Stan Lee’s What, Now?

A non-’Warp topic for today, but don’t worry—my involvement will become clear enough (otherwise why would I be discussing it?).

A few months ago, I saw this solicitation for a new miniseries from Archie Comics:

“How it all Began!” – Stan Lee Comics presents “MIGHTY 7,” a sensational new superhero property from the creator of Spider-Man, the X-Men and more!! When a crew of sinister, alien prisoners and their jailers are blasted across the galaxy, their ship lands smack dab in front of legendary comic book creator Stan “the man” Lee! What does this alien arrival mean for planet Earth?! Reality meets fantasy as the “Mighty 7″ journey begins!

Evil superpowered aliens arrive on Earth, right in front of an esteemed comics creator who probably convinces them to become costumed superheroes? Man, I so know what a concept like that feels like…

Say hello to Stan Lee’s Alexa #1, the first issue of a very short-lived series (like, this one issue!) published by ibooks, inc. in 2004. Plotted by the comics industry’s premier superhero-idea factory and scripted by me—and loosely based on a trio of novels titled Stan Lee’s Riftworld, written by New York Times bestselling author Bill McCay—it introduced readers to Alexa Moran, the writer/artist of The Voluptuous Vixens, a superheroine team comic published by The Fantasy Factory. The Factory was a Marvel-like company run by “Happy” Harry Sturdley, a publisher who (no surprise) was based on Stan himself. What no one—including Alexa—realizes is that she possesses the power to open dimensional rifts: doorways to other dimensions.

One day, during an editorial meeting, Harry announces he wants to have a major crossover event in the company’s titles. A sleep-deprived, deadline-late Alexa takes Harry’s order literally and unwittingly opens a portal that results in two (apparently) do-gooding giants crossing over to Earth—and Harry wastes no time in convincing them to become superheroes… under an exclusive contract with the Fantasy Factory, of course…

For a comic that was canceled after its first issue, it got some surprisingly positive reviews:

The Fourth Rail: “Roman and Lee generally do a pretty good job of presenting their new ‘superheroes’ in a different light from what has been seen before…. In addition, I like the touches of subtle alien invasion flavor that Roman gives the story, giving it a science-fiction edge to what is otherwise a straight superhero concept.”

Comic Critique: “The story line is fresh in that it approaches the superhero genre in a different way. It’s set in ‘the real world.’ The protagonist is a regular human being (or at least she thought she was). The ‘heroes’ aren’t what they appear to be. And a light cynicism pervades the atmosphere.”

“Light cynicism.” Could there be any greater indicator that I wrote the thing, and not Stan?  😉

Hmmm… I wonder if, in his new miniseries, Stan signs up his alien superheroes for comic licenses, too…?

Stan Lee’s Mighty 7 goes on sale March 21st. A French edition of Stan Lee’s Alexa  (with new cover art by Chris Malgrain that you see here) is currently in development. There’s talk that if the re-release does well enough the rest of the story might be completed—so, keep the faith, True Believer!

Excelsior!

Stan Lee’s Alexa and Stan Lee’s Riftworld copyright © 2005 Byron Preiss Visual Publications.