Kurtzman turned down a number of well-paying opportunities in the 1970s. In early 1972, Stan Lee offered Kurtzman a senior position at Marvel Comics, and proposed another "Mad"-like magazine; Kurtzman turned these opportunities down, as he felt unprepared to return to the comic book industry after being out of it for so long since leaving EC. Marvel launched "Crazy Magazine" without him in 1973. Michael C. Gross asked him to contribute to "National Lampoon" around this time. The magazine's staff revered Kurtzman and had published a parody of "Mad" in 1971 that included "Citizen Gaines", a piece critical of Gaines' handling of "Mad" and treatment of Kurtzman. Kurtzman turned the offer down, as he felt out of step with the younger cartoonists' approach. He turned down an offer from René Goscinny in 1973 to act as the US agent for the French comics magazine" Pilote".