Lectures on Tap - "The Origin of Marvel Comics: Creators and Controversies"

📍 Location: Exact address given in confirmation email

🧠 Lecture: "The Origin of Marvel Comics: Creators and Controversies"

🎤 Speaker: Dr. Keegan Lannon

Step into the secret origins of Marvel Comics and discover how a small 1960s publisher became the cool, countercultural home of superheroes. Dr. Keegan Lannon will trace Marvel’s rapid rise and unpack the complicated creative dynamics behind icons like Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men.

At the heart of this story is Stan Lee—Marvel’s flamboyant writer and editor-in-chief—whose public persona helped define the brand. But how much did Lee actually create, and how much credit did he claim from collaborators like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko? This lecture examines the thorny question of authorship, collaboration, and controversy in the early Marvel bullpen, revealing how the myths behind the creators shaped the heroes we know today.

Dr. Keegan Lannon teaches courses in comics in the English Department at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), bringing scholarly insight to the study of superheroes, visual storytelling, and popular culture.

Get a drink, connect, and learn at Lectures on Tap! 🙌

Agenda

6:30 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key.

6:55 PM – Host introduction

7:00 PM – Lecture begins

7:45 PM – Audience Q&A

8:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round

8:30 PM – Wrap up.