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Stan Lee died yesterday at age 95. I bet we’re all upset. To start this off I’m going to say what an excellent creator Stan Lee was. He created multiple fan favorite comics and just was a really nice guy.
I remember when we were getting our picture taken with him, when we were done, he told me “Now go get the bad guys!”.
I got to meet him a few times and I was super close to interviewing him, but he had to cancel at the last minute because he was so exhausted. I’m still upset about that.
He was a truly ingenious creator. Spider-Man, Hulk, X-Men, even the Fantastic Four. We not only pay tribute to him on this sad day, but we also pay tribute to his characters, as we will forever.
Stan Lee R.I.P. 1922-2018
Here’s what my questions for Stan were going to be:
Intro:If you’re on my site and don’t know who this is, you’re crazy! True believers, I’m here with the one and only Stan Lee! Mr. Lee, I’d like to ask you a few questions.
• This is the oldest comic book I have that you worked on. It’s Mighty Mouse #1 from 1946. What was it like to work on comic books back then?
• I met your brother Larry last year and he told me that you created the characters he wrote about and you would give him a synopsis for what to write. How did you think of so many characters?
• What character did you have the most fun creating?
• You and Jack Kirby created Fantastic Four and I read that that saved Marvel. How did you come up with the idea for the Fantastic Four and do you think that one book saved Marvel?
• You’re known for a lot of catch phrases, like calling fans “True Believers” and saying things like “Excelsior!” and “Nuff Said!” How did you start thinking of all these catch phrases?
I’m sorry I never got to ask him these. We will all miss him.
Dan Matloff
November 13, 2018Hey Carl – I’m sorry that you didn’t get a chance to interview Mr. Lee. Keep up the great work with our service members. Best, Dan
Ole M. Olsen
November 14, 2018Dear Carl,
Since I read the sad news that Stan Lee had died, I’ve been hoping that you would write about him here – on my favourite comics blog. I’m happy for you that you got to meet him. Since I live so far away, I didn’t get the chance to meet him and tell him how much his work has meant to me. I do have an issue of Silver Surfer (#18) signed by Stan and cover artist Herb Trimpe proudly hanging on my wall. It’s sad to know that both of them are now gone.
I first became aware of Stan Lee when I was about your age. Since I’ve always been fascinated by comics and superheroes, Stan Lee’s work at Marvel in the 1960s has been like “classic literature” to me. His belief that superheroes didn’t have to (and shouldn’t) be “perfect”, but rather ordinary people who happened to gain superpowers and try to do the best they could with their powers and their lives, was a stroke of genius. The comics he made with other comics giants like Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Romita and John Buscema (among others) still surpasses most of what’s been made since, in my opinion. It has given so much joy and so much comfort to so many people over the years – including me.
Sure, Stan didn’t do everything by himself, and his creative partners – who were often the ones who actually came up with the stories – deserve all the credit they can get. But so does Stan! All those words on the page are his, he was the “face” of Marvel, and everything would surely have been very different if it wasn’t for him.
It’s been a tough year, hasn’t it? We’ve lost both Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in the same year. But like the heroes they created, they will live on forever through us.
Thank you, Carl!