This was the Stan Lee I was more or less introduced to in my teen years. He was one of the first comic professionals whose name I remembered. With his porn star moustache and sunglasses, he always seemed to be surrounded by Marvel Comics no matter where he had his picture taken. Over the years, Stan Lee has become one of the most controversial characters in the world of comics. But I fall on neither side of that fence. From where I sit, Stan Lee was an amazing comic professional who turned himself into the ultimate comic hype man. Like a Coney Island barker, Stan “the Man” Lee could be found talking comics, showing off comics, explaining comics to the world. But he did it with jaw-dropping energy, a style that came off as just plain smooth, and those wonderful catch phrases! No one in the Marvel Bullpen could escape without some verb form added to their name. And certainly, the images of him in the Bullpen made us all dream of getting a job in that grainy black and white world of the photos. Because as those photos seemed to show, this was a man just having fun. The truth is (of course) that the photos hid the brutal truth that the world of comics (like anywhere else) had jobs that needed to be done and co-workers that had to be tolerated. But that was the wonder of Stan Lee. In not one of those pictures did I look and wonder how much Stan was paying or what benefits he would be offering or if he had a temper. All those pictures showed me was that this was somewhere I wanted to be a part of.
The beauty of Stan Lee is that he helped keep the world of comics moving forward. Hiring, firing, re-hiring, pointing creative people in directions that would not only give us the Marvel Universe and a few alternate comic company universes but give us a infinity of moments that comic fans will debate over forever. And for that, I salute you, sir. You will be missed. STAN LEE 1922 – 2018.
