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Stan Lee "could hardly spell" ; more about stolen art
Patrick Ford
23 June 2016
Kirby inked by Frank Giacoia, with the Matt Murdock figure inked by Wally Wood.
There's a note at the top of the page where Stan Lee appears to have
asked someone in the office about the spelling of "charlatan." It
looks as if Lee was wondering is the correct spelling as "charletan."
Someone with the initials C.H. leaves Lee a note which reads,
"Charlatan is correct C.H.". I'm at a loss trying to think of anyone
with the initials C.H. who was on the Marvel staff at that time.
Michael Hill: "...there was a man who never wrote a line in his life —
he could hardly spell — you know, taking credit for the writing."
[Editor: that Kirby quote is backed up by these Lee typos from another thread.]
Patrick Ford: "Pharoah" is misspelled. Pharaoh is correct just as Kirby spelled it in BLACK MAGIC.
Tim Bateman: Exhibit Two...
[Below: four misspellings in the first issue of the Fantastic Four.
Three are just misplaced letters or repeated letters, merely evidence of sloppy editing.
But "equitorial" is a phonetic error, suggesting that is how Lee spelled the word.]
[Now back to the thread and the mysterious "C.H."]
Patrick Ford: Mark Evanier answered this. C.H. is Carl Hubbell.
Patrick Ford: It makes perfect sense it was Hubbell. Hubbell was doing
most of the art corrections at that time. I guess he was also Lee's
proofreader? Is it surprising that Lee didn't have a dictionary?
Patrick Ford: Hubbell was an artist that had worked for Marvel in the '50s.
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