True Believer by Abraham Riesman

Author:Abraham Riesman [Riesman, Abraham]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crown
Published: 2021-02-16T00:00:00+00:00

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IN BOX 53 of the Stan Lee archives, you can find two folders labeled “Misc Scripts & Notes 1978.” One of the folders contains a typewritten document with a handwritten note on top indicating that the text was intended to be submitted to an editor (the name is illegible) at The New York Times. Bearing the title “The Great Superhero Turn-On!”, it reads like a cover letter for an application to be admitted into the ranks of Hollywood creatives. Stan argues that the hit show The Six Million Dollar Man and the era-defining film Star Wars were both “undeniably influenced by virtually every fantasy and science-fiction comic strip that’s ever seen print” and that, in the immediate aftermath of the Star Wars debut, “all of the filmmaking community was beginning to suspect what we at Marvel Comics have known for decades—the public turns on to fantasy.” After shouting out the glory of Marvel’s superheroes and the success of the Hulk TV series, Stan comes to a conclusion: “The point is—no matter who the characters are, no matter how outlandish their powers or their shtick, if you make them believable, if you can write them realistically, if you can make the audience empathize, then you too can cash in on this suddenly discovered superhero/fantasy fad—this brand new fad which has been going on since Homer gave us the Iliad!” Implicit, of course, is the idea that no one would be better suited to help you cash in than Mister Marvel himself.

Even more intriguing, the folder contains a stack of notepad sheets with Stan’s handwriting, all of them depicting various half-cocked ideas he had for projects of one kind or another. One is a book or magazine entitled Fannies, which would have “Photos of gals’ (+ guys’) backsides (candid + posed) (in + out of clothes).” One page is just titles—for books, films? It’s unspecified—without descriptions: “Shall We Close the Office on Doomsday?” “The Benefactor.” “As American as Apple Pie.” “A Day of Fun and Games.” Some ideas feel like those of a stoned freshman: “As a gag, an animal (pig?) is nominated for public office. People so fed-up w/regular candidates that he’s elected!” “Future. Population growth is out of hand. Govt. has a week each month when people are paid a bounty to murder anyone.” “TV + advertising have taken over the world. Sponsors + network chiefs are supreme rulers. Even wars must start during prime time. Everything is done for TV programming.”

Some are the barest threads of concepts: “Write an adult, philosophical novel in the form of a children’s story.” “Write screenplay or story re: guy on subway seeing innocent person being assaulted and afraid to help.” “Guy writes a petition for some minor matter—gets people in his apt bldg to sign it—it snowballs—changes his life.” One improbably posits, “Mafia takes over govt. Now what? Now they’re legit—they have to worry about crime!” Of course, there’s a pitch for a publication of captions of news photos, as was Stan’s wont.

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