And here’s the interview from ~4/2002
KEN PLUME: It’s a pleasure to be speaking with you again…
STAN LEE: You’re a glutton for punishment! Here you are, back again…
PLUME: I had to! Talking to you is like talking to Santa Claus…
LEE: That’s very nice of you.
PLUME: I just finished watching the new documentary DVD on your career and creations, Stan Lee’s Mutants, Monsters, and Marvels, and I must say - Why has it taken so long for something like this to happen?
LEE: Well, I had to wait for somebody to ask me. Tell me… I haven’t had any comments about it… What did you think? And be honest…
PLUME: I wished it was longer.
LEE: Really?
PLUME: I honestly wished it was longer. The first thing I thought was why haven’t we seen your memoirs?
LEE: Wow. Maybe it’s because you’re a fan… How do you think the world will feel about it?
PLUME: The stories you had to tell were interesting - you can look at it from an entertainment industry perspective, from a literary perspective, from a pop culture perspective, a personality perspective… There are so many aspects that your life and career touch upon.
LEE: I see… wow…
PLUME: I found it eminently fascinating.
LEE: Did you hear about my biography?
PLUME: No… There’s a biography coming out?
LEE: If you say “Why don’t they do that” - Simon & Schuster asked me to write an autobiography about a year ago, and I told them I didn’t have the time. I said, “If you want, have somebody write my biography.” They said, “No, we want it to be your story and your words.” I said, “I don’t have time.” We finally compromised, and they got a writer named George Mair - who had written Oprah Winfrey’s bio and some others - and I said, “Why don’t I just spend a few hours every week talking to him. He’ll do all the research and tape record what I say, and it will all end up being in my words.” So we did it that way, and when I read what he had written, I realized I really wasn’t happy - even though he had done a good job. When you answer somebody’s questions, it’s not the same as if you yourself were writing it - it doesn’t have that flavor. So I rewrote just about everything he had quoted me as saying, so it’s almost an autobiography, actually. I call it an “Bioautography”. It goes on sale in a few days.
PLUME: I hadn’t even heard of it…
LEE: That’s a great publicity job they’re doing… The name of it is Excelsior!, and then it’s a little embarrassing - they wrote the subtitle “The Amazing Life of Stan Lee”. There’s a drawing of me on the cover by John Romita.
PLUME: So how is that subtitle embarrassing if it’s completely accurate?
LEE: Well, I wouldn’t have said the “Amazing” life… I think I’ve had a very conservative life. Someone wants to do a movie of my life now and he’s writing a script, and I said to him, “What the hell could you do? I’ve never been arrested, I haven’t taken drugs, I’ve had the same wife for 54 years - where’s anything of interest to people?”
PLUME: But there’s still time… You can go out and get arrested right now and there’s the big finale…
LEE: I may have to, just to make the book and the movie sell…
PLUME: Especially with the publicity job they’ve been doing…
LEE: Yeah, you’re right.
PLUME: But like I said, watching the documentary, I wish there was more material on there…
LEE: I’m really so delighted to hear you say that.
PLUME: Speaking of the DVD, I went to the supplements and listened to you recite your poem, God Woke, and I must say that I was quite moved…
LEE: Oh really? I’m so glad… I love that poem.
PLUME: Do you have other poems that could be published?
LEE: I would love to write more, but I’ve never had the time. I love doing that, and I really was very proud of this poem. It’s a funny thing…years ago, while I was still living in New York - it’s must have been in the late 60’s or early 70’s - somebody produced an evening for me at Carnegie Hall. It was “Stan Lee at Carnegie Hall”… Just one lousy evening. But it was great - it was a packed house. Anyway, during that evening, my wife and my daughter got onstage and they read that poem - or at least parts of it - to the audience, and it got a good reception. I said to myself, “Someday, I’m going to get the whole damn thing out in front of the public.” So I asked Scott (Zakarin, the producer/director) as we were doing the DVD, “Would you mind if I read a poem?” He’s easy to get along with, and said, “Do whatever you want”… Probably figuring that no one would ever tune into that part, anyway. So I recorded the poem, and I’m really so glad you mentioned it.
PLUME: It came out great - I don’t know if you’ve actually heard it on the DVD, but it was very involving. It’s also amazing how relevant it is in light of recent events in the world.
LEE: You know, I thought so - and that’s why I wanted to do it. Something made me think of it, and I said, “I think it’s apropos of everything going on now.”
PLUME: Strikingly so.
LEE: And I think it will be a surprise. I don’t think anybody who’s ever read my stuff would ever think I’d write anything like that.
PLUME: I’m interested why you would say that, because - although it’s almost become cliché amongst a certain age group - but personally speaking, half of my vocabulary comes from reading comic books when I was growing up, including ones you wrote. There was a literate nature to the books you wrote that was in no way “juvenile”…
LEE: So don’t you ever send anybody a check or something in appreciation? You just get half your vocabulary and accept it, you insensitive clod?!?!?
PLUME: Should I make the check out to “CASH”?
LEE: Yeah, it’s easier to do it that way so I won’t have to pay tax on it…
PLUME: I’ll send it along.
LEE: I love talking to you - you’re boosting my ego tremendously.
PLUME: Well, like I said, it’s like talking to a childhood icon. You mentioned that you were working on three feature films and three television series in the 10 Questions - what are they?
LEE: Well, I’m only allowed to mention one. With the three features, MGM wants to make that announcement themselves - which they will in the next few weeks. With the three television shows, it’s the same thing - the networks, or whoever, will want to announce it. There’s one I can mention, because it’s already been written about here and there. You know Pamela Anderson?
PLUME: Yes…
LEE: Well, she asked me if I could come up with some idea for a cartoon series, and we ended up with a series that’s going to be called Stripperella. Stripperella is a topless dancer, in a kind of place where they have topless dancers, by night - by evening later at night, she’s also a secret superheroine who goes out and punished evildoers. I have a feeling that the superheroine part will be of great interest to people who like superhero comics and so forth - I have a feeling that the topless dancer part will be of great interest to anybody who happens to be of the male persuasion. She’s going to do the voiceover, and I think we’re going to do live action wraparounds with her on each episode. I think it’s going to be the biggest thing since The Simpsons.
PLUME: And this is being developed for TNN, right?
LEE: For TNN, and we’re hoping to have it on the air in January of next year. We’re just starting it now.
Continued below…
