This my be some stage of grief but it’s something we need to get done.
I’ve seen a lot of nice things written about Stan Lee, beautiful memorializing illustrations, some very touching comics…that’s great…and that is A NICE START BUT IT IS NOT ENOUGH.
Not by a long shot.
That would be enough IF all he did was be Stan Lee in cameos and a larger than life celebrity. A few days of would be an appropriate amount of recognition for simply that. But he was that AND WAY MORE.
I’m not going to list all the works he’s responsible for us having, because all you have to do is look out your window at kids wearing super hero t-shirts, turn on any T.V., streaming service, look at any comic book store or go to any movie theater. STAN LEE GAVE US THE AMERICAN MYTHOLOGY. Look around your city…it is likely littered with statues and memorials of men and women how have not affected our world one fraction of the way Stan Lee did.
Stan Lee is responsible for comic books still being created at all. There was a reason the 40, 50, and early 60’s were full of cowboy comics, crime comics, romance comics, sci-fi comics, horror comics, all with short stories and thinly written characters…it’s because they were what was in the imaginations and the minds of readers at the time and the depth that they were looking for. The stories fit the times. But the culture grew up. the country grew up. You think during the turmoil of the 60s and 70s that comic books would have lasted it they were full of sappy teenage romance and cowboys, spearheaded by 2 dimensional depth-less characters?? They would not have.
The decades of the 60s thru the 80’s is called The Marvel Age of comics for a reason….and it’s not because Marvel sucked the air out of the room, it’s because Marvel was pulling oxygen in. The last ten years have been non-stop Marvel characters and stories lording over all other properties in movies, tv and the pop culture in general….that’s the last ten years. Stan kept Marvel on top, and kept comics in general alive, WITHOUT ANY OF THAT HELP FOR 3 DECADES.
Try to think of another human being of our lifetime who has added this much to our culture. Walt Disney didn’t come anywhere near close. 90 percent of what Disney is know for is someone else’s ideas from centuries ago. You think HE came up with Snow White? or Sleeping beauty? or any of the other animated movie? He didn’t. He took a bunch of old fairy tales and made a land fill worth of money. Stan put out things, characters, comics, that not one single person ever heard of before. and those ideas changed the entire culture of this country.
Imagine if the guy who gave us Calvin and Hobbs also gave us Garfield, the transformers, The Thundercats, He-man, Star Wars and Star trek…and 40 other things. That would be CLOSE to what Stan Lee gave us.
The people he inspired, the words of wisdom that came out of the mouths of his characters, the lives he made less drab, the joy he spread, the careers he helped launch of others who would do likewise, over 6 DECADES…deserves recognition of the highest order.
A two story bronze statue is in order, and giant parade is in order, a headstone that looks like it was carved in ancient Greece, surrounded by a football field of roses and thank you cards is in order.
And he deserves a memorial celebration that rivals any other U.S. figure. We should be doing this. If you love comics, if you work in comics, this is on US to get this done. His wife passed on before him, in his final months things seem to have gotten strange between him and his family and he may have been getting used and ripped off by his confidants. That leaves US to do something for the man. He belongs to us as much as anyone.
Something big and special that would make HIM tear up. How many of us have been fighting back tears all week? When it comes to lose and death I am accepting and stoic to a degree that would make Spock look like a blubbering emotional wreck, I can think of four times in my entire adult life that I actually cried because I could not stop myself. Hearing that Stan had passed on was one of those times. Let’s give back. Let’s do something that would make Stan, where ever he is… signing autographs for whoever, take off his giant glasses and wipe back a tear.
I am talking to everyone. Fellow pros, fan groups, stores, Podcasters, put something together that we can ALL contribute to. SomeTHING….not seventeen different projects. ONE GIANT THING. Let’s communicate, put our differences aside, and all get on the same page and do something big. There are plenty of people in the sound of my voice who worked for Marvel, even more who work in an industry that Marvel helped keep alive, and even more who grew up on Marvel comics. We need to celebrate our fallen hero in a way that makes the whole world take notice and tells the whole world how important what he did was.
Worried that I’m gonna get some credit for this? Don’t. I don’t want it, and it can’t be me. I draw cartoon fetuses and met the man for a total of two seconds. What I do is about as far off from Marvel comics as you can get, but I am not stupid enough to think I’d have a career if it were not for Stan Lee…are you? IN THE SOUND OF MY VOICE are others who have the credibility to be in charge of such a thing. Pretend you never saw this and only have a vague idea of who I am, I don’t care. Let’s just make this happen.
Because Stan Lee being memorialized only on the internet is not acceptable, and is a dereliction of gratitude.
What Stan Lee did changed our entire culture and touched the lives of every man woman and child in this country.
Let’s do something that memorializes him to the degree he changed the world, in proportion to other historical figures, who while important, have done far less.
See this…
These are pictures of the funerals for Gerald Ford and Lyndon Johnson…they were presidents for about two cups of coffee and no one even elected them. Here’s a 20 foot statue of Ford…
NOW…using that as a unit of measure, think of the profound effect Stan Lee has had on our world, and lets do something in proportion for Stan Lee. I’d say a 2 story statue is about right, we all know what to put on the plaque.
