Going through the order's first years it deosn't take much time till Stan Lee starts bragging, we're told to be ushering in the Marvel Age of Comics and the concurrency is referred off as brand echh, lately, on 1967 Not Brand Echh is launched. As a Spiderfan who is happily learning all about marvel I know almost absolutely nothing about DC Comics and other publishers, so I ask the people here:

What about DC and others in the 60's, was Marvel really being all that Stan and fan letters say? What would be the high points in the concurrency (sort of recommended reading) for the 60's?

I'd say it was about 2 parts posturing, 1 part truth. I've read a few DC titles from the time and I think they are just a bit more old school. More conservative, more jingoistic. I think they were a bit more beholden to the Comics Code. You'll see later on, however, that Stan starts to regret the whole "Brand Echhh" thing and starts to really downplay it in the Soap Box, which says to me that it was mostly braggadocio in the first place.

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Yea, while Stan was really good at making comics and coming up with ideas, I have always thought his real genius is in marketing. He is very good at getting the word out about his project and making it appear how he wants to.

You should listen to interviews with him, the man can spin a question in his favor like a ninja.

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Yeah, ok, Stan, Kirby, Ditko and co. came up with superheroes that didn't match the standards, the milestone being Spider Man, with all those real world problems, and a fearsome sense of guilt.

Sooner or later other publishers would see that Marvel was selling well. When and who came up with a hero full of good subplots?
It wouldn't last till the other decade, would it?

P.S.: Good hint Tsarnes, there are soem good inteviews to watch out there

I saw an interview a while back where Lee was actually talking about how he almost quit the industry in the '60s. His wife convinced him to keep with it.