Alan Moore is spot on about Stan Lee. In fact, in one of the "Origins: books that Marvel produced, Stan Lee talks about how he received the penciled pages from Fantastic Four #48 and was surprised to see a character on a flying surfboard. When he asked Jack who it was, Kirby responded by saying that he thought a supreme being like Galactus would have a herald to announce his coming. Yet, Stan Lee has taken credit for creating the Silver Surfer.
Basically, Jack Kirby was the writer and artist and Stan Lee was his editor and it's a gross injustice to equate the majority of Marvel's characters as Stan Lee's creations. I don't hate Stan Lee or anything, he was comic books hype man and the face and voice of them....but people need to give credit where credit is due.
There's an interview with Stan Lee where he tells the story about the creation of the Silver Surfer. Jack Kirby handed in his pages, and Stan says he was surprised to see this silvery character on a surfboard. "Who is this?" Stan says he asked Jack. Jack explains that he felt an entity as powerful as Galactus should have a herald. Stan finishes the story with "and that is how WE created the character of the Silver Surfer". I loved Stan as a kid, but I've come to realize he was just a salesman who took a lot of credit he didn't deserve.
Stan Lee is a master but Jack Kirby was the master.. there's a reason the One Above All was drawn as Kirby.. Lee gave Marvel personality, Kirby gave it life.
The main point of what Moore is saying: in the Marvel Universe, there is massive disparity with the amount of credit given to Stan Lee vs others, most notably Jack Kirby, who people do not realize created so much of the MCU you see on the big screen. In bright lights it reads: "Marvel's Avengers!" Reality: the original Avengers are a superhero team created by Jack Kirby, consisting of superheroes created by Jack Kirby. It should say, "Kirby's Avengers" on all the posters. JK Rowling did something similar with her Harry Potter/Wizard World mega-creation. If she had done that in the context of Marvel Comics during the Silver Age, she would own none of the rights to her characters. She would receive no royalties. Her name would not be the first one you see in the credits. She would not even own the physical paper pages she used to write the stories. Conversely, Jack Kirby's estate would be worth billions more than Rowling if he had owned the rights to his characters. If proper credit were given to Kirby, he would widely be considered one of the greatest artists of the 20th century (and not just comic or commercial artist - the cover of Captain America Comics #1 is one of the most significant pieces of outsider art of all time), a title I believe he deserves.
And that's the side of the story many people don't understand, the scale of Kirby's creations and their inherent artistic, as well as financial value. If the MCU continues for 25 more years (not guaranteed, but not out of the question), then Jack Kirby characters at the box office could eclipse the entire HISTORY of the remaining box office. Kirby characters already out gross all Star Wars, Harry Potter, DC Comics, Lord of the Rings, James Bond, and Fast and the Furious movies COMBINED. It's staggering, but not out of the question when you consider Jack Kirby created: the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Eternals, Inhumans, Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor (comics), Ant Man, Wasp, Silver Surfer, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Black Panther, Groot, Professor X, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Angel, Iceman, Magneto, Juggernaut, Dr. Doom, Loki (comics), Galactus, Kang the Conqueror, Red Skull, Baron and Helmut Zemo, Ronan the Accuser and the Kree, Skrulls, Ego the Living Planet, Adam Warlock, Wakanda... the list goes on, and on, and on, and on (see link below), and leads to one inevitable conclusion: hail to the King Kirby, baby!
Whats bad about Stan Lee gaining undeserved credit is that i visited a local small art studio/gallery/shop and they had Kirby era marvel comic book covers blown up as framed prints...only a small mention of Kirby being the artist! But Stan Lee got the credit... amazing
ALAN MOORE - talks about Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko
sums it all up very well at the end there