When Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee pitched his idea of a superhero called Spiderman, the executives laughed him off.
They said no one liked spiders, teenagers only made good sidekicks, and no one was interested in a superhero with personal problems.
Persist with your idea
But it being the magazine’s last issue, Stan Lee got his chance to put Spiderman on the cover and sales boomed. The rest is history.
So Stan offers this advice for all creators alike.
“If you have an idea that you genuinely think is great, don’t let some idiot talk you out of it.”
Stan Lee
So give yourself permission to build. Push through CRAP– criticism, rejection, assholes, and pressure.
2 responses
Thanks for the insight Matt — sounds a little Steve Jobs-esque.
Stan spent more time by far inventing Stan Lee than inventing superheroes. This story is so far fetched it’s rediculous. He didn’t answer to executives, he answered to his wife’s cousin. Spiderman was far from the first insect themed superhero (including spiders), it’s doubtful there was resistance. His boss was famous for just throwing out dozens of titles, hoping to ride some current pop culture trend, it’s unlikely he would balk over one title. Finally, Spiderman was Jack Kirby’s knock off of his own Fly character, extensively revamped by Steve Ditko. Stan just took the credit, something he was really good at.