Four Marvel
How did Stan Lee juggle more than one comic book series when he was producing comics for Marvel?
He created Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, and a bunch of other comic series for Marvel. How did he manage to juggle more than one series at once when he started out working for Marvel in the '60s? I want to have more than one series under my belt-please help me out. Thank you.
The simple answer is: He had help. Jack Kirby was his creative partner--not just his artist--for years in the early days.
But the more involved answer is: He also invented a shorthand for writing comic books, which he called the "Marvel Method", versions of which are used to this day.
When most of us write a narrative, we tend to try to write a story as if it were prose or fiction--words on a page telling a story. In simple terms, Stan Lee knew he didn't have to work that hard. He knew he had an artist to work with to fill in the blanks and add details.
So instead of writing a traditional manuscript, with paragraphs and chapters, his work looked more like a rough sketch, or writing a play. He literally broke things down panel-by-panel and kept it as simple as possible. For example (and I'm being random here, odds are this didn't happen quite like this):
1a (First Page, First Panel on the Page)--Spidey swings across downtown skyline, upper left to lower right. Empire State Building in distance. It's early evening, and raining.
1b--Spidey pauses on side of nearby building, center panel, looks down at city.
1c--On sidewalk below, a blonde woman in a motorized wheelchair moves slowly, carefully, overhead view upper right to lower left, but more vertical. She's talking to an older woman with black hair in a bun, dressed in a conservative suit, who appears to be an assistant. It's too far away to hear anything they're saying.
1d--Spidey says: "I followed this lead...tracked her all the way from Jersey....and..." Showing closeup of his face, left side, text right....
1e--Close shot of the blonde's face, as it sways, to one side and slightly upward. She's smiling, if in a pained manner, and laughing over something her assistant said. The pain seems to be from the head and neck motion more than anything.
1f--Spidey (close-up of eyes, wide under the mask), "It....it can't be. She's dead. She's BEEN dead for years. I've laid flowers at her headstone for YEARS. I know this is true, I swear, I do."
1g--The rain starts to pour in earnest. The blonde's gaze is steadier than the rest of her, as she tracks a tiny streak in the sky, flying away on the faintest of threads. She asks (whispers): "Did you find me....? Are you going to admit it, after all this time?"
(ends narrative at one page)
That sort of thing. The artist then fills in the blanks (facial expressions, word balloon positions, background and character details) as needed.
It is a quicker way to write if you have a solid idea as to what you want to do, and know where the story goes.
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