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Why Lee is so famous
Chris Tolworthy
20 October 2016
Thought you guys would be interested in this. I recently wanted to check something about Carl Burgos, so I Googled "creator of the human torch". Look what came up. It illustrates how Stan got so famous: if you make sure your name is bigger and first, and your picture is bigger and first, then sooner or later all links point to you.
Patrick Ford: Chris Tolworthy, I assume you are familiar with the stories told by Burgos' daughter?
Chris Tolworthy: Yes. That's what made it so egregious.
Paul Spence: Chris, I loved your essay on Kirby's Captain Victory. I have read it twice now.
Patrick Ford: Here's my thoughts on the Silver Age Torch.
I think Kirby created the character but did not model the character after the Burgos Torch and would not have used the Burgos name.
Kirby told Leonard Pitts the character was created for visual interest. When Kirby drew the first three FF stories the character looked more like a man made out of fire than the Burgos Torch. Kirby had recently created Lava Men characters for DC whose appearance was similar to the way Kirby originally drew the Torch.
I wonder if Martin Goodman saw the first story and then ordered the appearance of the character be changed to match the Golden Age Burgos character. Kirby didn't make the changes until issue #4. Prior to that the character was redrawn by someone ( probably Sol Brodsky).
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