Kapow! Comics genius Stan Lee is back

Brit billionaire Richard Branson in business with Stan Lee? That's the plan, as the 85-year-old co-creator of Spider-Man, Daredevil and the Fantastic Four joins Virgin Comics. The deal gets announced this weekend at New York Comic Con. Greg Boucher has the great (for comics lovers, anyway) news:

The new venture will have Lee as the editor overseeing a line of superhero comics that will launch next year with a tentpole title he is writing himself. That project -- the title of which remains under wraps -- will center on a superhero team that sounds similar to his classic work on the Avengers at Marvel. (Lee ended his exclusive relationship with Marvel in the 1990s but still has ties to the company and even has cameo roles in the upcoming Marvel films "Iron Man" and "The Incredible Hulk.")

"It will be a team of 10 heroes and they will be dealing with personality conflicts, personal problems and chemistry within the team," Lee said in an interview this week. "I'm going to get started working on it right away and I'm very excited about doing something that will be fresh and breaking new ground. I can't give away the details or the names yet, but I have some exciting things in mind."

Branson's already got quite the stable of writers, including high-profile (and unexpected) names like filmmakers Guy Ritchie, Terry Gilliam and John Woo, actor Nicolas Cage and musician Dave Stewart. Check out Greg's full story here.

--Veronique de Turenne

Illustration: Mukesh Singh / Virgin Comics