Not really a superhero – Stan Lee’s troubling tendency to take credit for the work of other, greater talents

Now that the dust has settled after the death this month of comic book icon Stan Lee, and everyone and their mum – from mainstream media writers to Hollywood stars – have finished falling over each other to extol his “genius” and “legend”, a little counter-dose of down-to-earth reality may be in order.

As a hopelessly addicted comic book nerd since my childhood days, I’ve been delving deeper into the alternative narrative about “Stan the Man” among true pop culture fanatics, and it doesn’t make for comfortable contemplation. Nobody likes being told their revered and lovable grandpa wasn’t quite the superhero he’s made out to be.

While he was the beloved public face of Marvel Comics and is credited with conceptualising and building the superhero universe that millions around the world have come to love, most of his present-day would-be fans probably haven’t even heard the names of the immensely gifted artists and writers who should get equal, if not more, acclaim.

Names like Jack “King” Kirby, the true genius and real creative force behind Marvel’s most celebrated and enduring costumed characters. Kirby was the phenomenal talent who created Captain America in 1940 for Marvel’s predecessor Timely Comics when Lee was a teenage gofer for the company, his job being to fill artists’ inkwells and fetch coffee for them.