In a grave affront to basic intelligence, Mindset (a.k.a. Phil, my friend Kathryn’s brother, and the Official Reality TV Star of HappyScrappy.com) was canned this week from SciFi Channel’s “Who Wants to be a Superhero?” The contestants on the show had been captured by a villain called Bee Sting, who, in a move that would make Dr. Evil cringe, challenged them to a spelling bee — except all words must be spelled with an extra e (bee-serker, say). Mindset doesn’t play along, and spells his word correctly.

As an editor, I consider that admirable dedication to our language. But it also made sense for the show: Its challenges are often distractions from more noble pursuits, like when the contestants are told to fix their car but instead are rewarded for helping a nearby old lady pick up her groceries, so this spelling bee should have also been more than it appeared. As Phil says during his exit interview, he figured it was more heroic for a captured hero to stick by what’s right, rather than kowtow to a captor’s wacky demands. But Stan Lee doesn’t see it that way, and kicked off Phil for being prideful.

It’s especially curious because Stan, of all people, should know the power of words. The man’s fortune has come from (or at least, was initiated in) the publishing industry. Come on, man. One letter means big changes in words. It makes Fantastic Four into fantastic flour. The X-Men are disposed-of boyfriends. Marvel is an ice cream company. Tell us, Stan: If you were kidnapped by Potato Man and forced to cater to his spelling whims, would this have been your largest claim to fame?:

I think not. Mindset, you’re an inspiration to us all.