| 2010 Comic-Con
Boom! Pow! Stan Lee's New Books
 7/21/2010
5:15
Stan's partnering with Boom! for three books
going into the direct market:
Starborn, written by Chris Roberson
and art by Khary Randolph
The Traveler, written by Mark Waid,
art by Chad Hardin
Soldier Zero, written by Paul Cornell,
art by Javier Pina -- hitting in October, 2010.
What was the a-Ha moment for Stan Lee to
join Boom? "They offered a lot of money. No, seriously,
I've liked the work that Boom! has done for the longest
time." It may have been their Poe book -- Stan started
reciting The Raven. He loves Irredeemable.
"I've always been a fan of (Mark Waid's).
They're great to work with, they're creative, and it sounded
exciting, where I can be an overall editor, a buttinsky.
They create the books, and then they bring them to me. It's
back in the bullpen again, like I used to be at Marvel."
"I marvel at their imagination, their
sense of drama. In all my years at Marvel, I never had this
many reporters in the room."
Mark Waid asks, "Can we change Stan's
title to Buttinsky?"
The Traveler, written by Waid, came about
after Stan and Waid talked about what to do with time travel
that hasn't been done before. "It had to have heart,
that's the thing I've learned from Stan as a reader and
as a writer."
"I always thought my comics were cerebral..."
Stan laughs.
 "Traveler's
about an agent who's come back to save us from the Split
Second Men, a group of agents with their own design for
the future." But he can mess with history, which is
different from many other time travel stories. You'll see
what the repercussions are as he tampers with time if has
to.
"We should have called it The Tamperer,"
says Stan.
Starborn, by Roberson (I, Zombie), started
with the basic idea of a guy growing up on Earth discovering
he's the heir to an alien empire. As he tries to liberate
humans out in space, he discovers that he's actually fighting
freedom fighters, as his father was actually the tyrant.
Soldier Zero by Cornell (Action Comics,
Doctor Who) -- "This is the man who basically taught
me how to read." It's the exception to his exclusive
with DC, as they understood that he had to work with Stan.
A wheel-chair bound man gets the chance to bond with an
alien soldier -- Cornell is determined NOT to be crass about
it, consulting with wheelchair users.
"Stuart is only limited by his environment;
he's not going to escape the wheelchair; he's going to have
to keep going back to that in his ordinary life."
"There's nothing pastiche, nothing
retro about these projects. It's just showing the classic
and timeless shapes of what Stan Lee does, how they're relevant
to the world today," finished Cornell.
"No matter what a guy with an English
accent says, it sounds profound," cracked Stan.
Waid weighed in, "It's a way of trying
to return to a non-cynical sense, what superhero comics
have become are like WWF wrestling matches. The characters
Stan created act selflessly, there are sacrifices to being
a Stan Lee superhero. There's a way of doing that in a 21st
Century environment ..that's a call to new times."
When asked how he keeps creating, Stan says,
"I don't have to, they're doing it!"
7/21/2010 5 p.m.:
We made it. Right now I'm upstairs waiting for the first press conference of the Con -- Boom! Studios announcing three comic book projects from the Grand Master of Comics, Stan Lee. Months ago Boom! had announced a deal with Stan's POW! Entertainment, but until now, no one's known what the projects would be.
On the heels of Matt Gagnon getting promoted to Editor-in-Chief of Boom!, while former EIC Mark Waid becomes Chief Creative Officer, this is a huge week for Ross Richie's company, and thanks to Chip Mosher for sending an invite to Fanboy Planet.
The rest of the gang stands somewhere in line, ready to swarm the floor and get great photos for later tonight.
Stay tuned -- if this works, we'll be able to do a little more updating throughout the convention as it's happening.
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