RIP Stan Lee

[Dave Bryce]

Oh, man...

 

dB

[mate stubb]

[marino]

Oh no. A real legend.

[Muad’Dib]

Stan Lee

 

I loved Deadpool!

[MAJUSCULE]

While I was never huge comic book guy (more of a french bande-dessinée childhood), Stan Lee and his characters still hold an indisputable part of my life and pop culture. It says something when you can effect people who don't even really follow you.

 

RIP.

[zxcvbnm098]

I just watched Black Panther last night and noticed his cameo in the casino seen. I was thinking to my self "he must be getting up there in age".

 

95 is pretty darn good run. We should all be so blessed....

[GRollins]

This is getting to be a drag. We're losing all sorts of cool, good folks.

 

Grey

[Mark Schmieder]

Spider-Man is now an orphan thrice over, as Steve Ditko died pretty recently as well, and Uncle Ben died way back (along with Aunt May in some continuities and/or alternate universes). The birth parents were never portrayed.

[Dr Nursers]

Yep a true end of an era. I met him a few years back when he was 92 and he was still pretty damn sharp.

[Geoff Grace]

I was always more of a Marvel kid than a DC one, back in the day. I especially loved Captain America, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four.

 

RIP Stan Lee, a true giant in the world of comic books!

 

'Nuff said,

 

Geoff

[Dave Bryce]

I was always more of a Marvel kid than a DC one, back in the day. I especially loved Captain America, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four.

 

RIP Stan Lee, a true giant in the world of comic books!

 

'Nuff said,

For me, it was Spiderman first. Was also a huge Avengers (and Defenders) fan, as well as FF, Iron Man, Silver Surfer and so many more. Ghost Rider. Iron Fist. The list goes on...

 

Excelsior!

 

dB

[burningbusch]

I started with Spiderman #8, 1963. I was eight. Followed Spiderman religiously for years. Dabbled in the others.

 

 

I'm glad he achieved the incredible success he did. These were wonderful characters.

 

Busch.

[Dave Bryce]

One of my biggest draws to Spidey was that he wisecracked while he kicked the bad guy's ass.

 

dB

[Joe Muscara]

I grew up on Spidey. The father of one of my best friends back on LI was an inker for Marvel. He gave me a couple of ink panels (that I can no longer find ) and was a cool connection to have. He also did something that led to something really neat that, if you're a friend on FB, you may have seen on my feed.

 

When we were kids, there was a comic book store that had Stan Lee and John Buscema. It wasn't like it is today where it costs tons of money to meet guys like that at a huge convention. It was more like when a bookstore has an author and 20 people show up. The two of them had this event to talk about comics and their book, and John's dad took us there to see them. They also had a giveaway of two autographed copies of this book. Well, me and my buddy John won them! John's dad swore it wasn't a fix, that he didn't do it. A couple of years ago I came across my copy (which I had forgotten about) going through some stuff at my mom's house. I was surprised to see the autographs inside the front cover. That's a pretty cool thing to have.

[Synthaholic]

Spider-Man is now an orphan thrice over, as Steve Ditko died pretty recently as well, and Uncle Ben died way back (along with Aunt May in some continuities and/or alternate universes). The birth parents were never portrayed.

 

Not true. Campbell Scott and Embeth Davidtz portrayed Richard and Mary Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012).

 

When I went to Vegas 2 years ago this month (this week!) to see Gino and ARW I stayed the first night at Treasure Island. Connected to it is Avengers Station, an interactive attraction. I went through it free with my room charge, and when I finished the line to get into the gift shop was massive, snaking well into the casino: Stan Lee was appearing at 4pm to sign and meet & greet. And this was a good 3 hours before his appearance. Not for me - I had to get ready for dinner, then Gino.

 

Yall should see my comic collection. Its massive, with many #1 issues, and many high-value, like Hulk #181, the first appearance of Wolverine. In the early 2000s it was worth around $4,000. I own Hawkman #1, from 1964. I also have Captain America #100, which is what they started the reboot with after the 1940s, so its essentially #1. I have loooong runs of 1970s Silver Age books. All the popular ones from Marvel and DC. My favorites were Daredevil, Thor, X-Men, Howard The Duck, Man-Thing, Spider-Man, Green Lantern, Flash, and all the weird short-lived series from Jack Kirby, like O.M.A.C (One Man Army Corp).

[Synthaholic]

John Buscema

 

Probably my favorite comic artist, among the traditional ones. Jack Kirby is so different, hes not comparable to the others. Thats very cool, Joe.

[Mark Schmieder]

Synthaholic, I meant in the comic books. I rarely watch super-hero MOVIES.

 

Still need to continue paring down my own comic collection. Way back, I sold most of it to fund grad school. But stuff collected from mid to late 80's forward, hasn't accumulated that quickly as I usually toss stuff after one read, but that's a long enough time that I still have too many.

 

My brother retired recently and is going all over the northeast searching for bargains before they disappear. Needless to say, nothing from Marvel falls into that category anymore -- even stuff like Night Nurse. :-)

 

Yeah, give Stan Lee credit for trying just about everything, even if it required continuity of a major character vs. the approach DC, Warren, Gold Key, Charlton, and others took towards anthology titles and one-off stories.

[Mark Schmieder]

I didn't understand John Buscema's genius when he was working on super-hero titles, but then they put him on Conan, Tarzan, and other characters of that ilk, and his true talents really came out.

 

Stan had an eye for talent. What I didn't like for so many years, was second-rate inkers on great pencillers. But it got the books out more quickly, and the money rolled in. It was quite rare that he allowed people to do their own inks.

 

Was Stan still involved in the Spider-Man comic strip in recent years? I had read somewhere that he was still the writer, vs. his name just being used for "authenticity". Pumping out a daily strip is a lot of work, even with the repeated panel overlap that the syndicates dictate so that people who miss a day or two aren't lost.

[Mark Schmieder]

My first Marvel was bought by accident, as my older brother bullied me constantly and censored what I could buy. It was The Avengers, maybe #17 (too rushed to look it up before a rehearsal), which I think was the issue that premiered Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch; originally as villains.

 

We had seen TV previews at my grandmother's house (we didn't have a TV) for The Avengers, which looked like an awesome show but was on past our bedtime, so I bought the comic book as compensation, not realizing it wasn't the same material, genre, or characters! No Diana Rigg or Honour Blackman here!

 

As my brother forbade me to buy Marvel Comics, it was my only issue, and the cliff-hanger approach with continuity (vs. standalone stories) bothered me for many years, so in some ways I was grateful that I wasn't allowed to get "hooked" on this other style of storytelling, which DC of course eventually copied and became the industry standard across-the-board.

[Desert Rat]

My favorites were:

1) Iron Man

2) Thor

3) The Incredible Hulk

4) Fantastic Four

Occasional comic book purchases (lived in a very small town), avid early morning cartoon watcher, moderate enjoyer of the recent resurgence (now my favorite is a tie between Dr. Strange and Thor).

There is no question Mr. Lee has left his mark on the life of a lot of people.

[Joe Muscara]

There are some really cool ones in here, and I think all of them are worth checking out.

 

30+ Artists Tributes Honoring The Legendary Comic Artist Stan Lee

[Philip Clark]

There are some really cool ones in here, and I think all of them are worth checking out.

 

30+ Artists Tributes Honoring The Legendary Comic Artist Stan Lee

 

That was great.

[Joe Muscara]

[video:youtube]ea4Tq7HB7kU

[Dr Nursers]

I grew up on Spidey. The father of one of my best friends back on LI was an inker for Marvel. He gave me a couple of ink panels (that I can no longer find ) and was a cool connection to have. He also did something that led to something really neat that, if you're a friend on FB, you may have seen on my feed.

 

When we were kids, there was a comic book store that had Stan Lee and John Buscema. It wasn't like it is today where it costs tons of money to meet guys like that at a huge convention. It was more like when a bookstore has an author and 20 people show up. The two of them had this event to talk about comics and their book, and John's dad took us there to see them. They also had a giveaway of two autographed copies of this book. Well, me and my buddy John won them! John's dad swore it wasn't a fix, that he didn't do it. A couple of years ago I came across my copy (which I had forgotten about) going through some stuff at my mom's house. I was surprised to see the autographs inside the front cover. That's a pretty cool thing to have.

 

As a comic collector would love to (a) know which book it is you had autographed and (b) do you have it bagged and boarded correctly

[David Emm]

I enjoyed many of those comics, so its a pleasure to see the Marvel movies stick to the original stories so well. Stan has carried the cultural torch like a mensch for sure, but Jack Kirby was quite a lot of it, too. Comics had been talking heads in boxes for years. Suddenly Jack appeared and drew things like a near-3-D page of Thor flying at you hammer-first, over a field of stars. He swore he never took drugs, but it was natural to idly wonder, ahem. His cinematic view is all over the movies. I wish he'd lived to see his design ethos make the leap to film. He'd probably be wearing a grin a mile wide. Stan and Jack did a major league Good Thing.

 

[Synthaholic]

Someone always has to be a dick. Although...theres more than a nugget of truth to it.

 

 

http://a65.tinypic.com/2lmks8x.jpg

[tfort]

Stan Lee was generally good, but theres always a problem turning people into heroes:

https://www.vox.com/2016/2/23/11098942/stan-lee-death-marvel-legacy

[Mark Schmieder]

A lot of truth in there, but it doesn't make him a bad person, and one must also acknowledge the level of ego amongst artists. For years I sided with Kirby et al, but later I realized that it takes people like Stan Lee to glue it all together and to promote it.

 

I've worked for people like that before (not at my day job, but in my creative pursuits) and have learned to not get upset when credit is "borrowed". After all, it takes a lot to put oneself out there promoting something with passion and faith, when there's so much at stake if it fails or if people pull away.

 

The testimony of people who dealt with him in his later years is that he was extremely kind and unselfish. It was a LONG time ago that he left his post as main writer and editor for Marvel (Roy Thomas succeeded him until he got burnt out on managing so many books and people, and those that followed him often lasted less than a year). He probably mellowed with age.

 

I have also tempered my opinion over the years about how important the artist is vs. the writer. It's more complicated with Marvel, as some (but not all) books had little to go on, meaning the artist effectively storyboarded the story, with dialogue and captions left to the "writer". Still, that's a unique talent, and Kirby had brilliant ideas and concepts but his all-by-himself work of later years often had cringe-worthy dialogue -- though it didn't detract from his genius or diminish the appeal of his titles.

 

In modern times, there's a larger percentage of us that recognize the importance of the writer vs. the artist. It's great when they're both there, but it's rare anymore, unfortunately. So the combination of Lee and Kirby was magic, and it's unfortunate that they both had a different sense of their relative contribution, but easy to understand for anyone who has ever collaborated so intimately that it's hard to remember who came up with what.

 

I thought the CNN obit was shameful and mean-spirited. The comics industry itself has done a better job so far of eulogizing Stanley Lieber. And it does turn out his brother Larry -- also a publisher at times -- is still alive. Not sure if they ever mended fences, but he's not one of the heirs. Stan may simply have not expected Larry to outlive him.

[Outkaster]

 

Kind of on a side note my guitarists works at one of the technical colleges here as a graphic arts curator. Tonight Adam Kubert is giving a lecture:

 

 

 

Adam Kubert

 

 

 

Some of the content obviously is going to change now because of the death of Stan Lee compared to when it was first booked. Apparently he is a real cool guy. It will be interesting to see what he says about Stan. I am going to see if he has extra tickets.

 

[Joe Muscara]

I grew up on Spidey. The father of one of my best friends back on LI was an inker for Marvel. He gave me a couple of ink panels (that I can no longer find ) and was a cool connection to have. He also did something that led to something really neat that, if you're a friend on FB, you may have seen on my feed.

 

When we were kids, there was a comic book store that had Stan Lee and John Buscema. It wasn't like it is today where it costs tons of money to meet guys like that at a huge convention. It was more like when a bookstore has an author and 20 people show up. The two of them had this event to talk about comics and their book, and John's dad took us there to see them. They also had a giveaway of two autographed copies of this book. Well, me and my buddy John won them! John's dad swore it wasn't a fix, that he didn't do it. A couple of years ago I came across my copy (which I had forgotten about) going through some stuff at my mom's house. I was surprised to see the autographs inside the front cover. That's a pretty cool thing to have.

 

As a comic collector would love to (a) know which book it is you had autographed and (b) do you have it bagged and boarded correctly