Writer: Various/ see below
Art: Various/ see below
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $9.99
Release Date: December 27th, 2022
Over 20 years ago, Stan Lee reimagined the entire DC Universe. A criminal turned nocturnal warrior for justice, a champion from the Brazilian Amazon, an intergalactic lawman, and more sprang to existence from Stan’s mind with the help of Michael Uslan. To celebrate the legendary comic book icon’s 100th birthday, dive into 10 new adventures featuring his version of the DC Universe in Tales from Earth-6: A Celebration of Stan Lee #1! Watch as Batman faces down a villainous new threat, the Choker! Green Lantern digs deep when Nekron arrives to consume the World Tree! The Justice League teams up with a familiar face in order to save the day! Shazam ventures into a top-secret facility to face off against a mind-blowing (and brain-burgling) enemy! The Flash uses her time-bending speed abilities to attempt to reverse the tragedies of her past, but may rob herself of her powers in the process! Chaos ensues when Wonder Woman becomes the editor of the National Exposer! And, so much more! Lets dive into Tales from Earth-6: A Celebration of Stan Lee #1 and see what other amazing stories wait on the horizon.
If you’re interested in this comic, series, related trades, or any of the others mentioned, then simply click on the title/link to snag a copy through Amazon as you read the Tales from Earth-6: A Celebration of Stan Lee #1 Review.
THE DISPATCH
For those that may have forgotten, there was a point, even though it was very small lived, that one Stan Lee experimented at DC Comics taking their characters and morphing them through his unique lens. What’s even more clever, is that Lee took these DC Characters and merely tweaked them a bit with small personality differences (others rather large) and origin wrinkles that kept the characters reasonably true to what fans remember but again, with that Stan Lee spice that every comic fan loves and cherishes. Enter in Tales From Earth-6: A Celebration of Stan Lee #1 as readers rediscover these characters introduced by Lee through a modified lens in a variety of 10 stories by 10 different creative teams.
In order to leave more room for imagination as well as to spark more interest for fans to run out and snag this anthology, I’ll merely take a quick rundown of each of these stories showcasing some of the key components that helped pique this reviewer’s interest making Tales From Earth-6: A Celebration of Stan Lee #1 worth the buy. Now as someone new to Lee’s adaptations, I loved this more animalistic take of Batman as well as his background. He seems more raw as Michael Uslan and Lee Weeks provide a stellar story to hook readers out of the gate.
Mark Waid and Kevin Maguire continue as they take their version of Superman in a different direction that’s very reminiscent of current cultural trends with supers containing his power set. This Superman is more self-centered and conceited, however, spirals through some more Golden Age vibes that make Waid’s story one of the best in this extended issue. Nevertheless, following those same classic vibes, Stephanie Williams and Belen Ortega keep Wonder Woman mostly true to form with a few wrinkles that provide an almost similar feel to what we know and remember from the vintage Amazonian Princess.
However, to fans looking for something radically different, look no further than Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad’s Flash which this reviewer found wildly interesting as well as Shazam! by Kelly, Lanzing, and Ferreyra. Keep in mind, by radically different, I mean the characters themselves and not the elements surrounding what we know of the Flash and Shazam!. You’ll still get the “got to save my parents by traveling through time” vibes that always reverberate through any Flash comic as well as the magical sensations surrounding Shazam!.
Nonetheless, the most drastically different aspect of the character was Lanzing, Kelly, and Ferreyra’s take on Shazam! as this almost Hulk-inspired rendition of the character. Additionally, Cloonan and Conrad give the Flash story some of the most sentiment of any of the mini-narratives crammed into Tales From Earth-6: A Celebration of Stan Lee #1. Sure, it’s still a familiar story overall but the characteristic twists were a nice and unexpected touch, especially on the Shazam! story which is pretty wild and clever at the same time.
Kenny Porter and Karl Mostert spearhead the Green Lantern tale which was my least favorite of the bunch due to its wordy style and galactic concepts in such a small package. It wasn’t a bad story, however, it seemed to be too much and a bit too heavy to handle with the page count allotted. Nevertheless, as heavy as this story was, it still provided a different flavor than all the rest that may be other readers’ cup of tea.
Zac Thompson throws Aquaman at readers next with a mild twist that may entice a few hardcore Aquatic Ace fans. I personally found the supernatural matchup inviting as well as the fast-paced storytelling. Nevertheless, this may have also been one of my least favorite stories of the bunch due to its quick pacing and unbelievable plot threads. Moreover, the next story involving Catwoman by Meghan Fitzmartin and Anthony Marques ran pretty true to form furnishing fans with an almost identical characterization which may be why I felt this mini story to also fall a bit flat. Granted, it wasn’t bad by any stretch. It just wasn’t as inspiring as the rest of the bunch.
Next up was Steve Orlando and Max Dunbar bringing up the rear with a Sandman tale that contorts the premise of the character into almost a hero while also sliding in some more emotional notes as the story wraps. Nevertheless, background information would certainly be extremely helpful in order to sift through this story and character a bit better. And finally, Jerry Ordway concludes Tales From Earth-6: A Celebration of Stan Lee #1 with a rather pessimistic and flat tale involving the League that just doesn’t seem to jive but simply glows with its artistry.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, Tales From Earth-6: A Celebration of Stan Lee #1 is jam-packed with more entertaining stories than not, cluttered with some outstanding artists, legendary writers, and all for a pretty manageable price. Comic fans will definitely get more bang for their buck as the plethora of artists and writers pay tribute to the Godfather of comics… and at DC to boot. Sure, a few of the character renditions are a bit too weird. However, many were wildly fascinating and kept this reviewer quite interested from start to finish. I highly recommend giving Tales From Earth-6: A Celebration of Stan Lee #1 a fair shake, especially with some of that extra Christmas cash you got from your parents this holiday season. Let me know what you think, have a great week, and God Bless!