13 Freaky Facts You May Not Know About Comics And Their Creators

3. Stan Lee Got DC's Publisher Fired!

Marvel Comics were enjoying huge sales with little more than 16 bimonthly titles, but owner Martin Goodman wanted MORE. He signed a contract to have his comics distributed by Cadence, and almost overnight, Stan Lee went from producing 8 comics per month to 12 titles. Eventually, other changes took place at Marvel: late in 1968, Goodman sold his Magazine Management Company to Perfect Film & Chemical Corp. The new owner wanted still more titles published, and Stan Lee rose to the task. And finally, in 1972, Cadence Industries purchased Magazine Management from Perfect Film, "officially" renamed the company Marvel Comics Group, and promoted Stan Lee to publisher. A year earlier, Silver Age Flash artist and comics innovator Carmine Infantino had been promoted to publisher of DC. As the editorial director, Infantino had been a major force at DC, allowing more creative freedom and introducing several new conventions which enhanced working conditions, such as compensating writers and artists for reprints. (Previously, the industry standard was that comics creators were paid only once, no matter how many times their work was reused. Infantino and Lee had both risen through the ranks from the earliest days of comics. They felt a kinship, and periodically met for lunch and exchanged phones calls. They also had a friendly rivalry going, which Stan Lee may have taken too seriously. Lee took a tip from former boss Martin Goodman's business strategy, and began flooding the market with dozens of new titles. Many of these comics were derivative and poorly crafted, and most didn't last but a few issues. But over at DC, Infantino was forced to keep up or see DC's books crowded off the racks. Infantino green-lighted comics with dubious titles like Plop! and Prez. Ever hear of Prez? Well, there ya go. This competition went on for years, but peaked in 1975. That year, DC posted losses of approximately $2,000,000. Marvel lost even more money, but the suits who owned MCG must have been far more forgiving than those at DC. Infantino was asked by the board of DC's parent company, Kinney, to explain the losses - which he did. A day later, Infantino was asked to clean out his desk and vacate his office. Stan Lee never intended this to happen. He's not malicious or vindictive. But nevertheless, his actions at Marvel had indirectly led to rival publisher Infantino's dismissal from DC.