I think he says, "Isn't it funny how almost everything I created without Ditko or Kirby was complete and utter $#%@!"

Excelsior, True Believer!!

'Nuff Said.

For that, you win the prestigious No-Prize award!

LOL - and quoted for truth!!

Have you heard the other name for the book titled "Origins of Marvel Comics"? It is "The Gospel According to Stan Lee"!

Heh. Yeah. Don't get me wrong. Stan put some funny words into the mouth of Ben Grimm for a few years, but the guy is competely delusional about his overall contribution to comics.

Yep. Stan Lee: most overrated person in comics. Especially since using the Marvel method you have your artist do all of the heavy lifting.

I see it's rep time for you, huh?

Well, now, it's not like the artist' arent' making money for their work. Look at Todd McFarlane. Guy had enough cash to buy one baseball for over a million dollars. Dumb-### purchase, but, there ya go.

I don't think McFarlane has ever worked with Stan Lee to begin with. And he didn't make his money at Marvel. It's why Image was created in the first place: because Marvel didn't feel like paying their artists what they (thought) they were worth.
But there is of course a universe of difference between the Image founders and guys like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, who IMO are more responsible for the creation of the FF and Spider-Man than Stan Lee.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funky_Flashman

Funky Flashman is a fictional character in the DC Universe.

Created by Jack Kirby in the pages of Mister Miracle during the early 1970s. Funky Flashman was briefly Mister Miracle's manager and was inspired by Kirby's former partner, Stan Lee. The idea for the creation started back in 1972, when Kirby (after already being angry at Stan Lee for claiming sole rights as creator of the Marvel Universe) took his anger out on the whole ordeal by creating Funky Flashman. He is a flamboyant, fast-talking con man who created a second Secret Society of Super Villains. He had a servant named Houseroy, whom many comic fans surmised was inspired by comic writer Roy Thomas.

He last appeared in 2005's Son of Vulcan mini-series as the proprietor of a Pawn Shop that dealt in superhero and villain artifacts and equipment, and as a criminal go-between and procuror for a White Martian named A'Monn A'Mokk.

Thanks for the Funky Flashman reference, T'Chaka. I have the Mister Miracle issues where he appears, and boy does Kirby let him have it. Houseroy is definitely Roy Thomas, who was Lee's protege and eventually became EIC at Marvel. As much as Stan Lee is a hype and hyperbole artist, you have got to give him credit for creating and marketing comics to a more adult audience. He contributed much to making comics a mainstream artform, rather than just stuff for kids. His greatest sin, if you will, was claiming sole creator credit in the eyes of the public at large when it came to his most famous characters. I do feel that Stan has mellowed with age and probably learned a few lessons due to the knocks that he had to endure. Let's face it - like Lennon and McCartney, Lee and Kirby (and Lee and Ditko) pretty much redefined their medium. Like or dislike him, now that Kirby and Eisner are no longer with us, Stan Lee is the "great old man" of comics. I always enjoy seeing him in cameo roles, whether on TV or in Marvel movies. He could've won an award for his Willie Lumpkin characterization.

As EIC, Stan was great. Especially when you compare him to the current EIC.

That he was.
I do often wonder how DiDio and Quesada would fare if they didn't have their hands tied by larger concerns, like what colour Spider-Man's outfit is in the new film, who is Green Lantern on th cartoon, and if they had an audience that didn't automatically reject new characters and ideas.

Agreed - at the height of his glory days, Stan was acting as EIC and writing a good chunk of the titles put out by Marvel. He WAS the continuity, something that Marvel lost sight of a looong time ago. Yeah, he has been a shyster, but I am more willing to pardon Stan than to crucify him - as opposed to the current EIC.

Hey-- I love Stan's work on FF and Spidey. Even on Surfer and a couple other old corny titles.
The current Marvel guys-- hated though they are- managed to crank out some VERY succesful mainstream movies based on Marvel properties.
But let's look at Stan's track record-- every single TV or film property he had his name attached to was a piece of garbage.

The guy had something magic from about 62-68 or 69.
6 or 7 years of good superhero comicbooks working with Jack and Steve (and to a lesser extenet, Romita and Buscema). That's it.

There's no question that he was a big contributor to the success of the FF and Spidey-- had Ditko written Spidey's dialogue it woulda been too paranoid, had Jack written all the FF's dialogue it wouldn't have had that cheesy fun. Stan even wrote a bunch of my all-time favourite superhero lines within those years. I met him--both times outside a convention. I talked to him. I thanked him. But I could've just as easily called him a dick for taking so much credit for Ditko and Kirby's achievements.
Luckily (or sadly) The 'geek fanboy' in me won out over the 'quietly annoyed guy' in me.

1962-1969. Stan's good stuff.

And it's been nearly 40 years of churning out worthless junk for Stan since then...

PS
LOVE The Flashman story in MM.