AND EQUALLY AS COMPLEX WORLDS TO ROUND IT ALL OUT. HOWEVER, DUE TO THE
RESTRICTIONS OF THE Comics Cope AuTHority (CCA), CREATORS OFTEN FOUND

IT DIFFICULT TO PRODUCE NARRATIVES THAT WOULD ENTICE AN OLDER AUDIENCE.
THESE RESTRICTIONS RANGED, BUT IN GENERAL, ACTED AS A MEANS OF CENSORSHIP,
BECAUSE MANY VENDORS REFUSED TO SELL ANY COMICS NOT APPROVED AND GRANTED
THE CCA SEAL. THIS WAS SUCH AN ANNOYANCE THAT LEE ALMOST QUIT COMICS.
ORIGINALLY, THE FANTASTIC Four, WHICH DEBUTED IN 1961, WAS SUPPOSED TO BE
HIS LAST WORK. AS SUCH, IN AN ATTEMPT TO SPITE THE CCA, LEE FILLED THE STORY
WITH INTENSE AMOUNTS OF DRAMA. DOING SO BROOKED THE CCA, AND THOSE
THAT GAVE IT POWER. DESPITE ORIGINALLY NOT BEING ENDORSED, THE FANTASTIC
FOuR WAS SUCH A COMMERCIAL SUCCESS THAT IT PROMPTED THE CCA To MAKE AN
EXCEPTION FOR THE SERIES, AND INSPIRED LEE TO STAY THE COURSE.

LATER IN HIS CAREER, LEE WOULD DO THIS YET AGAIN. IN 1971, DURING THE
DRUG AND DISCO CRAZE, LEE SNUBBED THE CCA ONCE MORE. AT THE TIME, THE
CCA HAD VERY STRINGENT RULES ABOUT THE NEGATIVE PORTRAYAL OF SUBSTANCE
ABUSE. DESPITE THIS, LEE AND RoOMITA JR. PUT FORWARD THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#96-98. THESE THREE, SINGLE-ISSUE COMICS FEATURED A NARRATIVE IN WHICH KEY
CHARACTER, HARRY OSBORN, DEVELOPS AN ADDICTION TO UNNAMED PILLS. IN THE
STORY, OSBORN EVENTUALLY SUFFERS AN OVERDOSE AND NEARLY DIES AS SPIDER-MAN
HELPLESSLY LOOKS ON. THE STORY TACKLED A VERY REAL-WORLD ISSUE, AND AS A
RESULT WAS A HIT AMONG FANS AND A FINANCIAL SUCCESS—EVEN THOUGH IT NEVER
GAINED THE CCA SEAL OF APPROVAL.

LEE AND HIS CO-CREATORS WERE ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR THE IDEA OF AN INTER
CONNECTED FICTIONAL MULTIVERSE. THIS MEANT THAT CHARACTERS, EVENTS, AND
PLOTS COULD STRETCH AND BE INTERWOVEN BETWEEN SEVERAL DIFFERENT TITLES
SIMULTANEOUSLY. THIS ADDED AN EXTRA DEGREE OF COMPLEXITY TO THE NARRATIVES
LEE AND HIS FELLOWS CREATED. ALL THE SUDDEN SITUATIONS AND CONFLICTS SEEMED
A LOT LESS INSULAR, AND THIS MADE THEM FEEL MORE IMPACTFUL. NOT ONLY THAT,
BUT IT POPULARIZED THE CONCEPT THAT NOT EVERY SUPERHERO WAS MADE EQUAL.
SINCE ALL THESE CHARACTERS NOW EXIST WITHIN THE SAME WORLD, IT BECOMES
APPARENT THAT SOME ARE STRONGER OR MORE POWERFUL THAN OTHERS. THIS WAS A
FAIRLY NEW AND RADICAL IDEA, AS PREVIOUSLY, SUPERHEROES WERE SORT OF GIVEN A
VERY BROAD SPECTRUM OF POWER WITH LITTLE TO NO LIMITATION—THINK SUPERMAN.

. HOWEVER, ESTABLISHING THIS IDEA THAT SUPERHEROES MAY NOT BE ALL-POWERFUL
Fl A N G E D C O Mi | C S PAVED THE WAY FOR LEE AND KIRBY TO BRING ABOUT THE FANTAsTic Four #48-50,
, AFFECTIONATELY NICKNAMED, “THE GALACTUS TRILOGY.”

“THE GALACTUS TRILOGY” Is SEEN BY MANY COMIC CONNOISSEURS AS BEING
GROUNDBREAKING IN TERMS OF HOW IT APPROACHED VILLAINY. ESSENTIALLY,
BRITTNEY MACDONALD GALACTUS IS A COSMIC BEING THAT FUNCTIONS ON THE SAME LEVEL AS A GOD. THERE
LIFE & STYLE EDITOR IS LITERALLY NOTHING HE CAN’T Do. HE SUSTAINS HIMSELF BY ABSORBING LIVING
ENERGY FROM ENTIRE PLANETS—LATER LEAVING THEM DEVOID OF IT. TO PUT IT VERY
SIMPLY, GALACTUS Is ARMAGEDDON, OR IF YOU’RE LESS BIBLICAL, HE 1S AN EXTINCTION
EVENT. AFTER MANY ATTEMPTED BATTLES AGAINST HIM, THE FANTASTIC FOUR ARE
FORCED TO REALIZE THAT THEY CANNOT DEFEAT HIM, AND INSTEAD HAVE TO RESORT
TO OTHER TACTics. IN THE END, GALACTUS STRIKES A DEAL WITH THE TEAM, AND
HE AGREES TO SPARE EARTH. THE REASON WHY THIS CONCLUSION IS SO STRANGE IN
TERMS OF COMIC NARRATIVES, 1S THAT THE VILLAIN IS NEVER PUNISHED. INSTEAD, THE
SUPERHEROES ARE MADE TO BOW TO HIS POWER AND HE MOVES ON TO DESTROY SOME
OTHER WORLD. THE MORAL DILEMMA THIS ENDING SUGGESTS TO THE READER MAKES IT
VERY APPARENT THAT CHILDREN WERE NOT THE INTENDED AUDIENCE FOR IT. AS SUCH,
“THE GALACTUS TRILOGY” IS STILL SEEN AS ONE OF THE ARCHETYPES OF VILLAIN/HERO
ULTIMATE CONFLICT PLOTS. THIS STORY ARC JUSTIFIES THE EXPECTATION THAT NOT ONLY
THE CHARACTERS, BUT THE WORLD IN WHICH THEY EXIST MUST BE MULTIFACETED. IT
ALSO MADE IT OKAY FOR FUTURE COMIC WRITERS TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX IN TERMS
OF HOW THE DESIRED ENDING IS ACHIEVED. THE HERO DOESN’T ALWAYS HAVE TO SAVE
THE DAY.

IF YOU'VE READ THROUGH TO THIS, THE END, THEN YOU SHOULD KNOW BY
NOW WHY STAN LEE Is AS REVERED AS HE 1S. HE 1s THE CREATOR—BECAUSE OF HIS
INVOLVEMENT WITH CREATING SOME OF OUR FAVOURITE SUPERHEROES. HOWEVER,
MORE THAN THAT, HE tS SOMEONE WHO WASN’T AFRAID TO ASK FOR MORE: More
MEANING, MORE COMPLEXITY, MORE HEROES, MORE PHILOSOPHY. STAN LEE WAS A
REVOLUTIONARY WITHIN THE COMIC INDUSTRY, MORE THAN ANY ONE PERSON SHOULD
BE. HE WILL BE GREATLY MISSED.