Stan Lee Universe SCMedia Release -- The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art – MoCCA – is proud to announce a special MoCCA Thursdays event: A celebration and signing of The Stan Lee Universe, Danny Fingeroth and Roy Thomas's new book about the co-creator of Spider-Man, The X-Men, Iron Man, and so many other iconic characters. The panel features Lee-colleagues (and contributors to the book) Denny O'Neil, Al Jaffee, Peter Sanderson, David Bennett Cohen (of rock band--and Stan-fans--Country Joe and the Fish), and co-editor Danny Fingeroth. (And don't be surprised if a guest-star or two shows up as well!)

(Please note: Stan Lee will NOT be at this event!)

Copies of The Stan Lee Universe will be available for purchase and signing at the event.

The Stan Lee Universe is a portrait of Lee's and Marvel's development as pop culture forces. It includes much material found in The Stan Lee Archives at the University of Wyoming, including transcripts of lost radio interviews and debates with Lee and figures such as Hilde Mosse (Fredric Wertham's partner in comics-hating) and Jack Kirby. Others whose voices are "heard" in this eclectic volume include: Roger Ebert; Country Joe and the Fish; Will Eisner: Richard Corben; Neal Conan; and James Cameron. And script, pencil art, and detailed notes from both Lee and Kirby for their Silver Surfer Graphic Novel, and pages from a screenplay Lee wrote for director Alain Resnais are just some of the extraordinary items in this one-of-a-kind book.

About the panelists (all of whom contributed to the content of the book):

Dennis "Denny" O'Neil, one of comics' most acclaimed writers, brought social consciousness to the medium with the groundbreaking Green Lantern/Green Arrow series. His work on Batman—as writer and editor—returned that character to its dark, gothic roots. Denny worked closely with Stan in the '60s and speaks in The Stan Lee Universe about learning from Lee in those early years of Marvel's development.

Al Jaffee was an editor, writer, and artist for Stan at Timely (later Marvel) Comics during the '40s and '50s. In 1955, Jaffee joined Mad, entertaining generations with his "Mad Fold-Ins" and "Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions." In The Stan Lee Universe, Al talks about what it was like to work with Stan. The book also showcases hilarious Lee-Jaffee memorabilia from Stan's archives.

Peter Sanderson is a comics guru, penning books, journal articles, and criticism, and producing documentaries on comics. Peter was Marvel's first archivist and was main writer of The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. In an article in The Stan Lee Universe,Peter astutely analyzes Stan's writing style.

Danny Fingeroth, co-editor (with Roy Thomas) of The Stan Lee Universe, is MoCCA's Sr VP of Education. He was a longtime editor and writer at Marvel, where he often worked with Stan. Danny went to Lee's Wyoming archives, where he found much of the rare material that appears in the book. He is the author of Superman on the Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell us About Ourselves and Society and Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero.

The Stan Lee Universe
by DANNY FINGEROTH and ROY THOMAS
Signing and Celebration
with O'NEIL, JAFFEE, SANDERSON, FINGEROTH

Thurs, February 2nd, 2012
Admission: $7 / FREE for MoCCA Members