The Silver State Chronicles

Honoring a comics legend!

Excelsior!

Stan Lee Tribute Weekend honors the comics creator’s seven decades of bringing entertainment to the world

One lucky winner will win exclusive VIP Passes for Stan Lee Tribute Weekend May 6-8, 2010

On Thursday, May 6, the N9NE Group with Brenden Theatres and the Palms Casino Resort will present Iron Man 2 Launch Party at the MOON Nightclub. MOON opens to the public at 10:30 p.m. and will feature an “Iron Man” themed night with appearances by Stan Lee and other celebrity guests. General admission applies.

Stan Lee’s Brenden Celebrity Star presentation will take place on Friday, May 7, 2010, the opening day of the new Paramount Pictures “Iron Man 2” film starring Robert Downey, Jr. which Lee served as an executive producer. The ceremony to be hosted by Celebrity Journalist Robin Leach will take place in the Brenden Theaters at the Palms lobby at 7:30 p.m. The Brenden Celebrity Star presentation is co-sponsored by Derrick Taylor’s Comic Oasis.

The weekend wraps with an invited guest tribute reception and dinner May 8, 2010 hosted by the Walt Disney Company and featuring Stan Lee’s Time Jumper. Red carpet arrivals begin at 6:00 p.m. with celebrity appearances. Guests will also preview clips from Stan Lee’s documentary “With Great Power – The Stan Lee Story.” Celebrities from all of Lee’s films and creations have been invited to attend this special event.

To have a chance at winning the VIP passes, visit http://starsamongtheangelsonlineauction.afrogs.org/.

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Jim Steranko Draws The Quintessential Captain America

Well, I had some fun yesterday with the newest superhero on the scene, Barack America!  So I got to thinking a bit and realized I haven’t written an entry in the Greatest Comic Covers series since May 13, 2008!

Since the next entry in that series would be the milestone 25th entry, I decided to get on it posthaste!

It’s common knowledge that I am a big Silver Age Marvel fan.  In fact, I consider that era in comics to be the Rolls Royce of comics – it’s doubtful we will ever see that kind of creativity and synergy in comics ever again.  Under the sure hand of Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and Jack Kirby, the Marvel Universe was born and comics would never be the same.

That being said, quite a bit of new talent hit the scene in that era.  One of the most notable is the legendary Jim Steranko.  His run on Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD was groundbreaking, but he also contributed quite a bit to the legend of Captain America, too.  That brings us to the classic cover of Captain America #111, Tomorrow You Live, Tonight I Die!”

In the issue, Captain America survives a Hydra assassination attempt and then gets to work training Rick Jones for his role as the new Bucky. Rick is unfortunately kidnapped by Hydra and used to bait Captain America into a trap, but Rick escapes in time to witness the apparent demise of Captain America at the hands of Hydra agents!

They just don’t make them like this anymore.  Enjoy!

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Amazing Armor, It’s Iron Man

Back in the early 1960s, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and others were blazing new trails in comic history as they were ushering in what would be known as The Marvel Age of Comics. Their creativity and output was at a peak, and numerous classic characters broke onto the scene, changing comic books forever!

At the time, Marvel published several weird tales/fantasy/science fiction comics. Among those titles was Tales of Suspense, an anthology series comprised of short stories usually dealing with a monster or other supernatural theme. Well, with great characters like The Fantastic Four and Spider-Man forming the cornerstone of the Marvel Universe, the wizards at Marvel decided to create a new hero for Tales of Suspense – The Invincible Iron Man!

So since Iron Man will enjoy a major movie release in just a few weeks on May 2nd, I decided to feature Tales of Suspense #39 in the Greatest Comic Covers series. That’s the origin and 1st appearance of Iron Man!

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Does Whatever A Spider Can

Marvel Comics was building a creative, dynamic universe in the early 60s, with innovations on many fronts. One of the most popular titles of that era was, of course, The Amazing Spider-Man. Under the talented hand of Steve Ditko and the creative force of Stan Lee, Spider-Man captured fans’ imagination and crafted an unusual super hero for that era.

But some changes were in the works. After just over a three year run, the art duties of Spider-Man would be transferred to the talented John Romita, Sr. Under his art direction, Spider-Man would truly come into his own and that particular vision of the hero remained the dominant image for decades.

The switch was to coincide with a big turning point in Spider-Man’s life. The Amazing Spider-Man #39 would be Romita’s first issue, and it would also culminate a story line involving The Green Goblin, Spider-Man’s arch foe. The cover tells it all – The Goblin is seemingly victorious, and has evidently discovered Spider-Man’s secret identity!

This is pretty heavy stuff for the mid 1960s! In any event, it’s one of the greatest comic stories of all time, and easily one of the greatest comic book covers of all time! Enjoy!

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Always nice to hear what Stan has to say!

On October 8tn, 2007, Dennis Miller did a quick interview with Stan Lee on his relatively new radio show. Dennis has a great sense of humor and his radio show is really taking off. Last week, a caller just casually suggested that he invite Stan on the show, and Dennis’s people got on it quickly and made it happen just a few days later!

Stan discusses some memories of Nick Fury, flatters Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, covers the 1960s Marvel Comics creative process, and manages to mention the new Iron Man and Hulk films.

Dennis is a genuine fan of Stan and Silver Age Marvel Comics, so it’s clear that this interview is a genuine treat for him. Enjoy!

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