Stan Lee has become a household name, and this week, we said goodbye to one of our biggest heroes in the comic book industry.
I’m sure there aren’t many people who haven’t, at least in some way, been influenced by Lee’s work. Whether it was flipping through thin pages of a comic book you didn’t know would be worth a lot of money some day, watching Saturday morning cartoons as a kid (and as an adult for nostalgia purposes), or enjoying the latest and best movies to hit the big screen, a lot of our fondest characters growing up were created by Marvel.
Spider-Man began airing on TV in the 1960s. That means your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man has been defeating villains and living his double life on TV for at least three generations.
It was my grandmother that introduced me to the X-Men, and it was probably my uncle who introduced her to it. The comic characters helped fuel my sense of imagination as a kid, and I ran through different scenarios all of the time, swinging from buildings with my spidey web, channeling the weather with my super powers like Storm, and smashing through walls with my Hulk-like superstrength.
Lee will be missed, but he will live on forever in his characters. We won’t soon forget any of the main super heroes, their villains, and their hometowns. And, there’s always more to learn about the Marvel universe. There are so many intricacies and overlapping characters that live and interact with each other. It really is another universe that Lee and Marvel have created.
In the comic world, there are always journalists. It was probably one of my first introductions into the world of journalism. Even Peter Parker worked as a freelancer at one point.
The way Marvel has shaped our world, and how dedicated Lee was to his craft, has changed so much around us for the better.
Stan Lee was Marvel Comics’ real life superhero. He began his career as an assistant in 1939, and made his comic book debut only a couple years later.
His influence should never be forgotten. Lee died on November 12 after being rushed to the hospital following a medical emergency. He will live on through his comics, and in his movies, where he often popped up in an unexpected cameo.
So, rest easy Stan Lee, and know that you had the best influence on everyone you left behind.
