In case you have not heard, Stan Lee, the man who is responsible for every single cool thing in the Marvel Universe, passed away today at the age of 95.
During a portion of those 95 years, Stan Lee made my life better.
I would imagine he has made many people's lives better.
When I was a child, I spent much of my time reading comic books, watching horribly animated Captain America, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk and Thor cartoons and playing with Mego Action Figures of the heroes and villains Stan Lee had created. Those are by far the most evocative memories of my youth. Thank you Stan Lee.
When I was 8 my dad took me to a convenience store to meet Spider-Man. I still remember believing it really was the famous web-slinger and watching in awe as he signed my over sized comic book. Because my dad died a little over a year later, I don't have too many other vivid memories of things we did... but I have that. Thank you Stan Lee.
As I grew older I still read a few comic books and watched all the made for TV comic book movies (including Nick Fury starring David Hasslehoff... yes that exists). Although not as significant as my childhood memories, it was still fun during a time when I was quite depressed. Any fun was important. Thank you Stan Lee.
In college I passed many hours working at an empty shoe store in a completely dead mall by falling back in love with comic books. Thank you Stan Lee.
Now that I am a dad, my wife, kids and I have a tradition of seeing every Marvel movie on opening weekend. During the weeks leading up to their release, we watch trailers and talk about what we think might happen. Afterwards we dissect every detail. My family bonds over Marvel movies. Thank you Stan Lee.
Although I am getting a little choked up, all of this pales in comparison to what Stan Lee has done for so many others. In the 1960's, Stan Lee decided he had enough of the superficial nonsense that was being produced in comic books. He wanted to tell real stories... that happened to feature people with supernatural powers. So he brought us The Fantastic Four. This group had real problems and had real disagreements just like real people. They weren't perfect... they were real.
He also realized that real meant that heroes come in all shapes and sizes... just like people. Perhaps some heroes were women. Others were blind. Many were not white Europeans. At least one very powerful one used a wheel chair. A hero may be gay. He may be Autistic. Heroes might be rich or poor. They could be young or old. They could be you or me.
Stan Lee started something else in the 1960's that he continued throughout his career. He used his fame and his comic books as a platform to speak out for what is right. He did this by writing a column called "Stan's Soapbox" that he included in the back of Marvel comics.
Almost exactly 50 years ago, Stan Lee had the balls to print something that was not going to make him popular. But as any kindergarten teacher can tell you, what is popular is not always right.
In the December 1968 installment of "Stan's Soapbox", Stan Lee penned this message and signed it for all the world to see.
It seems that Stan Lee believed that "With great power comes great responsibility".
