I absolutely hate writing these, and for quite some time I have avoided these, and a lot of writing this year for various reasons.
But when I saw the news today that Stan Lee had passed away at the age of 95, well, it's time to dust off the keyboard and get back to my favorite job:
Writing.
I owe that passion for writing to Stanley Martin Lieber, better known to us all as Stan Lee.
I was first introduced to Stan Lee as the creator of Spider-Man with Amazing Fantasy # 15.
While I wasn't lucky enough to be around when it premiered, through countless reprints, I learned of Spider-Man's origins from the nerdy Peter Parker to the hero with problems, the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
What made Peter Parker or the Fantastic Four so special?
Lee brought the humanity to his characters, the kind of which you never really saw in the Distinguished Competition. Batman, Superman and the like seemed to perfect in what they did. There wasn't second guessing, joking because they were scared or any of those things. They were godlike, or at the very least, nearly perfect in the way their lives unfolded.
At Marvel, they were humans that were often thrust to do heroic things, even if it terrified them as they were doing it. It was refreshing, it was new... And now it's the model of how it's done.
Through the decades, fans have debated which was better, DC or Marvel. My answer has always been Marvel.
Stan imbued his characters with the best traits that we often aspire to be.
At the end of the day, it wasn't the costume, it was the person that wore the costume that truly mattered.
You take Peter Parker or Steve Rogers or Tony Stark or countless others out of their costume, and they are still as heroic and noble and yes, flawed, as when they are in it.
The man who brought "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility" to life on the comic page for a teenaged hero-to-be spoke to us all. We all have that power within us, we must use that power responsibly.
It is through our actions that we make the world a better place, and Stan gave us a great role model for kids of many generations with Peter Parker.
For those that didn't take the nerd/geek path and follow comic books when they were growing up, well....
Welcome to the 21st Century and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 20 films, and just about as many cameos later, the non-comic book reading world finally got to see what the rest of us already knew:
Marvel Comics are phenomenal!
I get goosebumps and misty eyes when the Marvel Studios banner unfurls... never did I expect to see these films in my lifetime, let alone that they would be so good.
That Stan got to be there when it all gelled into the perfect storm had to be icing on the cake for the man that had a celebrated career, one that will live on because of those very characters that he created/helped create nearly a half century ago.
Stan may have been embarrassed early in his career by what he was doing, and he was never able to be the great American novelist or anything, but I think he had one helluva career.
And if I'm asked who my favorite American author is, it's always Stan Lee, without hesitation.
Go read Amazing Fantasy # 15 again if you don't believe me.
Thank you for shaping my childhood, raising me into adulthood, and letting me share your creations with my children as you shaped yet another generation.
God Speed Stan Lee, you are now, and always will be, THE MAN!
Excelsior!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment