Today, we received the news that Stanley Martin Leiber, aka Stan ‘The Man’ Lee had gone to make comics on another plane of reality.
He’s been responsible for some of my, and many others, favourite superheroes. It hasn’t fully sunk in yet, I’m at a loss on what to write about the life of a man who was larger than life.
Instead, I want to write a few words about how his comics had an effect on my perception of the world. Stan was one of the first writers to break the superhero archetypes of perfect people with no flaws.
He gave life to his many creations with complex backgrounds, tempers, vanity and real world problems instead of a one dimensional representation of ‘good’. With such characters like Spider-Man, you could believe he could be swinging through New York by night, solving crimes and defeating super-villains whilst Peter Parker struggles to make rent in a freelance photography job.
His actively touched on subjects such as alcoholism, drugs, racism, bigotry, intolerance, war and prejudice through the medium of comics. The world would be a very different place without Stan giving these issues a voice and accessing an audience maybe thought too young to deal with them.
The biggest lesson I ever learnt from a Marvel Comic was no matter how flawed a person is, no matter what handicap in life, they can make a difference in the world, just by striving to be a better person.
To Stan, thank you for everything you gave us. For making me believe, and for proving that, one man can make a difference.
Leave a Reply