Stan ‘The Man’ Lee, the creator of the basis for Marvel Comics, will be one of many insiders interviewed on the PBS three-part documentary series ‘Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle’ which debuts Tuesday night, October 15.

PBS has released a short snippet of Lee’s interview where he discusses good ol’ made up comic book science, copping to being “the least scientific person you’ll ever know,” and admits “If it sounds good, I’ll use it.”  He references a couple of his creations and how their origins may not exactly be accurate, but at least they sound scientific enough.

“I never had time for research,” he stated, “because there were too many books that had to be written and we always had those deadlines to worry about.”

But one area that he insisted on having some foundation in reality was in the area of flying.  Never one to miss an opportunity to take a jab at the Distinguished Competition, he has trouble with the fact that there’s really no explanation as to why or how Superman can fly.

He points out, “When Superman flies, he has no visible means of locomotion… Not us. At Marvel, we’re scientific!”

So which hero did he use for comparison?  Watch the video below to find out.

It’s ironic that he insisted on applying science to Thor, the mystical Thunder God, one of Marvel’s least scientific characters!

But nevertheless, as Lee explains, “He has this big hammer that he swings with a leather thong attached to his wrist… I had him swing it around fast as a propeller, then he lets go!  Now it’s attached to his wrist so that when the hammer goes shooting off into space, it takes him with it!”

I’m not sure I can agree with his assessment that this is “incontrovertible scientific fact” but like the man said, at least it “sounds good.”

‘Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle’ will air as three-one hour episodes back-to-back on what PBS is calling ‘Superheroes Night.’  The documentary is directed by Emmy Award-winning producer/director Michael Kantor and will be hosted by Liev Schreiber.  In addition to Lee, expect commentary from Adam West, Lynda Carter, Geoff Johns, Jeph Loeb, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon (‘The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay’) and cartoonist/author Jules Feiffer (the long-running strip “Feiffer”).  The special will also be broken up and rerun over the course of three weeks, but if you want to catch the entire thing at once, tune in on Tuesday.

Sources Blastr and PBS.com