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Okay, thanks for the background.
It's not spam if it's from a source to which you subscribe as part of your investment decision. It's also a worthy cause. I am quite pleased to see them active on this topic and think it can only bring them good PR, which is good for us investors too.
What is wrong with good publicity?
Does anyone know if stanlee1979 is also brooklynzoo who posts on yahoo finance? He just went ga ga today on the POWN and MVL message boards over there, dumping on Stan and POWN and calling Marvel his new love.
Wow . . .
Quite a roller coaster rider . . .
Stan Lee has published a new blog post on MySpace.
Click the link below to read the post:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=127084574&blogID=422635231
Stan Lee in NY Times story.
This is long so I hope it fits. From today's NY Times. Brief mention of Stan, but the story itself is quite moving.
August 9, 2008
Comic-Book Idols Rally to Aid a Holocaust Artist
By GEORGE GENE GUSTINES
As all-star comic-book team-ups go, this one beats the first meeting of Superman and Spider-Man. Three of the elder statesmen of comic books — Neal Adams, Joe Kubert and Stan Lee — have joined forces to combat what they see as a real-world injustice.
The men are lending their talents to tell the tale of Dina Gottliebova Babbitt, who survived two years at the Auschwitz concentration camp by painting watercolor portraits for the infamous Nazi Dr. Josef Mengele. Some of the artwork also survived, but it is in the possession of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Poland. Now 85 and living in California, Mrs. Babbitt wants the artwork back, but the museum has steadfastly refused to return it.
“I’m at a total loss,” Mrs. Babbitt wrote in an e-mail message. “I feel just as helpless as I did when I was at camp. Totally disempowered.”
Now Mrs. Babbitt’s story has been captured in a six-page comic-book story illustrated by Mr. Adams, who helped take Batman back to his dark roots after the ’60s television show made him seem campy; inked partly by Mr. Kubert, whose comics career stretches back to the 1940s and who has drawn everyone from Hawkman to Sergeant Rock; and featuring an introduction by Mr. Lee, a co-creator of the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and many other Marvel heroes.
The text was written by Rafael Medoff, director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, which has championed Mrs. Babbitt’s cause. Mr. Medoff and Mr. Adams have offered the story to DC Comics and Marvel Entertainment in the hopes of getting it published, but no deal is yet in place.
The men first joined forces in 2006, when 450 cartoonists, artists and comic-book creators signed a petition asking the museum to return the art. “Rafael was in my studio and talking about this project, and the signatures, and what could be done,” said Mr. Adams, 67.
Mr. Adams read Mr. Medoff’s summary but thought it was something more. “It told a story with economy and sincerity,” he said. “I realized this was a perfect script for a six-page story.” Choosing the artist was relatively easy. “I couldn’t think of anyone better or crazy enough to do it,” he explained. “So I decided to draw it.”
The story, mainly in black and white but using splashes of color whenever Mrs. Babbitt’s work is shown, moves quickly from her childhood — when she drew Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck on paper sacks — to her arrival, with her mother, Johanna, at Auschwitz in September 1943, when she was about 20.
It depicts the colorful mural that Mrs. Babbitt painted in the children’s barracks there. She started with Walt Disney’s version of Snow White, but her audience clamored for the Seven Dwarfs as well, and some farm animals. The original mural is believed to have been destroyed, and the story uses a re-creation Mrs. Babbitt painted last year.
Mrs. Babbitt recently returned to her home in Felton, Calif., where she is recovering from surgery for abdominal cancer. “I think I could have done the dwarfs a lot better then because I was young and can’t paint as I used to,” she wrote by e-mail. “These were the only times that I was comfortable at camp, with my painting, you know. I felt human when I was painting.”
By February 1944, Mrs. Babbitt had come to the attention of Mengele, who was dissatisfied with the photographs he had taken of the Gypsy, or Romany, prisoners in his effort to prove their genetic inferiority. He asked Mrs. Babbitt to paint their portraits to capture their skin tones better. She agreed, but only after insisting that her mother be spared from death. (The story reproduces five of the portraits.)
The final two pages move from the liberation by Allied troops in 1945 to her life in the United States, where she worked for 17 years as an assistant animator for many Hollywood studios, including MGM and Warner Brothers, working on the likes of Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzalez.
Auschwitz museum officials, in a statement issued in 2001, indicated that they had bought six of Mrs. Babbitt’s watercolors in 1963 from an Auschwitz survivor and acquired a seventh in 1977. In 1973 the museum asked her to verify her work but did not offer to return the items. The museum has argued that the artwork is important evidence of the Nazi genocide and part of the cultural heritage of the world. (The museum did not respond to telephone calls and an e-mail message requesting comment.)
Others have come to Mrs. Babbitt’s defense, including Representative Shelley Berkley, Democrat of Nevada. In 2002 she sponsored a resolution in the House of Representatives urging State Department involvement. In 2006 she also pleaded the artist’s case before Congress.
Nevertheless, Mr. Medoff, 48, said Mrs. Babbitt’s story was especially resonant in the world of comic books. “Comic-book artists waged a long struggle, led by Neal Adams, for the right to have their original art returned,” he said. He was referring to comic-book companies’ standard practice of not giving artists back their work after publication, a trend that lasted into the 1970s.
But Mr. Adams played down any similarities between his struggle and Mrs. Babbitt’s, calling her situation “tragic” and “an atrocity.” He said he approached the six pages as if they were a documentary, avoiding the melodrama of, say, a superhero comic.
“You’re not looking at me trying to make a big play for emotion,” he said. “When you read the whole way through and realize what has happened to this person, you can’t help but feel horrified and perhaps sickened by this nuttiness.”
Mr. Adams recalled the time he was 10 and living in Germany, where his father was stationed with the United States Army. At school, his fellow students were shown footage of the concentration camps. “It was too much for me,” he said. “It was staggering and awful. I couldn’t believe human beings could treat other human beings like that.”
One of the more horrific panels in the comic, which has the working title “The Last Outrage,” depicts a forced march of the prisoners out of the camp as Soviet troops approached. Many died on the journey to the Ravensbrück camp, which Allied troops liberated in 1945. The image was penciled by Mr. Adams and inked by Mr. Kubert, 81.
“Neal asked me to do some of it, and I was more than pleased to work on it,” Mr. Kubert said.
Mrs. Babbitt’s story is similar to that of Mr. Kubert’s 2003 graphic novel, “Yossel: April 19, 1943,” which imagines what life would have been like if the Kubert family had not left Poland in 1926. In the book Yossel (Mr. Kubert’s alter ego), and his family face life in the Warsaw ghetto. Yossel, a gifted artist, earns special treatment from the Germans.
The graphic novel was critically acclaimed, but Mr. Kubert says it doesn’t compare to Mrs. Babbitt’s real-life ordeal. “Her ability to paint and draw literally saved her life and her mother’s life,” he said. “Absolutely incredible.”
Mr. Medoff said he hoped that people would read the comic and agree. “There’s a certain amount of ongoing pressure, but it’s been so far not efficient to make the authorities bow,” he said. “This comic strip will open a whole new battlefront.”
Wow, now there's a thought. Imagine Stan's creations being worked into Tokyo Disneyworld attractions . . . with all those manga/anime customers going there every day.
Maybe they could broadcast Time Jumper to show up on all the cell phones inside the park when they are turned on . . .
Wow . . .
Soooooo . . . everyone went to the beach today . . . ?
This is interesting. It almost looks like Disney has made a strategic decision to get into the edgier and grittier superhero genre of entertainment that they had avoided to date. Maybe the success of the recent Marvel and DC movies, Hancock, Heroes, Tolkein, etc. etc. has finally opened their eyes to what the older teen/young adult male audience really is buying.
This could be very very good news for POWN, since it straddles these younger and older teen male audiences.
Between 50K and 75K . . . for now . . .
sold some and made a nice sum too.
Wolverine and Stan Lee at ComicCon.
See http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/movies...
Photo of Hugh and Stan included.
I cannot get to MVL yahoo message board to post the message below. Can someone else try for me? Thx.
"You asked for the POWN news for today; here it is. More details on Stan Lee/POWN deal with Disney - 3 movies and a new story line for multiple media.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080725/20080725005146.html?.v=1
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117989450.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
Also the Financial Times at http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b2b2cca0-59c7-11dd-90f8-000077b07658,dwp_uuid=e8477cc4-c820-11db-b0dc-000b5df10621.html?nclick_check=1
And CNBC at http://www.cnbc.com/id/25841413/for/cnbc/
Also a new deal with Perry Moore at http://prismcomics.org/display.php?id=1598
Remember, you did ask . . ."
So you are only about the 500th person to make that comment. Yes, Stan is 86. Have you seen him recently? He doesn't look 86, and he doesn't sound 86. So get on board and make some money for a few years.
If his age scares you, don't buy the stock. But don't display your 'agist' prejudice to the whole world.
You probably think old people smell too. Well, they do.
And when they smell, they use their noses, just like you and I do.
LOL
Oh I am so liking the look of POWN today in the market!
The web site - http://www.comic-con.org/ - says it ends Sunday July 27 at 5PM, but some fan groups may linger on until Monday doing informal fan stuff.
The recent spate of Marvel movies creates a reverse effect too; when people go to a Marvel movie, they often think of Stan Lee. Then maybe they will look into what Stan is doing and creating these days.
So Marvel helps Stan get noticed, as Stan helps Marvel get noticed. It's a two-way street that indirectly helps POWN too.
But I agree that POWN will not take off until it has its own characters separate from Marvel.
The stanleeweb site is about 3 years old; I do not think it has been updated since then, given the way they said Iron Man movie should be released "sometime in 2006". I do not know if it had Stan's authorization or not, or if it still does.
I also do not know of the Bruce Willis deal is still active.
Does anyone else know?
Wow . . .wow . . .wow!
National exposure on network evening news! Mentioned future movies! ABC also owned by Disney!
Your post just made my day!
Patience is a virtue folks. we've all been waiting, and I think Monday I just might be carefully watching the market from 9:30 on . . .
Now I'm psyched!
Excelsior, true believers!
You are correct! Stan is not listed as a writer either.
http://milehighcomics.com/cgi-bin/backissue.cgi?action=bibliography&issue=51936260260%2018
It could be based on a 1990 comic called "Guardians of the Galaxy" which included some of Stan's co-creations (Cap, Hulk, Thing) in issue #1 according to the attached synopsis from Mile High Comics, but Jim Valentino is listed as the comic author, so why isn't he on the movie credits instead of Stan? No idea.
http://milehighcomics.com/cgi-bin/backissue.cgi?action=bibliography&issue=37981649610%201
Oh, okay. I stand corrected.
Maybe if all the POWN principals are involved, then that is why they have been distracted recently.
SLM lawsuit has kept Stan busy.
Today Motley Fool posted a long article about the lawsuit with Stan Lee Media (SLM), the old company that went bankrupt before POWN. This is the issue that Barron's recently wrote about too. Go to http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2008/07/07/is-marvel-a-villain.aspx
It mentions that Stan has sued the current owner of SLM James Nesfield, who is trying to argue that he is the owner of the Marvel characters Stan created.
Anyway, it is all convoluted and typical lawyerese, but in the long run I see no reason for it to affect POWN as a company, and it should just tie up some of Stan's time with legal crap.
But in the long run, the issues here are already settled, I believe. Marvel seems to have clear title to the characters, but Stan has t right to refer to them and his role in creating them.
Hi jacktrades
I just read your 6/6 msg (just noticed the feature). Thanks but I would rather stay low key. But I do appreciate all you are doing.
Best.
tblz
Today's trading tells me there is lots of latent demand right below the recently stable price of 8 cents per share. I find that encouraging because it means numerous investors are carefully watching and stocking up when the price does slip.
I haven't listened to the CC yet but I'll get back to you when I do.
But I am also heartened by the multiple connections that I see emerging to POWN and Stan Lee these days, as well as the renewed interest in superheroes that Iron Man and Hulk movies generated. I am also picking up a few 1950s-60s Lee/Kirby/Ditko mags at my friendly neighborhood comic stores.
Looks like Stan Lee is getting publicity, but no the kind he or POWN want. See http://seekingalpha.com/article/83115-marvel-s-in-for-a-hulk-of-a-lawsuit-barron-s?source=yahoo
Apparently the new owner of Stan Lee Media, who used to be a hot dog investigator for NY Attorney General (and disgraced ex-Governor) Eliot Spitzer, bought the rights to the bankrupt company after Peter Paul, who helped Stan run it, ran into multiple legal and financial difficulties, fled to Cuba, and was returned to the US to face charges. He thinks the old company, which went bankrupt in 2001, may still have some claim to Stan Lee's creations at Marvel.
This is one for the lawyers to fight over for years. There is enough confusion over the multiple bankruptcies and IP ownership claims stemming from the Stan Lee Media and Marvel relationship - and Stan's own role in it - in the late 1990s that lawyers smell blood.
Unfortunately, it also diverts attention away from the current Stan Lee creations and POWN. But hey, some publicity may be better than none. Maybe some folks will start sniffing around POWn and like what they smell, like we do . . .
This is old news. Peter Paul is a convicted, admitted wrong-doer who - along with Stephen Gordon - screwed Stan and the investors during the Stan Lee Media company fiasco in 2000-2001. He is just trying to generate publicity by dragging in the Clintons along with Stan. The story is told on pp. 247-258 of "Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book" by Jordan Raphael and Tom Spurgeon (2003, Chicago Review Press, at amazon.com)
Paul might as well sue his own mom for the fact that he was born.
I do not think this news will affect anyone's opinion of POWN, but it will affect their opinion of Paul.
Believe it or not, I actually qualified for the Jeopardy contestant list this year! Took the on-line test in January and went to my region's audition 2 months ago. Chances are probably 1 in 50 I'll be called but I'm eligible for the next 18 months!
"I'll take "Stan Lee" for 1200, Alex."
"Oh wow, a "Daily Double'!" I'll bet it all!
"What is Stan Lee's current company stock symbol?"
"POWN!"
"Correct!"
Have you seen MXC on Spike or Ninja Warrior on G4? If you're in the right mood they can be hilarious!
That's a really intriguing analysis, thanks! And Virgin may also be willing to consider buying POWN if their media branch is doing well and/or needs more original content.
BTW has anyone heard about a possible 3rd season for "Who wants to be a superhero" or is that dead now? If you watched "I survived a Japanese game show" on ABC last night, you immediately saw the similarities - 10 contestants competing for a big prize with 1 being 'voted out' each episode. They even all slept in the same room in 10 identical beds like in "Superhero" and did outlandish stunts in weird costumes on a real Japanese game show. Maybe it's the same production company.
Hmm . . .this has been an interesting chain here. Let's think about this.
By setting up deals with multiple distributors of Stan's creativity, POWN is spreading itself around quite widely. If another company (i.e., bigger than POWN and having the ability to create the products from Stan's ideas like books and movies) wanted to establish an exclusive deal to be the sole conveyor of Stan's ideas, it would be quite hard to do now since there are so many POWN deals already made.
So this means either that the price to become the sole channel for Stan's creativity would be quite high (good!), or it would be too difficult to do at this point so no one would try . . . unless they were as big as Disney and had the clout and funding to wrap it all up in one big deal.
Hmmm . . .
I wondered if Kingdom comics was set up partly to publish Stan's ideas, even if others re-work and polish them before they are published.
To see the Today show video go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032633/# and scroll along the videos (on right of screen) until you see Stan's smiling face.
Excelsior!
Wow, that's an extremely thoughtful reply. I have to agree with your reasoning. I too agree that Asia is a fertile ground for future fans of POWN.
The good point is that the success of The 99 proves there is a latent market for this sort of entertainment in the Islamic World too.
Islamic comics: The 99
Check out http://www.the99.org/. An American-educated Kuwaiti has founded a comic series based on the Koran's 99 attributes of God, each of which is embedded in a superhero in 99 different countries. There's also a Washington Post article about him today at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/10/AR2008061002762.html?wpisrc=newsletter.
Now, how can POWN develop this market further . . . that's a market with 1 billion consumers, BTW
I must admit I've been doing some nibbling myself . . .
The manga and Virgin connections excite me the most right now as they are major entrees into two huge and relatively untapped markets for Stan's ideas: Japan and India. When you combine that with continued popularity in the US, there is a lot to look forward to! Now there are at least 3 major markets which could jump start POWN.
Sorry but I do not see what is confusing in my attitude. Nor do I think I lack sympathy for how others think about POWN. We simply have different expectations from POWN as it exists today. I do not expect a pink sheet with 5 employees to be as open in their PR or as communicative as most other public companies are.
I am happy to stop discussing this topic. I think we have both made our respective positions clear.
I first bought last year, then more over the past 6 months. Sold 40% of them to recoup all my costs recently so now what I have left are 'free'.
Yes it is a public company but it is a pink sheet company with, what, 5 employees? You cannot reasonably expect them to focus on PR to the same extent as a Pfizer or Microsoft can do. It's a pink sheet for a reason. If they had the resources to engage in more PR they would probably no longer be a pink sheet.
You say you have held for more than 2 years, yet you still lament their silence. How much longer are you willing to torture yourself on this topic? Seriously, have you considered just selling and moving on? Or putting in a sell order to break even? No disrespect intended, but it is a pink sheet; notoriously volatile and not as mature by definition as a NASDAQ company. I just do not understand how you can keep complaining over a decision you can change at any time for more than 2 years.
Howdy jack -
Had a wonderful weekend; have really enjoyed watching spring turn into summer this year - it has been beautiful in the Northeast.
I am thinking that no news is good news these days. There has been a real flurry of announcements the past few months. So let POWN digest the results of these new deals and plan for how to turn them into revenue and profits in the future.
Sometimes I wonder if we worry too much and bombard the few POWN employees with our concerns too often. Maybe we should just kick back and let them focus on what they are doing to grow POWN by making deals with other companies and generating more content.
Good luck to all. I remain a definite optimist about this company and Stan.
Excelsior!
Does anyone know if Oren Aviv of Disney/Buena Vista - mentioned at the end of the referenced post - is the son of Avi Aviv, who was one of the key Marvel exec's in the 1990s. He came in to the company with the current owner Ike Perlmutter and then became the L.A. liaison to the film industry for X-Men, Spider-man, Daredevil etc. until recently.
Well, given the lack of specific reference to POWN in the press release, I suppose either interpretation is feasible. Is the glass half-empty or half-full? Only time will tell.
But there is a marketing advantage to Disney (or another big media outfit) buying POWN, as they can claim they are "perpetuating the legacy of Stan Lee". That in itself could be as valuable as the cost of buying POWN in the long run.