Birth of a Universe
For Stan Lee, Head of Marvel, the man who birthed the Marvel Universe, and the man who kept it from becoming a stagnant force, taking it to heights capable to competing with DC Comics itself, nothing should have been impossible when it came to comics. He'd based the entire campaign on Marvel under that same ideology; "The House of Ideas" he'd called it, making sure to always promote the image of a man who could outthink, outproduce, and outsmart his rivals when it came to making new content for any and all of the comics that Marvel produced.
And yet, how easy one forgot that's what it was originally; a campaign, publicity, hype to better sell Marvel. Oh he'd made sure to innovate and create new and interesting characters for sure, Stan could proudly say he'd had a hand in making nearly every one of the characters that had become the powerhouses of Marvel, with Spider-Man being the flagship and favorite of nearly everyone who read it. The one character that could rival Superman in sales if anything. But he'd also forgotten how he hadn't done it alone. How in the end he'd managed it with the help of those who lent their talent in making his idea a reality.
Men like Jack, who was working with him once more, and with whom he was trying to rebuild a friendship long forgotten.
It's just like Joan said 'You couldn't have done it without Jack'. Smartest woman in the world indeed.
He'd been trying, God knows he was. But at the same time there were still those differences, those disagreements between them that while not as straining as before, still managed to put a wedge into their new interactions. From distinct styles for the comics, to the different dialogues used, and even that new series Jack wanted to do in order to finish some newfangled "New and Old Gods" saga that he started with DC of all things. Stan was all for giving him his "Eternals" pitch the good college try, but when the sales were down then that was a clear sign that the buyers were not interested. He'd refrained from cancelling it outright and instead reduced it to a monthly to Bi-Monthly series, but that was as far as he could go.
And then came the big one; Jack wanted to draw for Spider-Man. Claimed he had ideas he wanted to put to the page, as well as a new vision for the character. There was a time when Stan had been given the choice to have him draw for the character, but even then, he saw that his talents just were not made for what was supposed to be an underdog. The drawings were too heroic, more for the style of Captain America than for a bumbling teen.
Should I let him try? That was Stan's big query, one that he still somewhat agonized when it came to his creation. It was moments like these that he needed some distraction, something to take the pressure off until he could think with a clear head. And as always, he found it with his greatest passion: writing.
So many fans usually write to Marvel, he encouraged actually. All the better to have a finger in the beating pulse for the comic book community's ever-changing tastes. He even wrote back to some of them, all the better to create a new connection with a true believer, and to thank them for their continuing support. And truth be told, he liked these small conversations he had, it never failed to put a smile on his face.
It was after one of the latest replies (mostly another about Sue Richards and the Sub-Mariner) when one of the recent letters caught his eye. Now, this one was different, but not strange in itself. It was a letter suggesting a prompt, a small pitch in a small letter. It was nothing new, as fans usually sent this kind of pitches hoping to see them come true, or that some writer might take a liking and make them a reality. What was odd was how they mixed the correspondence as this should have clearly been in the Spider-Man pile, rather than the Fantastic Four.
Still, a quick read before putting it in its place gave Stan one of those moments when creativity just hits you over the head, and all it took was eight simple letters:
What if Spider-Man lived in the 30s?
A simple phrase, something innocuous that perhaps could have been turned into a What if...? story. The entire premise was perfectly encapsulated in that simple sentence.
But Stan wondered...what if Spider-Man lived in the 30s? What if his entire cast lived there? How would the villains change? Would Norman Osborn still be his greatest enemy? Would the Kingpin take his place? Would Daredevil exist? What about the Hulk, or Thor, or even Captain America? How would the Fantastic Four exist? What if, what if, what if...?
Without notice, Stan had spent nearly an entire hour plotting, writing in small bits of paper, trying to make sense of this newfound inspiration that ran through his body. Each time a new idea came he would try to put it to paper, each time one of the old characters crossed his mind he would try and reimagine him in the old 30s style of heroics, the style that inspired the creation of Superheroes.
The style of Pulp!
It was too much; he could see it once he took a step back and noticed his entire desk now littered with nearly all the paper he had. It was not finished either, he could deal with a character or two, but he would need more, more writers, more artists, he would need someone who understood the Marvel Universe as it is and its intricacies.
He would need Jack.
Taking all the papers with him he ran out of his office, looking for his old friend, and soon introducing him to anew universe of Marvel, a world of heroes reimagined for another age, of a fantastic world before the war broke so many of their illusion, a world that could be brought back in a new line showing once more the fun of the Pulp genre.
A new universe that would come to be known as Marvel Noir.
A.N.: Reading the pitches that Duke William of wrote inspired me to make this. Stan Lee is a flawed man, but he's certainly no monster, and I've tried showing this here. He's had his strong and weak points, and he's clearly trying to do better for his friends while also keeping a balance with Marvel's own finances, I hope this comes out clearly. The idea of a line of Marvel, reimagining the Super Heroes as 30s Pulp heroes is one that's been sticking in my mind and I wanted to show how the process could've come about. Besides, this would allow for Jack to get more credit for his work, and to draw for many of them as well since his heroic style better suits the 30s aesthetics in my opinion.
