A couple weeks late with this, but always better late than
never…
One thing I do have among my collections of random geeky
stuff is a collection of the Dark Phoenix comic storyline of X-Men, this one
from the late eighties. Off the bat it started with Stan Lee gushing over the
storyline within with the same sort of enthusiasm that he’d sell his latest
superhero tales back in the sixties with Marvel. This was one of the things
that separated Stan the Man from much more morose figures in the comics
industry like Alan Moore—that, if nothing else, he really knew how to sell
sheer enthusiasm to his work that paid off all so well to this day.
That’s why it feels such a shame that, at age 95, the man
has passed—many hoped he’d reach his centenary to cap it all off, but we can’t
have it all. Still, it does make you consider the sheer breadth of Marvel’s
legion of projects on screen and beyond under his tenure—and I’m not just talking
about the Cinematic Universe. Every generation since the sixties had something
to grow up with besides the comic, from the Spiderman cartoon with the song
lyrics we all know, to the X-Men show of the 90s with that stunningly kickass
theme score. There was lots of it, some of it relegated to the garbage of
cultural memory—like that unreleased early 90s Fantastic Four film, which
somehow still was better than Josh Trank’s abysmal effort a few years ago. And
just to think, this basically came from the drive of a guy from the Bronx.
There’ll always be debates about the exact extent to which
Lee was responsible for the creations we attribute to him—that’s part and
parcel of any comics scene. Even if he wasn’t the one who came up with every
detail and every pouch, it’s at least fair to say he got the ball rolling with
most of them. Ultimately, he also was the one to market them, as the editor of
Marvel’s heyday, and he was just as enthusiastic about the likes of Black
Panther as he was the Avengers. That the former, created by a pair of Jewish
guys from New York, became an iconic figure for African-Americans and
beyond—even before his movie debut—says it all for how far his influence got.
And then, years later, it culminated in the cultural
juggernaut that is the MCU. Even outside of the Disney empire, new iterations
of Spider-Man and X-Men were enthralling audiences. Sure, not everyone may
enjoy the glut of superhero film franchises, and not all of them have been
successful needless to say…but who else could say that characters they oversaw would
go so far that giant film studios would basically be fighting over them? For
those of us that like to create, or who appreciate creators, that’s something
to envy if there ever was.
Lee was basically retired at the point the first Iron Man
came about, but his cameos still became iconic unto themselves somehow. Even
before the MCU, he still cropped up in Singer’s X-Men and Raimi’s
Spider-Man—just like his catchphrase, his energized comic narrations, and even
the ‘Marvel Method’ of writer-artist collaboration, that was another trademark
that was another capstone in his life driving pop cultural titans.
I touch upon his screen influences as that’s the main theme
of this blog, but that’s not to sell all the decades of comics history Lee was
a part of. Along with his portfolio of spandex-wearing icons, Lee was always
the showman, and in whatever medium you’re in, that’s as important as any
creative quality.
It’s unfortunate that Lee had some rough times in his final
days, but millions saluting him gives him the last laugh against those who
tried to exploit him amid his personal troubles. I think nothing more needs to
be said, bar one thing—Excelsior.
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