easy to just post a link. But just take what I'm saying as from memory. (And, I read SO MUCH...)
After Fawcett SHUT down (sales were dropping in comics across-the-board, they decided to STOP doing comics, and, since they were going to stop already, they decided to "settle out of court" with DC, to STOP the decades-plus incessant stream of NUISANCE lawsuits against them), C.C.Beck was looking for new projects.
One that never quite got off the ground was "The Silver Spider". Think of it as a variation of The Green Hornet. I wish I could remember the details... but it seems this was done in connection with Joe Simon & Jack Kirby. Apparently, the proposal was submitted to some editor (who?) where?) who turned it down, but with a short list of suggestions, one of which included the feeling that the name and the costume was already too "old-fashioned" seeming. Kirby apparently did a revised version of the proposal under the name "SPIDERMAN". No S***. But it got filed away... for quite a few YEARS.
Later... Simon was working for Archie, reviving their long-dormant superhero line, and recruited a number of people to help out... including, of course, his #1 IDEA guy (AND writer, AND artist), Jack Kirby. Kirby remembered the old proposal, dug it out, made some revisions, and soon saw the debut of... "THE FLY". The Fly was a young boy who used a MAGIC RING to transform himself into an adult super-hero. Sound familiar??? (Can you say... "CAPTAIN MARVEL"
) It's been pointed out, the oddity, that Archie's "The Fly" crawled on walls, but could not actually... FLY. Heh.Later, once "FANTASTIC FOUR" and "HULK" were a going thing, Martin Goodman wanted more, so he turned to his editor... who-- never having a single idea in his life-- turned to HIS idea guy (AND writer... AND artist)... JACK KIRBY. Kirby, already over-worked, dug out "THE FLY"... made some changes... and revived the EARLIER title... and added a hyphen... "SPIDER-MAN". Kirby created, wrote & drew the first 5 pages and submitted it to his boss. Kirby's "SPIDER-MAN" was a young boy who used a magic ring to change into an adult super-hero, who lived with his aunt & uncle. The idea was, Kirby would write & pencil, and STEVE DITKO would ink.
But Ditko allegedly took one look at those 5 pages and said... "You realize... this is Archie's THE FLY." Well, of course it was. Same guy involved in both cases. (Not unlike "CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN" and "FANTASTIC FOUR".) Somebody must have remembered when Archie (back when they were called MLJ) sued Martin Goodman over "CAPTAIN AMERICA" bearing too much resemblance to "THE SHIELD", and got real nervous. So, as Kirby was already over-worked, the ball was tossed into STEVE DITKO's court. It was requested he make enough changes to avoid any possible lawsuit. HE-- DID.
The first 41 "SPIDER-MAN" stories were all written & illustrated by STEVE DITKO. Several of the early stories, the ideas came from JACK KIRBY, but before long, Ditko was flying solo. 2 years in, he DEMANDED he start getting paid for all his WRITING... and that's when his boss got pissed off and stopped talking to him, and, began bad-mouthing him in bullpen pages and fanzine interviews.
There was actually a vague auto-biographical aspect to those stories...
Peter Parker - Steve Ditko
Betty Brant - Flo Steinberg
J. Jonah Jameson - Stan Lee
NO S***.
It finally reached a point where-- according to "Dial B For Blog"-- Ditko left Marvel because he felt "his boss was WORKING AGAINST HIM", and he just couldn't put up with that environment anymore. The shame... is that Peter Parker never quit working for Jameson. By rights, he should have.
Oh... and by the way... when the magic transformation aspect of "SPIDER-MAN" was rejected... Kirby turned right around and RE-USED it on another new series... "THOR"!!!
