Backstreeters fight crime for superhero Lee

By Paul Bond

Teen heartthrobs Backstreet Boys are tweaking their image in an effort to broaden their appeal by attracting more young males to their fan base.

In a deal with Stan Lee Media, the world's most popular pop band will become comic book and animated superheroes, a sort of musical X-Men.

"We're partnering the best-of-breed in music with the greatest storyteller in the youth market," said Peter Paul, who co-founded Stan Lee Media with Lee, the comic book legend responsible for Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk.

The partnership will give Backstreet Boys a minority equity stake in Stan Lee Media, a publicly traded company whose shares have risen 40-fold in the past year. Financial details weren't revealed, except that Backstreet Boys will get options representing up to about 3% of Stan Lee Media.

Lee said that band member Nick Carter approached him late last year with the idea of a partnership. Carter had been developing the Backstreet Boys comic-book concept for three years. "Then Stan added his magic to it, and the result is phenomenal," Paul said.

"A comic book is something I've always wanted to do, and we've finally made it happen," Carter said.

"We hit it off as if we've been friends all of our lives," Lee said of Carter. "He's got a great sense of story."

Lee and Carter quickly created a 25-page, collector's edition comic book to be printed on premium paper stock and sold at Backstreet Boys' concerts starting in Atlanta on Feb. 19.

"I was spurred on at breakneck speed by working with my favorite band," Lee said.

After that it's off to the Internet. Animated Webisodes will bow Feb. 29 when Stan Lee Media launches its StanLee.Net Web site. The company also said it's in talks to bring the Backstreet Boys superhero franchise to television.

Stan Lee Media and Backstreet Boys will share ownership of the comic franchise and split revenue generated from it, Paul said.

Backstreet Boys' latest album "Millennium" has sold 30 million copies worldwide. Concerts featuring the five young men are usually sellouts, with female audience members dominating.

But, said Lee, the band's alter-ego superhero characters he helped create are intended to appeal to males. "Just by the nature of the stories, boys will like it," Lee said.