Visual Effects Society honors Stan Lee – POW Entertainment and 1821 Comics announce 2 new comic projects

Visual Effects Society honors Stan Lee – POW Entertainment and 1821 Comics announce 2 new comic projects

Comic book publisher and entrepreneur Stan Lee has been selected by the VES Board of Directors as the recipient of the VES 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award. The award will be presented at the 10th Annual VES Awards, which will be held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on February 7, 2012.

The VES Lifetime Achievement Award honors individuals whose “lifetime body of work has made a significant and lasting contribution to the art and/or science of the visual effects industry by way of artistry, invention and/or groundbreaking work.” Stan Lee is known to millions as the man whose Super Heroes propelled Marvel Comics to its preeminent position in the comic book industry. His famous co-creations include Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Daredevil, The Avengers, Silver Surfer and Dr. Strange, among many others.

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. 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. Lee founded, and is currently Chief Creative Officer, of POW! Entertainment, where he continues to write and create new characters.

“Stan Lee’s imagination has created a completely original and profitable niche in the entertainment world and has allowed visual effects to flex its muscle in service to it!” said VES Chair Jeffrey A. Okun. “Thanks to Mr. Lee’s fantastic creations and amazing stories he not only created a future filled with gadgets and inventions that we aspire to create for real – but all while inspiring the minds and imaginations of storytellers, visual effects artists and computer wizards everywhere,” added Okun.

“As a writer there is nothing more rewarding than to see your creations brought to life on the screen and I am indebted to all of the incredibly talented artists who have contributed to my projects,” said Lee. “Visual effects have played a pivotal role in the ongoing success of Marvel’s characters and allowed fans to experience their stories in an entirely new way. It is truly a great honor to receive this award from the Visual Effects Society.”

Without question, Stan ‘the Man’ Lee has exerted more influence over the comic book industry than anyone in history. 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 comic books have been published in 75 countries and in 25 languages.

In 1981 Stan Lee transformed his Spider-Man 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.

In 2001, Stan founded POW! Entertainment, Inc., a multi-media entertainment company, where he is creating a myriad of new characters, stories and franchises for traditional and emerging media.

Previous recipients of the VES Lifetime Achievement Award are George Lucas, Robert Zemeckis, Dennis Muren, Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy & Frank Marshall, James Cameron and Ray Harryhausen.

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Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment and 1821 Comics Announce Two New
Projects at New York Comic Con Aimed at a New Generation of Fans

Los Angeles, October 17, 2011—This past weekend at New York Comic Con 2011, comic legend Stan Lee, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of POW! Entertainment (OTCQB: POWN), and POW!’s CEO Gill Champion unveiled two new projects with Paris Kasidokostas and Terry Dougas’ 1821 Comics: Stan Lee’s Kid Universe and Romeo and Juliet: The War.

As the name suggests, Stan Lee’s Kid Universe will engage a whole new audience. Stan Lee explains: “Kids have a great sense of humor if you can reach them the right way…while we want these to be reasonably educational and good for kids, our main purpose is to be entertaining.” The series also marks a bold venture into the children’s space, as Champion remarks: “With this series, POW! and 1821 will fill a void in the kid space, bringing the business full circle to a new generation of Stan Lee fans.”

Stan Lee’s Kid Universe, populated with characters like Reggie the Veggie Crocodile, will include several books; the first of which, entitled “Monsters vs. Kittens,” will be released in 2012.

POW! and 1821 intend to reach another type of audience with the debut of their new futuristic coffee table/graphic novel retelling of Romeo and Juliet, entitled Romeo and Juliet: The War, which was also announced this weekend.

The book, which takes place about 200 years in the future, aims to make new fans from a reimagining of the timeless story, as Stan Lee adds: “This is the graphic novel I’ve always dreamed of doing. Take one of the world’s greatest stories, known and loved throughout the globe, place it against the background of a future age…embellish it with the most powerful, dazzling illustrations ever seen and produce it in the largest, most impressive format of all.” The book has gained immense popularity already and has potential to branch into other mediums, as Dougas comments: “We are treating this book like a studio tentpole release, and judging from fan reaction today, this property has a tremendous amount of sequel potential beyond just books.”

Romeo and Juliet: The War will be released nationwide on November 30, 2011 and will be available in a hard cover collector’s edition as well as a softbound edition.

ABOUT POW! (PURVEYORS OF WONDER) ENTERTAINMENT, INC. POW! Entertainment,Inc. (OTCQB: POWN), a multi-media and entertainment company, was founded by noted comic book and entertainment figure Stan Lee, together with award-winning producer Gill Champion and intellectual property specialist Arthur Lieberman. POW!’s principals have extensive backgrounds in the entertainment industry encompassing the creation, production and licensing of original intellectual properties, including some of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time. POW! is capitalizing on this combined expertise, specializing in creating and developing both the legacy and digital media components of the entertainment industry. This includes animation and live-action feature films, plus television, DVDs, multi-media, merchandising and related ancillary markets, all of which contribute to global expansion. POW! partners with other individuals and entities of entertainment’s top echelon, including studios and networks in the creation, licensing and distribution of new POW! character franchises. www.powentertainment.com.

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About the Author

Born and raised in Dallas, Mark has been a movie critic since 1994, with reviews featured in print, radio and National TV. In 2001 he started the Entertainment section of the Herorealm website, where he contributed film reviews and celebrity interviews until 2004. After three years of service there, he started Bigfanboy.com, which has become one of the Dallas film community's leading information websites. Bigfanboy hosts several movie screenings in the Texas area, and works closely with film and TV studios and promotional partners to host exciting events and contests. The site also features a variety of rare celebrity and filmmaker interviews, and Bigfanboy.com regularly covers the film festival circuit as well. In addition to Hollywood reporting, Mark has worked for many years as an advertising and sci-fi/comic book artist. Clients have included Lucasfilm Ltd., Topps Trading Cards, The Dallas Mavericks and The Dallas Stars. From 2002 until 2015 he managed the Dallas Comic Con, Sci-Fi Expo and Fan Days events in the DFW area. He currently catalogs rare comic books and movie memorabilia for Heritage Auctions, and runs the Dallas Comic Show conventions, but remains an avid moviegoer and cinema buff.