Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Stan Lee Awarded Arts Medal,
(or; Comic Books Officially Accepted?)
It's not something you would have thought could happen back when comic books were on a thousand newstands and people actually bought them to read, enjoy, and tossed out along with Life, Saturday Evening Post and the TV Guide. But now the Pulitzer and other awards have been rolling in, why not a big one like the National Medal? President Bush may be on his way back to Texas in a few months, but he has handed Stan Lee the big award. From the NEA site:
The National Medal of Arts is the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the United States Government. The National Medal of Arts is awarded by the President of the United States to individuals or groups who, in his judgment, "...are deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States."
And here's the NEA press release saying why Stan Lee was chosen:
2008 National Medal of Arts
Stan Lee
Writer, Editor, Comic Book Creator
New York, NY
Stan Lee is being recognized for his innovations that revolutionized American comic books. Stan Lee created, co-created, and recreated hundreds of superhero characters, most notably Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, and Captain America. Throughout his career he has devoted himself to the excellence, growth, and availability of this unique American art form.
Stan Lee was born in New York City in 1922. In 1939 he graduated from high school at age 16 and joined the WPA Federal Theatre Project. After a brief stint in the army during World War II, he entered the comic book industry in 1941 as a writer for the new Timely Comics, which evolved into Marvel Comics.
In November of 1961, Lee wrote the first issue of The Fantastic Four. What followed revolutionized the comic book industry. The traditional overly simplistic characterizations and plots evolved into complex personalities and character-driven stories. He and his artistic collaborators created characters with flawed humanity, a change from the ideal archetypical superhero of the past. These new stories provided a medium for social commentary. In 1972, when he became the publisher, he used his editorial page, "Stan's Soapbox," to speak to the comic book reader about social justice issues such as discrimination, intolerance, and prejudice.
Stan Lee's career in the comic book industry extends over six decades. Within months of being hired, he was promoted to editor. He has also held the titles of Marvel's Head Writer, Art Director, Editor-in-Chief, Publisher, President and Chairman. In 2001, Lee formed POW! Entertainment, and is developing and producing numerous projects for TV, film, and videogames.
Maybe one of the first indications of the weather change about coverage of comic book related stories like these is that the headlines announcing this are not written in this cliché fashion:
Bang! Zap! Comics' Stan Lee Wins NEA Medal!"
That style, which was endemic of almost all the writing about comics in the mainline press for so many years, seems to be dying out (or maybe is even dead).
Lee, Kirby, Ditko
I know that for a lot of people, seeing Stan Lee get this award is both a nice event, but is also a reminder that while Lee is on the receiving end of official federal recognition, the names Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby are no where to be seen in this fanfare.
[Below: Screen shot of the Washington Post story covering the event]
