Amazing Heroes Issue #1 – Pg. 13
Dublin Core
Title
Amazing Heroes Issue #1 – Pg. 13
Subject
Periodical
Comic strips
Comic strips
Description
On this representative page of Issue 1 of Amazing Heroes, Stan Lee outlines his plans for Marvel Movies that he expects will be licensed and produced. This article spans several pages of this comic book issue, so only the first page has been scanned. At the top of this page, a large group of comic book characters is shown interacting with and standing next to each other. Some of these characters include Batman, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Spiderman, Superman, the Human Torch, Mister Fantastic, and several others. This mix of characters is particularly noteworthy because it includes characters from both DC and Marvel Comics. This group of characters is accompanied by duel-column articles: one side regarding news about DC Comics, and the other side discussing Marvel movies. This format allows the reader to get a glance at the two companies at once, and they can then turn to different pages to follow these different storylines, thus allowing them to quickly and conveniently know which pages to jump to in order to read more. This page is representative of the comic book as a whole because it shows a preview of news from both Marvel and DC, although for simplicity’s sake, just the Marvel article storyline will be focused on.
In this issue of Amazing Heroes in the early 1980s, Stan Lee outlined his plans and hopes for Marvel comics that had an on-screen production either planned or currently in the works. Some of these works included a live-action television version of Black Widow, musicals for Spiderman and Captain America, a Thor major motion picture, a live-action Howard the Duck film, and several other works. While many of these did not immediately happen, if at all, there were several noteworthy productions. One of these was the Howard the Duck live-action film. This film was produced by Univeral Pictures and Lucasfilm in 1986 and was based on the Howard the Duck Marvel character created by Steve Gerber. However, this film turned out to fail miserably. In addition, there was supposed to be a Captain America musical that had a $4 million budget. The revealed parts of the plot included Captain America going through a mid-life crisis, and his girlfriend, who is a Presidential candidate, getting captured by terrorists and held hostage. But, the award for worst Marvel musical goes to Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. The musical was so bad that its train wreck nature is actually what kept it open for longer than it should’ve been. Between anti-climactic plot points and awkward staging transitions, this musical turned out to be a complete disaster. But, despite these terrible movies and stage productions, Marvel movies are outscoring DC movies, both in critic scores and in overall gross box office profit. Though Marvel has produced more movies to begin with, all but one of its films have received at least an A- rating, while DC Comics has produced several films with ratings in the B range. So, it appears that Marvel’s success on-screen can make up for the horrendous on-stage productions that took place several decades ago.
In this issue of Amazing Heroes in the early 1980s, Stan Lee outlined his plans and hopes for Marvel comics that had an on-screen production either planned or currently in the works. Some of these works included a live-action television version of Black Widow, musicals for Spiderman and Captain America, a Thor major motion picture, a live-action Howard the Duck film, and several other works. While many of these did not immediately happen, if at all, there were several noteworthy productions. One of these was the Howard the Duck live-action film. This film was produced by Univeral Pictures and Lucasfilm in 1986 and was based on the Howard the Duck Marvel character created by Steve Gerber. However, this film turned out to fail miserably. In addition, there was supposed to be a Captain America musical that had a $4 million budget. The revealed parts of the plot included Captain America going through a mid-life crisis, and his girlfriend, who is a Presidential candidate, getting captured by terrorists and held hostage. But, the award for worst Marvel musical goes to Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. The musical was so bad that its train wreck nature is actually what kept it open for longer than it should’ve been. Between anti-climactic plot points and awkward staging transitions, this musical turned out to be a complete disaster. But, despite these terrible movies and stage productions, Marvel movies are outscoring DC movies, both in critic scores and in overall gross box office profit. Though Marvel has produced more movies to begin with, all but one of its films have received at least an A- rating, while DC Comics has produced several films with ratings in the B range. So, it appears that Marvel’s success on-screen can make up for the horrendous on-stage productions that took place several decades ago.
Creator
Interview by Stan Lee
Recorded by Adam Malin
Recorded by Adam Malin
Source
MSU Special Collection Comic Art, PN6725.A47
Publisher
Zam, Inc.
Date
1981-06
Contributor
Miranda Kalinowski
Rights
Rights Restrictions Apply
Format
10 and 1/4 inches by 6 and 5/8 inches
Language
English
Type
Periodical
Coverage
1981 - 1992
Files
Collection
Citation
Interview by Stan Lee
Recorded by Adam Malin, “Amazing Heroes Issue #1 – Pg. 13,” Critical Fanscape, accessed October 17, 2026, https://chambl91.msu.domains/CriticalFanscape/items/show/52.