NOTE FROM LB: For all practical purposes, today is TVWriter™ Stan Lee Remembrance Day. I don’t have my act together enough to write my own memories of Stan the Man or go into why I believe he’s one of the most important figures in world culture today, but, fortunately, many other people do. For example:
by Rob Liefeld
Growing up as a kid in the 1970s, Stan Lee’s name was in every Marvel comic book I pulled off the Spinner Rack. “Stan Lee Presents…” was at the forefront of every dynamic splash page that opened any Marvel publication. He was a larger-than-life presence, his image drawn into the actual comics, and at times, as a caricature illustrated atop the masthead of his popular “Stan’s Soapbox,” where he wrote about a wide variety of topics outside of comics. Regularly featured in the back pages, Stan’s Soapbox exposed us to his unique voice and personality, inviting us into his personal views on everything from bigotry to racial division. Simply put, he was the personality behind it all. Stan Lee was Marvel Comics. Period.