By Avery Kaplan and Rebecca Oliver Kaplan
On Tuesday, July 18th, 2023, the brand new exhibit “Excelsior! The Life and Legacy of Stan Lee” opened at Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park, San Diego. Curated by Comic-Con Museum, Michael E. Uslan, and David Uslan, the limited-time exhibit celebrates Stan Lee and the co-creators of the Marvel Universe with uncommon paintings, points, and artifacts assembled from the vaults of various personal collectors and public sale homes.
Excelsior! The Life and Legacy of Stan Lee
The “Excelsior! The Life and Legacy of Stan Lee” exhibit is organized chronologically, providing a sequential survey of how Stan the Man’s legacy spans a complete century. The exhibit locations an emphasis on Stan’s position as a group chief (with due credit score to co-creators Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Don Heck, John Romita Sr., Marie Severin, John Severin, and lots of others). Well-read comedian points have been positioned on show alongside authentic artwork and different distinctive artifacts for a really singular exhibition.
Speaking with The Beat amid the horde of True Believers’ treasures, exhibit co-curator Michael Uslan admitted he had a private favourite out of the problems on show. “There are certain comic books that had more of an impact on me growing up than others,” stated Michael. “One of which was X-Men #1.”
Michael defined that as a seventh-grade pupil, he started to wonder if he is perhaps outgrowing comedian books. But X-Men #1 got here as a opposite revelation. “This is something that I can relate to; this is speaking to me,” Michael described his response to the problem. “I realized that comic books were growing up with me and that they would not be something that I would have to leave behind.”
Michael is thought for being the trainer for the primary accredited faculty course on the intense examine of comedian books. Among myriad different accomplishments, he’s additionally the originator and government producer of the Batman film franchise, and with exhibit co-curator David Uslan, guide to Kartoon Studios’ “Stan Lee Universe.”
Categorizing Stan as a promoter not simply of Marvel Comics however of comics typically, Michael credit him with widening the aperture of comedian ebook readership. He continued that Stan “talked to us, not down to us, but communicated with us. Through letter columns, through Stan’s Soapbox. And he didn’t just plug the next comic book, he talked to us about racism and bigotry, he talked to us about the environment and ecology, women’s rights, civil rights, the war in Vietnam. You know, I felt we were members of a secret club. It was very subversive.”
While Michael says he misses the subversive aspect, he admits to non-public accountability for serving to usher within the mainstream success loved by superhero media right now. However, he hopes the exhibit will assist elevate recognition of the truth that these empires originated on the comedian ebook web page.
“That’s what I want to show the world: this is where it all started,” Michael stated. “It’s the comic books that are the creative wellspring, and that’s the only reason the movies and the gaming and the TV and the animation exist. You’ve got to appreciate and respect where it all started and where it all came from.”
A Personal Exhibition
Many of the comics on show come from Michael’s private assortment. “These are not pristine, slabbed comic books. These are comics I read a hundred times over, rolled up, and put in the back pocket of my jeans,” he stated, reflexively executing the practiced gesture as he described it. But along with comics from his private assortment, there are additionally points and artwork on show from different collections and public sale home catalogs.
In an interview, Museum Executive Director Rita Vandergaw stated that this selection is because of Michael’s private data and connections. Vandergaw defined that Michael had data of the areas of the objects on show. “He went to all these people and said, ‘This is what I want to do. I want to put you in my exhibit,’” Vandergaw informed The Beat.
Currently, Comic-Con Museum has just one everlasting exhibit: “Cover Story: Five Decades of Comic-Con,” showcasing fifty years of Souvenir Book cowl artwork. Vandergaw defined that this presents some distinctive challenges: most advantageous artwork museums have foundational collections to fall again on for show. However, she stated it additionally affords the chance for working carefully with particular person curators to supply museum patrons with one-of-a-kind exhibitions.
She illustrated the purpose by mentioning that Comic-Con Museum labored carefully with Rod Roddenberry for an exhibition of Majel Barrett-Roddenberry‘s personal favorite Star Trek costumes. Taken from Rod’s private assortment, Vandergaw said that lots of the valuable articles displayed through the exhibit’s tenure “won’t be in the public eye again.” The identical could also be stated for a few of the gadgets on show within the “Excelsior!” exhibit.
True Believers’ Treasures
According to Michael, the artifacts on show as a part of the “Excelsior!” exhibit are solely current because of “about sixty years of relationships.” In addition to lots of the first points and appearances of keystone Marvel Comics superheroes, the primary appearances of a number of supervillains are additionally on show, together with the introduction of Doctor Octopus.
“These are amazing pieces that have been kept by people who have loved and cherished them,” Michael stated. Indicating a body holding authentic Kirby artwork, Michael elaborated, “Just the fact that somebody like Gary Stiffelman has let this out of, literally, the vault in his house. I mean, to get into Gary’s house… You might as well try and get into the Pentagon.”
Furthermore, Michael cites his lifelong relationship with comics for offering him with the required credibility to ask for a mortgage of the exhibited artifacts. “They know I’m not some Hollywood corporate suit that gets thrown there, that some PR person has written me something I can read off a teleprompter,” Michael informed The Beat. “They know I’m a fanboy. This is the life, this is the community that I come out of. And my heart and soul are in it.”
The assembled exhibit speaks for itself. However, due to the number of sources for the exhibit – a listing that features Heritage Auctions, DC Comics, and Metropolis Comics along with greater than a half-dozen personal collectors – experiencing this distinctive assortment is a limited-time alternative. For this purpose, a pilgrimage to the Comic-Con Museum throughout San Diego Comic-Con 2023 must be thought of obligatory for probably the most devoted of True Believers.
Comic-Con Museum displays
Vandergaw states that this selection is a part of what makes being a patron of Comic-Con Museum so rewarding. “When you go to the MoMA, you kind of know what you’re getting,” stated Vandergaw. “You’re going to find a different experience every time you come to the Comic-Con Museum because it changes that often. As a patron or a member, you really get your membership value out of it, because you can come as often as you want and as long as you want, and you’re going to see something different every time.”
To whit, upcoming displays might be introduced through the “Amazing! Fantastic! Incredible! News from the Comic-Con Museum” panel on Thursday, July 20th, 2023 at 10:00 am in Room 29AB.
However, guests to Comic-Con Museum this July can even be capable of take pleasure in two extra recent displays alongside “Excelsior!”: the “Cowboy Bebop 25th Anniversary Art Exhibition” and the “My Hero Academia Installation.” These are offered alongside ongoing displays together with “The Animation Academy – from Pencils to Pixels,” “Rick Geary and the Comic-Con Toucan,” the “PAC-MAN Arcade,” and the aforementioned exhibition of SDCC Souvenir Book cowl artwork.
“What I hope we’re doing, which is Comic-Con’s mission too, is elevating the creators and the writers and all the people that put their energy into creating comics and fandom, and all the things that come out of it,” stated Vandergaw.
Comic-Con Museum is open Tuesday by Sunday from 10:00 am to five:00 pm, with final entry at 4:00 pm. Furthermore, the museum might be open the Monday after Comic-Con, on July 24th, 2023. Tickets can be found upfront or at the door; please see the Museum web site linked above.
Cover: Michael Uslan and Rita Vandergaw at the “Excelsior!” exhibit. Photo by Rebecca Oliver Kaplan.
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