100th Birthday Of Marvel Icon Stan Lee Celebrated By… DC Comics?!

For decades when Stan Lee was editor, then publisher, at Marvel Comics, he delighted in takings jabs at the “Distinguished Competition” (longtime market leader DC Comics, at whose heels Lee’s Marvel was yapping), whom he memorably labeled “Brand Echh” to the delight of Marvel die-hards. In later years, long after he retired from day-to-day work for the company, Lee became the avuncular face of the Marvel brand at conventions worldwide and through his string of legendary cameo appearances in Marvel movies (including non-MCU films like Sony’s Spider-Man), until his death in 2018.

December 28 is the 100th anniversary of Stan Lee’s birth, and the occasion is being marked by the release of a new take on material he created for… DC Comics?

That’s right. Back in the early 2000s, DC hired Stan, who was at that time pursuing a bunch of ill-fated independent business ventures, to re-imagine the classic DC pantheon through his own sensibilities. They paired the then-octogenarian writer/editor with a lineup of top collaborators on titles including Aquaman (with Scott McDaniel and Klaus Janson), Batman (with Joe Kubert), The Flash (with Kevin Maguire and Karl Story), Green Lantern (with Dave Gibbons), JLA (with Jerry Ordway and David Baron), Robin (with John Byrne and Terry Austin), Sandman (with Walt Simonson and Bob Wiacek), Superman (with John Buscema) and Wonder Woman (with Jim Lee and Scott Williams).

The series, called Just Imagine, didn’t exactly set the world on fire, but it was definitely a memorable novelty, if only for the opportunity to see some of the top artists in comics showcase their skills in a unique setting with one of the legendary figures in the business.

The fact that this odd convergence was a footnote in the career of Lee and the catalogue of DC has not stopped the latter from using the event as the springboard for a new release revisiting the Just Imagine-verse, now relegated to a less-traveled corner of DC’s multiverse known as “Earth 6.”

According to an announcement from DC, the company is releasing a special anthology, Tales from Earth-6: A Celebration of Stan Lee. This one-shot features a collection of new stories based on the Just Imagine series that Stan did with DC in the early 2000’s. Some of the original writers have returned to this title, including Jerry Ordway (JLA), and writer/producer Michael Uslan, who not only was instrumental in convincing Stan to do the original Just Imagine, but also is writing a Batman story, with art by Lee Weeks. Mark Waid is also contributing to this title, writing a Superman story with art by Kevin Maguire.

As comics, I’m sure, given the talent involved, that it will be worth a look. But as trolling? This move by DC is worthy of Smilin’ Stan at his snarky best!