美国国家公共电台 NPR A True Believer Remembers Stan Lee

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Black Panther - the basis for those characters and many more came from the imagination of Stan Lee. He died Monday. He was 95 years old. Here he is in one of his many Marvel¹ movie cameos talking to Chris Hemsworth's Thor in "Thor: Ragnarok."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THOR: RAGNAROK")

STAN LEE: (As character) And don't you move. My hands aren't as steady as they used to be.

CHRIS HEMSWORTH: (As Thor) By Odin's beard, you shall not cut my hair, lest you feel the wrath² of the mighty³ Thor.

MARTIN: (Imitating Thor) The mighty Thor.

Glen Weldon of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour joins us to remember Stan Lee and his genius. Good morning, Glen.

GLEN WELDON, BYLINE⁴: Morning, Rachel.

MARTIN: So we know Stan Lee is the public face of Marvel Comics. He was that for decades, but I didn't realize this until recently. He wasn't the only brain behind the Marvel Universe, was he?

WELDON: No, he was the co-creator of the Marvel Universe because here's how he worked in those early days. He came up with the broad strokes. He'd invite artists like Jack⁵ Kirby and Steve Ditko into his office. He'd act out the story. Then they'd go away and design the characters, costumes, backgrounds. When they were done, he'd take a look at what they'd drawn⁶, which if you're an artist like Jack Kirby or Steve Ditko, often differed a lot from what he told you to do, and fill in the dialogue. He wanted everything dynamic, larger than life. You know, why have characters talk when they could be shouting?

MARTIN: (Laughter).

WELDON: Why have characters disagree when they could be brawling⁷?

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR")

ROBERT DOWNEY JR: (As Tony Stark) Give me back my Rhodey.

TOM HOLLAND: (As Peter Parker) I got him.

WELDON: Now, this clip is from "Captain America: Civil War," a movie that's all about heroes brawling with each other. It's just something he loved.

MARTIN: How did all this start because it's not like there weren't already other superheroes. Right? Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman - they all predated Stan Lee.

WELDON: Yeah. Well, I mean, they were - those were the DC heroes. But in 1961, when Stan Lee co-created the Fantastic Four with Jack Kirby, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman were spending a lot of time sitting around conference tables agreeing with each other.

MARTIN: Boring (laughter).

WELDON: Yeah, their stories felt tidy. They felt small. Stan Lee made superheroes big, and he gave them distinct personalities⁸ because he knew that readers weren't kids anymore. They had become teenagers, and they wanted to see themselves in the comics. So he basically created Marvel - co-created Marvel characters that were teenagers, essentially⁹. They bickered¹⁰. They pouted¹¹. They felt guilty - big personalities.

MARTIN: He was a big personality himself, big enough to transform those early superhero comics into big money. Right? Forbes magazine now estimates that it's all a $12 billion business - TV shows, movie franchises¹², licensing¹³ deals.

WELDON: Yeah. He wasn't just a big personality. He was a born marketer. He created the Marvel brand. He cultivated this over-the-top persona that was always spouting¹⁴ catchphrases like, excelsior, face front, true believers, enough said.

MARTIN: (Laughter).

WELDON: And that served to endear him and Marvel Comics to his readers. He did everything he could to create a sense that being a Marvel fan set you apart. He even created a theme song for fans to sing along to.

(SOUNDBITE OF "MERRY MARVEL MARCHING SOCIETY SONG")

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) You belong, you belong, you belong, you belong to the Merry Marvel Marching...

WELDON: So by making readers want to belong to the world of Marvel Comics, he accelerated a process that had already begun. He gave scattered¹⁵ readers across the country something that united them. So they went from being a bunch of individual fans to a collective fandom.

MARTIN: Which is interesting - right? - because so many of his characters were outside the mainstream¹⁶. They were people who wanted to belong to something bigger.

WELDON: Exactly. That's the secret.

MARTIN: Glen Weldon, he is an editor at the NPR arts desk and a panelist on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast. We have been remembering Stan Lee.

Thanks so much, Glen.

WELDON: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF "MERRY MARVEL MARCHING SOCIETY SONG")

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) Be a good adviser¹⁷. Never ever vicious. Where will you be then? Face front, lift your head, you're on the winning team - 'nuff said. You belong...

1 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

2 wrath   

n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒

参考例句：

• His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
• The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。

3 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

6 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

7 brawling   

n.争吵，喧嚷

参考例句：

• They were arrested for brawling in the street. 他们因在街上打斗而遭到拘捕。
• The officers were brawling commands. 军官们大声地喊口令。

8 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

9 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

10 bickered   

v.争吵( bicker的过去式和过去分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁

参考例句：

• The afternoon sun bickered through the leaves. 午后的阳光闪烁于树叶之间。 来自辞典例句
• They bickered over [about] some unimportant thing. 他们为芝麻小事争吵。 来自辞典例句

11 pouted   

v.撅（嘴）( pout的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her lips pouted invitingly. 她挑逗地撮起双唇。
• I pouted my lips at him, hinting that he should speak first. 我向他努了努嘴，让他先说。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 franchises   

n.（尤指选举议员的）选举权( franchise的名词复数 )；参政权；获特许权的商业机构（或服务）；（公司授予的）特许经销权v.给…以特许权，出售特许权( franchise的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder. 电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ford dealerships operated as independent franchises. 福特汽车公司的代销商都是独立的联营商。 来自辞典例句

13 licensing   

v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A large part of state regulation consists of occupational licensing. 大部分州的管理涉及行业的特许批准。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• That licensing procedures for projects would move faster. 这样的工程批准程序一定会加快。 来自辞典例句

14 spouting   

n.水落管系统v.（指液体）喷出( spout的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水

参考例句：

• He's always spouting off about the behaviour of young people today. 他总是没完没了地数落如今年轻人的行为。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Blood was spouting from the deep cut in his arm. 血从他胳膊上深深的伤口里涌出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

16 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

17 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。