Legendary comic-book writer and editor Stan Lee, the force behind famous comic-book characters such as Spider-Man and the X-Men, will visit Beijing next week to receive special status from the Chinese government. Mr. Lee and his Web animation company, Stan Lee Media, will be allowed to skip the red tape Beijing requires of most foreign businessmen.

It's the government's way of encouraging the development of China's entertainment industry by enticing Stan Lee Media to open an animation studio there. China already is boosting animated entertainment with studios under construction in Hong Kong and near Shanghai, according to Stan Lee Media president and CEO Kenneth Williams.

Mr. Williams says online animation in China won't be an instant success. But, he adds, even a small slice of China's large consumer market is big by U.S. standards. "It's small but growing," he says of China's demand for online animation. He adds it will develop through selective venues, based on the low penetration rate of personal computers. "There'll be many more opportunities at cyber-cafes or universities," Mr. Williams says.

BIG MONEY AT STAKE

The new privileges should help Stan Lee Media's global branding efforts -- and stock price. The Encino, California-based company's stock is languishing, a reflection of how hard it is for online entertainment companies to win investors' confidence.

Its stock reached a high of $31 a share early this year, before falling to around $10. The market is in a show-me mood with Stan Lee Media, and Mr. Lee knows online animation has to build an audience that will then buy products based on the animation. "Everything we'll do is a branded project," Mr. Lee says.

The expansion into China will emphasize creating online animation, but also will include producing traditional comic books, video CDs, interactive games, and TV programming, according to Stan Lee Media.

The company hopes special standing in China will draw attention to a string of overseas deals, and how they fit into a strategy for globally recognized brands online. The Web-based brands then can be licensed for films, TV shows, interactive games, comic books, theme parks, and merchandise, where the real money is.

GOOD NAME PAYS OFF

Mr. Lee, now 77, is visiting Beijing next week to be inducted as an honorary member in the Japan-China Digital Manga Association, an animation trade group -- the first Western artist to be so honored. Venture Soft, a Tokyo-based entertainment company that just invested $5 million in Stan Lee Media, introduced Mr. Lee to the Digital Manga Association.

Mr. Lee also will address the First Congress of Anime and Manga Creators, held by the People's Daily, a Chinese government newspaper. The events will lead to a waiver allowing Stan Lee Media to do business in China without licensing hassles, a rarity for foreign businesses, though the company will still have to meet censorship standards.

"Stan will have an 'exalted creator' status from the Chinese government. It means he, and through him our company, will not need further government licensing to do business for comic books and animation," says Peter Paul, Stan Lee Media's cofounder.

The waiver comes as the company presses ahead with taking online animation abroad. Venture Soft is helping develop Webisodes for Japanese and South Korean markets. Stan Lee Media has a similar deal with Fox Kids Latin America.

BRAND NEW BAGS

Mr. Lee says he has had such animation projects in mind since the late 1990s, when his former employer, comic-book publisher Marvel Entertainment Group, went bankrupt. That killed a lifetime contract, freeing Mr. Lee to form his Web company.

While decades of service to Marvel never provided Mr. Lee with royalties for his creations, the Web will allow him to leverage his reputation. He says of his trip to China, "I'm sure by the time we leave, we'll have struck a number of deals."

But expanding overseas won't be enough, Mr. Lee adds. His company, which creates its own content, also is stressing deals to leverage existing entertainment brands, such as the Backstreet Boys. Stan Lee Media is turning the boy band into animated online superheroes, and Burger King is putting up $15 million to boost the Web series. It's the priciest promotion yet for any form of online entertainment.

Stan Lee Media also is working on acquiring rights to Conan the Barbarian from its creator's estate, and is developing an animated version of the Cops TV show.

Stan Lee Media's obsession with strong brands is also apparent in its overseas plans. In Asia, the company is latching onto the Venture Soft brand, which dominates Japan's big animation market. According to Jonathan Rodgers, an adviser to Venture Soft's president, "The worldwide animation industry is enormous, about $150 billion a year, and 65 percent of it has some connection to Japan."

Stan Lee Media also is using Venture Soft to find talent, such as Reiji Matsumoto. He is to Japanese animation what Mr. Lee was to the U.S. comic-book industry. Mr. Matsumoto will work with Stan Lee Media on Star Ship, an animated Web series based on a concept of the late Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Stan Lee Media aims to spin it off into a movie and a TV series.

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