SEPTEMBER’S SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER: STAN LEE
Founder, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer of POW! Entertainment

Known to millions as the man whose Super Heroes propelled Marvel Comics to its preeminent position in the comicbook industry, Stan Lee's singular co-creations include Spider-Man, Iron Man, X-Men, The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, Daredevil, The Avengers, Silver Surfer and Dr. Strange among many others. He has successfully established himself as the creator of the modern day Superhero.

Stan's horizons have expanded beyond comic books, giving him the opportunity to become more deeply involved in the creation and development of filmed projects for both the big and small screen. To date, Stan's characters have populated over 24 separate television series, all of which continue in syndication around the world. Movies based on a Marvel characters have all become mega hits at the box office – grossing over $3 billion dollars, not including other ancillary markets. Also, a number of Lee's classic animated series are also available on video, released globally by Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. The saturation factor is high -- the X-Men series has a 90 percent recognition factor among the 30 million American children between the ages of 6 and 14.

He formed POW! (Purveyors of Wonder) Entertainment in 2001, with producer Gill Champion and attorney Arthur Lieberman. POW! is a company unrelated to Marvel, which specializes in franchises for theatrical release, television, DVD’s, video games, merchandising, and related ancillary markets.

Without question, Stan 'the Man' Lee has exerted more influence over the comicbook industry than anyone in history. Lee first became publisher of Marvel Comics in 1972 and is presently the Chairman Emeritus of Marvel Enterprises, Inc. and a member of the Editorial Board of Marvel Comics.

He created or co-created 90 percent of Marvel's recognized characters, which have been successfully licensed and marketed since 1965. The numbers are staggering -- more than 2 billion of his comicbooks have been published in 75 countries and in 25 languages. In Europe alone, Stan Lee's name appears on over 35 million comics annually. Each year, X-Men sells more than 13 million copies.

In 1977, he introduced Spider-Man as a syndicated newspaper strip that went on to become the most successful of all syndicated adventure strips. Spider-Man now appears in more than 500 newspapers worldwide -- making it the longest running of all Super Hero strips.

In 1981 Stan Lee transformed his and Hulk creations into Saturday morning and syndicated television cartoons. When Marvel Comics and Marvel Productions were acquired by New World Entertainment in 1986, Stan's horizons expanded even further, giving him the opportunity to become more deeply involved in the creation and development of filmed projects for both the big and small screen. He supervised such diverse animated series as X-Men, Spider-Man and The Hulk. To date, Stan's characters have populated over 24 separate television series, all of which continue in syndication around the world. The 1998 hit movie Blade, based on a Marvel character, has inspired an upcoming sequel and plans are underway for a sequel to the mega-hit X-Men as well as a big budget Spider-Man movie, which is now in production. Additionally, many of Stan’s other creations, such as The Hulk, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Dr. Strange, The Mighty Thor and Silver Surfer are in development for motion pictures and TV series.

Stan Lee's admirers are not limited to the younger generation -- his avowed fans include Presidents (Ronald Reagan once said he started every day reading Spider-Man comics and George Bush praised Lee for encouraging and assisting "millions of young people to broaden their own imaginations") and media titans (Steven Spielberg once explained that "Stan and I do the same thing. Only my pictures move.") and even his competitors ("Most of my generation of writers learned our craft from or through Stan Lee. He's an incredible part of the business," said Paul Levitz, publisher of DC Comics).

Pow! also has an on going relationship with Disney Studios. Stan is currently developing entirely new franchises such as “The Femizons” for MGM Studios, Inc., and Diabella and Stripperella for television.

Stan’s biography, “Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee,” a Simon & Schuster Fireside trade paperback, now in bookstores, tells the story of Stan’s life, his impoverished childhood, his amazing accomplishments and his many exciting plans for the future, used as a basis for a documentary

Now, despite the incredible record of his past achievements, as we have entered the 21st Century, Stan--with the characteristic enthusiasm of a teenager--feels that his creative career is just beginning.