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Kirby and Lee talk Thor Michael Hill 8 October 2016 Chris has detailed the struggles Kirby had getting his story told in Thor. In The Hollywood Reporter's 100 Best Runs, "Lee looks back on Jack Kirby's finest work" and ties his legacy to everything that was wrong with the title. 'Stan Lee, his brother Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby introduced the Marvel take on Thor with 1962's Journey Into Mystery #83, and though a number of creators would put their mark on the character in the next few years, the Norse God became the stuff of superhero legend when Lee and Kirby returned to the title for a run that brought a new level of grandeur to Thor's tales. But for Lee, Thor's humanity remains what stands out. ' "Thor's human identity was Dr. Donald Blake, a lame physician who walked with a cane. When Blake struck the cane on the ground in a certain way, it would become the Hammer of Thor as Blake transformed into the Thunder God," Lee remembers. "Somehow this effect has been lost and forgotten over the years." ' http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/superhero-comic-books-100-best-934371/item/thor-by-stan-lee-jack-935378 Patrick Ford: It's funny when people confuse "human" the adjective with "humanity" the noun. Patrick Ford: Stan Lee's range characterization: Michael Hill Lee seems concerned that his contribution will be "lost and forgotten over the years," like in the WBAI "birthday surprise" interview... LEE: Oh, I'll say this: Every word of dialogue in those scripts was mine. Every story. REESE: And I don't want to get into controversy about that. What I want to stress to you and to anyone who would be hearing this is that you two gents together, when you said the whole equals more than the sum of its parts, it is very true. I think that that was the success behind the Beatles, behind the Byrds, behind many of the rock groups. There seems to be-" Kirby: I can tell you that I wrote a few lines myself above every panel that I-" REESE: Yes, I've seen those. LEE: They weren't printed in the books. REESE: All right, look, both of you, hey, kids, both of you guys-". LEE: Jack isn't wrong by his own rights because Jack, answer me truthfully-" Kirby: I wasn't allowed to write-". LEE: "did you ever read one of the stories after it was finished? I don't think you did. I don't think you ever read one of my stories. I think you were always busy drawing the next one. You never read the book when it was finished. Kirby: Dialogue, Stanley. LEE: Huh? KNIGHT: Let me get in there with-". Kirby: I wrote my own dialogue. And that, I think that's the way people are. It was insignificant... So whatever was written in them was- well, you know, it was the action I was interested in. LEE: I know, and I really think-" and look, Jack, nobody has more respect for you than I do, and you know that. But I don't think you ever felt that the dialogue was that important. And I think you felt, -Well, it doesn't matter, anybody can put the dialogue in, it's what I'm drawing that matters. And maybe you're right; I don't agree with it, but maybe you're right. Kirby: No, I'm only trying to say that I think that the human being is very important. If one man is writing and drawing and doing a strip, it should come from an individual. I believe that you should have the opportunity to do the entire thing yourself. http://Kirbymuseum.org/blogs/effect/2012/06/29/1987-august-28-jack-Kirby-interview-partial/ Michael Hill: After teasing us with "Lee looks back on Jack Kirby's finest work" at the top, Lee's contribution to the article was particularly useless. Patrick Ford: "100 Greatest Superhero Comics" is where I stopped reading. Michael Hill: I wouldn't have noticed the list at all if it hadn't been for a critical comment by the "Journalist" from Central Park. Michael Hill: Is it a bigger slap in the face that there's no solo Kirby in the top ten, or that they didn't get Lee to comment on his contribution to the Fourth World (#11)? Patrick Ford: As for Lee's claims, which Michael Hill quoted from the article. I posted here awhile back Kirby's acknowledgement that Lee's desire was to place the Thor stories on Earth. And I posted Lee's claims, from around the same time, that he (Lee) was the person who favored moving the Thor stories away from an Earthly setting. Patrick Ford: Lee's comments in 1968.

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