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Lee's claim to have invented Galactus Patrick Ford 24 September 2016 From Stan Lee's 2010 deposition. Stan Lee: "I wanted to have a villain called Galactus. I was looking for somebody who would be more powerful than any. So I figured somebody who is a demigod who rides around in space and destroys planets. I told Jack about it and told him how I wanted the story to go generally. And Jack went home, and he drew it." Kim Aamodt: "I really sweated out plots, unlike Jack Kirby. Jack just ignited and came out with ideas, and Joe'd just kind of nod his head in agreement. Jack's face looked so energized when he was plotting that it seemed as if sparks were flying off him.Joe was on the ground, and Jack was on cloud nine. Jack was more of the artist type; he had great instincts." Walter Geier: "Jack Kirby was great about that; he always came up with the plots. Jack had a fertile mind. Joe used to sit there when the writers came in for conferences. They sat there and made up the plots for the writers. Jack did most of that. Joe would say something once in a while, but Jack was the idea man. Joe didn’t talk much. He could come up with decent plots, but it was usually very sketchy stuff. A lot of times Joe would say, ” Awww…you figure out the ending.” Jack would give me the ending, because he was good at figuring out stories. It was not hard to work with Jack. They were Jack’s plots. I just supplied the dialogue." John Romita: "Jack got a chance to knock the stuff out, and use his own characters. Jack used to surprise Stan with new characters almost every time he turned in a story. Take Galactus who devours planets. Instead of knocking down buildings, Kirby is talking about eating planets. I told him once he threw away more ideas than I could think of. His throwaway bin was probably worth millions. I can imagine going through his wastebaskets, and "coming up" with all the ideas he didn't use." Stan Goldberg: “Jack would sit there at lunch, and tell us these great ideas about what he was going to do next. It was like the ideas were bursting from every pore of his body. It was very interesting because he was a fountain of ideas. Stan would drive me home and we’d plot our stories in the car. I’d say to Stan, ”How’s this? Millie loses her job.” He’d say, ”Great! Give me 25 pages.” And that took him off the hook. One time I was in Stan’s office and I told him, “I don’t have another plot.” Stan got out of his chair and walked over to me, looked me in the face, and said very seriously, “I don’t ever want to hear you say you can’t think of another plot.” Then he walked back and sat doen in his chair. He didn’t think he needed to tell me anything more.” Jim Amash:” Sounds like you were doing most of the writing then.” Goldberg: “Well, I was." Joe Sinnott:"I got to know Jack Kirby's work, and remarkable creativity quite well and witnessed his characters and stories as they evolved. There is no question in my mind that Jack Kirby was the driving force behind most of Marvel's top characters." Jim Van Heuklon: If that doesn't prove what a thief Lee is, I don't know what does. Patrick Ford: And yet Lee's advocates will desperately cling to claim that Lee asked Kirby to "Have the FF fight god." There are people who are willing to admit that's the extent of Lee's "plot" for the story, but they will not let go of the idea that Lee asked Kirby to have the FF fight god. Patrick Ford: I don't think even 5% of them understand why the "idea guy" issue is so important. Yet it's so beaten into people that Lee gave Kirby a plot even if the plot was six or seven words, that they will not budge from that point. Chris Tolworthy: of all the claims to make, "have them fight God" is about the least Stan Lee idea there is. When has Stan ever been interested in big ideas? His solo work is stuff like Willie Lumpkin and Stripperella. Even his supporters say he adds the ordinariness whereas Kirby supplies the god stuff. Gods are the heart of everything Kirby did: from Tuk and the island of the gods in 1940, to giant god-like monsters in the late 1950s, to new gods, to space gods, etc. And this is where Stan says "that part was my idea"?? Michael Hill: Here's a better scenario... Lee says the idea was his because he said, "Have the FF fight god." Based on past experience I'd say that Lee *might* have said "Have the FF fight god" after the story conference in which Kirby told Lee that he's going to have the FF fight god. Let's not go attributing credit to Lee for having said that to Kirby in advance when the source of the idea that he said that in advance is Lee. J David Spurlock: Stan never would have said, "have [anyone] fight God." He would have been too nervous about a negative public outcry. He was OK with "godS" in Thor as it was ancient mythology which was taught in schools. Chris Tolworthy gave it a good start but It would be very helpful to compile a more complete list of every time Kirby brought God -- or a god -- into his work. And compare that to every time Stan brought God, or any god, into his non-Kirby work. Patrick Ford: For me Kirby's account of the way he came up with the Galactus/Surfer story is compelling. Here is what Kirby said. Kirby: I went to the Bible. And I came up with Galactus. And there I was in front of this tremendous figure, who I knew very well, because I always felt him, and I certainly couldn’t treat him the same way that I would any ordinary mortal … and of course the Silver Surfer is the fallen angel. Galactus in actuality is a sort of god. He is beyond reproach, beyond anyone’s opinion. To follow up on that anyone interested can search: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watcher_(angel) “The the Books of Enoch refer to both good and bad Watchers, with a primary focus on the rebellious ones.” “Fallen angel is a concept that is typically synonymous with a rebellious angel. Biblical commentators use this term as an adjective to describe the angels who are cast down to the Earth…”

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