Funky Flashman and Stan Lee's heir

[comicwiz]

I have to admit, prior to these two stories - here and here - I didn't understand the "meta-message" behind the Funky Flashman character. At least not as cynical and vindictive as the subliminal message perhaps intended. It's also pretty amazing to see the photographic timeline Bleedingcool provides of Stan Lee's "hair journey" perfectly mimicked in the Mister Miracle #6 story.

 

I like Kirby's work. In truth, I didn't appreciate it as much as a kid, but his work has definitely grown on me. He remains one of the pillars of Marvel's great history, and I'm glad the disputes with the heirs of his estate finally got settled.

 

I've taken a passive interest in reading both sides of the debate on whether Kirby got screwed as badly as was revealed during the whole dragged out dispute in courts. I've gone back and forth a few times, but feel the system was partly to blame, and the operators were simply using it to their advantage.

 

But none of that really arrives at the essence, because while we may have opinions for or against the dispute, we weren't there. We don't know how bad things really were, and how it effected the people involved.

 

I have to think that things between Kirby and Lee had to really be strained for him to have created the Flunky Flashman character. Reading through the story below leaves no doubt in my mind that things were not at all good between Kirby and Lee:

 

From Bleedingcool:

 

 

 

From CBR:

 

 

 

 

From CBR - a photo of Lee from the time:

 

[comicparadox]

From the -script, remember that HouseRoy = Roy Thomas, at that time the heir-apparent as Editor at Marvel.

[Juswuh]

I love the details of the satire - Funky living on money from his never-seen relatives, stealing Mr Miracle's Mother Box, having no understanding of it and tossing it away - but Kirby definitely punched below the belt a few times.

[comicwiz]

From the -script, remember that HouseRoy = Roy Thomas, at that time the heir-apparent as Editor at Marvel.

 

Yes, I read into that as well. From one of the comments:

 

From what I’ve read, Lee was hesitant to take Kirby back because of Funky, but Roy Thomas convinced him. Thomas also told Lee not to let Kirby write, and Lee said “If Jack wants to write, let him write”.