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In a response to Bill Mahers recent remarks about the death of Stan Lee and comic books, the Marvel legends team at POW! Entertainment posted an open letter to the Real Time host that criticized his commentary he posted over the weekend.
On the Real Time With Bill Maher blog (not on his show) Maher recognized that the world is mourning Lees death but then went on to say that Lee “inspired millions to, I dont know, watch a movie” with his signature sarcasm. He also went on to put comic books on blast: “Now, I have nothing against comic books – I read them now and then when I was a kid and I was all out of Hardy Boys,” he wrote. “But the assumption everyone had back then, both the adults and the kids, was that comics were for kids, and when you grew up you moved on to big-boy books without the pictures.”
He continued to criticize how adults dont give up “kid stuff” and says that they have “pretended comic books were actually sophisticated literature.” He adds that there are over 4,500 colleges in America and that “we need more professors than we have smart people” before saying that “dumb people got to be professors” for writing theses about comic books.
POW! wasnt about to let this go unnoticed. On their website, they posted a letter to Maher saying that great creators like Lee “make us feel, make us think and teach us lessons that hopefully make us better human being.” The letter adds, ” One lesson Stan taught so many of us was tolerance and respect, and thanks to that message, we are grateful that we can say you have a right to your opinion that comics are childish and unsophisticated. Many said the same about Dickens, Steinbeck, Melville and even Shakespeare.”
POW! then went on to drag Maher saying that him saying Lee inspired people to “watch a movie” was disgusting. “Countless people can attest to how Stan inspired them to read, taught them that the world is not made up of absolutes, that heroes can have flaws and even villains can show humanity within their souls,” the letter said.
Read the letter in its entirety below.
Mr. Maher: Comic books, like all literature, are storytelling devices. When written well by great creators such as Stan Lee, they make us feel, make us think and teach us lessons that hopefully make us better human beings. One lesson Stan taught so many of us was tolerance and respect, and thanks to that message, we are grateful that we can say you have a right to your opinion that comics are childish and unsophisticated. Many said the same about Dickens, Steinbeck, Melville and even Shakespeare.
But to say that Stan merely inspired people to “watch a movie” is in our opinion frankly disgusting. Countless people can attest to how Stan inspired them to read, taught them that the world is not made up of absolutes, that heroes can have flaws and even villains can show humanity within their souls. He gave us the X-Men, Black Panther, Spider-Man and many other heroes and stories that offered hope to those who felt different and bullied while inspiring countless to be creative and dream of great things to come.
These are but a few of the things we the fans of Stan Lee also consider “adulting,” because life both as a child and grown-up can indeed be a struggle. Stan is the author of millions of happy childhood memories and the provider of so many of the positive tools of adulthood.
Our shock at your comments makes us want to say “Nuff said, Bill,” but instead we will rely on another of Stans lessons to remind you that you have a powerful platform, so please remember: “With great power there must also come — great responsibility!”
-Team Stan
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