And he doesn’t look a day over 75. Seriously though, unless you’re a hermit who has been cut off from society (and if so, how do you know how to use the web?) you should know who Stan Lee is. Regardless of how you feel about the man personally, you can’t deny the world of comics and pop culture would not be the same without his contributions. Of course his frequent collaborators in the early Marvel days cannot be ignored, today is Stan’s day, so give him his due.
Now, we all know that Stan is an accomplished creator. The list of his characters is simply enormous. Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor, The Avengers, The X-Men, Ravage 2099… In fact, when you name iconic Marvel characters, one of the only ones he wasn’t directly involved with creating was Captain America. Still, Cap was Stan’s first big break, as his first Marvel work was a prose piece in Captain America Comics #3 back in the 40’s!
Stan through the years, courtesy of artist Marcos Martin
It wasn’t until the early 60’s however that Stan struck gold. When publisher Martin Goodman enlisted Stan to recreate the success of the Justice League of America, Stan was actually thinking of leaving the comics field altogether. When his wife convinced him to give the old college try, but to write the book his own way, Fantastic Four #1 hit stands and the rest is history. That’s all well and good, but I’d like to point out a few of Stan’s other big accomplishments. For instance, he’s the only non-superhero to get his own trading card in the Marvel Universe set.
Also, not since Elvis has anyone had such devotees as to impersonation him to such a degree! And never was a man so OK with a guy poking good-natured fun at him in such a way!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYmAbp7_bNs
Best of all though, Stan is quite the accomplished movie and TV actor. I can think of no better way to end this tribute to “The Man” than to showcase his various celluloid adventures. To see what antics the still very active Stan Lee is up to, check out his twitter. Until then, Excelsior!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYSvIAF_NrQ