One thing you're probably not likely to think of is members of the Chinese Central Committee sitting around Red Square squabbling with each other over who gets to read the latest issue of the Fantastic Four or Spiderman, though. However, this is basically what has been happening behind the doors of the Chinese government. Yes, Stan Lee, the once creative power behind Marvel Comics, has just come back from a trip to Beijing where he received 'special status' document from the Chinese government for both himself and his new company, Stan Lee Media. Special 'exalted creator' status is the modern equivalent of being invited to Buckingham Palace and being given the keys to the city, and it will allow Smiling Stan to wave a light sabre through the mountains of red tape China requires of most foreign businessmen. It basically acts as a pass from the government saying "Extend every courtesy to this guy and screw with him at your peril - signed the people who control the police, army and civil service. Take the hint." It opens every door except one, that of the Domestic Censorship Commission - whose standards Stan is still expected to conform to. Big fans of the Stanster's work, the Chinese politburo also want Stan Lee Media to open an animation studio in their capital. They have realised that the service, information and entertainment sectors of the economy are the boom areas of the 21st century, and now they want a piece of the action. A spokesman from the Economic Ministry of China commented: "One of the major cultural export success stories between Asia and the West has been the flow of Manga and Anime. There is no reason China should not be able to capitalise on the wide range and depth of skills of our own artists. The province of Hong Kong has already shown what is possible with our exciting action dramas." At an age when most people are happy to be singing along with Sunday Worship in an OAP home, Stan, who has recently hobbled into the grand old age of seventy seven, was created an honorary member of the Japan-China Digital Manga Association (the first artist outside of Asia to be so honoured). Our Stan was also extended the right to do the opening address at the First Congress of Anime and Manga Creators, run by the main Chinese government paper, the People's Daily. In return for all these fine awards, China wants Stan to help create a range of Sino-centric paper comic books, theme parks, computer games, TV, movies, web-casts, and merchandising tie-ins. These turn of luck is not the first Stan has had of late. His best stroke of fortune came when the company he had created and was still working for, Marvel Entertainment, went bust at the end of the '90s. This voided a rather unfair life contract he had signed - in the days when comicbook creatives had to - tying his fortunes to that of Marvel without the benefit of the royalties modern artists like Frank Miller now demand. More luck came Stan's way when he acquired the animated rights to Conan the Barbarian, as well as - rather bizarrely - an animated version of the Cops TV show. God knows how that one will make the jump to cartoon-dom, given this is normally best associated with following real police around with camcorders. He is also working on a cartoon series for Star Ship, a TV concept produced by Gene Roddenberry which has been confused with Andromeda of late. This is the one - we think - where the Earth is destroyed by a cycle of rogue solar activity (read sun flares on a supernova-scale), and the survivors bog off in a generation ship to find a new Earth-like planet to colonise. Yep, we took a vote here at the 'nest, and it's official. When - if - we're pushing into our late seventies, the person we most want to be is, Stan Lee. |
