The man, the myth and The Stan Lee

By Gabriel Guimarães

Usually I don’t write my articles here in English but I will make an exception just in case my project to honor one of the comic book professionals I admire the most come true. I’m delighted to bring you a piece of my mind about the astonishing gentleman that is mr. Stan Lee.

I’m 100% sure to say that if it wasn’t for his excellent work maybe today I wouldn’t have achieved all the projection in the comic books world that I did so far. From his pen came most of Marvel’s most beloved characters and most of all, came sensitivity and humanity to super hero comics. His revolution in the industry in the 1960s is still remembered as one of the most important moments in the history of comic books all over the planet, and after it comics were never the same again.

By making real live human beings in flesh, bones and feelings behind the masks of the crime fighters, Stan brought the reader into the story and made him the greatest protagonist of his own private world of adventures, which could go from fighting Dr. Octopus on the top of the Empire State building to running across the whole city to buy Aunt May’s medication that is the only thing that could keep her alive. Stan made us truly believe that man could fly, either by wings as the original X-man Angel or by web as the spectacular Spidey.

Knowing this or not, we were all influenced by this man’s work. Either through our childhood, either through our defying teenage years, either through those difficult moments during our transition to become adults, Stan was there for us – in paper pages, films on the television and in our most intense memories.

No, he didn’t do this all by himself, there were a lot of hands helping him give birth to this whole universe of wonders (or marvels, if you may). Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Buscema, John Romita Sr., among dozens, are only a few of the gold-handed artists that made a dynamic duo whit this legendary creator (I know that this expression comes from Marvel’s biggest competitor but I’m taking freedom of speech to use this in my article as a neutral reference).

Well, to put in a nutshell, this man is one of the greatest inspiration fonts for anyone that wants to become a comic book professional, no matter what would the function of this person be in the enormous process of comics production. And it’s no surprise to say that mr. Stan Lee is known as the most kindest man anyone could ever know. So, when you feel like taking a time to understand what emotions rule our fate or where to regain strength in the middle of an unending battle through life, don’t forget: You can always depend on the heart of this man’s characters. Either they’re standing on top of the world on a silver surfboard or upside-down on the Statue of Liberty torch, you can always count on these Stan Lee’s alter egos. After all, in the centre of all this, he is each and every one of them and, still, none of them at all. That’s the man, that’s the myth, that’s The Stan Lee.

EXCELSIOR!