The name of Stan Lee, who died on Monday, will always make me think of two thin comic books I had borrowed from a small book-shop near my house.
One was of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ and another of ‘The Incredible Hulk’.
The year was probably 1981. And for an over-imaginative teenager that I was then - and for someone already high on the adventures of ‘Phantom’ and ‘Bahadur’, published in those days by ‘Indrajal Comics’ of India – finding these new comics was a special moment. A discovery of pure joy.
Flipping through the pages, my friend and I were fascinated by the brightly-coloured characters and the action-packed scenes. We wasted no time in borrowing these comics. And on rushing home, soon got immersed into a magical world of newfound super-heroes.
Our small book-shop-plus-lending-library had had many books in the vernacular language, but a very small collection of English books and comics. The store was not located in some high-class urban setting, near posh schools, to warrant the shopkeeper to buy and store foreign-published comics easily.
But thanks to our friends at school, among whom our comic books got circulated privately, a big group of boys soon descended on the shop. And thanks to all of them demanding copies of Marvel Comics from abroad, the proprietor had to give in.
He saw a business opportunity. And soon procured for us, not only more adventures of ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘The Incredible Hulk’, but also of ‘Fantastic Four’, of ‘Thor’, of ‘The Avengers’ and of ‘X-Men’, among several others.
And the great excitement we had derived, from access to these comics, is not easy to explain to a new generation that has seen them all on television and cinema screens.
Especially, to the millennials who probably will never know the wonder and awe of action-packed comic books.
The passing of Stan Lee, therefore, is the passing of an era. As a man who co-created some of the most endearing superheroes, he has taken sci-fi fantasy and super-hero stories to a whole new plane, a higher plane.
It was long ago, in 1962, that ‘Spider-Man, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, first appeared. But it was only in 2002 that the first Spider-Man movie released. And I am still surprised as to why it took Hollywood so long.
However, in quick succession, with the Spider-Man movie series came other highly successful series of ‘The Avengers’ and ‘X-Men’. Also, ‘Iron man’, ‘Ant Man’ and ‘Captain America’ which have all had the fabulous finger-prints of Stan Lee.
“I never had any idea that these characters would last this long”, he had said in interview clips which were telecast by CNN on his demise. “In fact, I, and the people I worked with, who co-created them, with me - the many talented artists - just hoped that the books would sell and we continue to get our salaries, and be able to pay our rents”.
Even he did not know how far his dreams would take him. His mid-boggling futuristic imagination, and his portrayal of superheroes with all their failings and flaws, ensured that the readers’ and audience’s love for superheroes does not die.
A few months ago, when my daughters excitedly went to watch ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ by Marvel Studios, on the day it released in Bahrain, I thought of my teenage times. The times I had rushed to the book store on hearing that a new set of Marvel Comics have arrived.
Also, Stan Lee’s cameo appearances in almost all Marvel Studio productions have portrayed him as a simple loveable human being. But he will remain a super-hero. A real one. Not a fictional one.
From comics to movies, Stan Lee’s imagination has only taken us, and the entertainment world, ‘ever upward’. Excelsior!
One was of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ and another of ‘The Incredible Hulk’.
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| Stan Lee with Iron Man and Spider Man |
Flipping through the pages, my friend and I were fascinated by the brightly-coloured characters and the action-packed scenes. We wasted no time in borrowing these comics. And on rushing home, soon got immersed into a magical world of newfound super-heroes.
Our small book-shop-plus-lending-library had had many books in the vernacular language, but a very small collection of English books and comics. The store was not located in some high-class urban setting, near posh schools, to warrant the shopkeeper to buy and store foreign-published comics easily.
But thanks to our friends at school, among whom our comic books got circulated privately, a big group of boys soon descended on the shop. And thanks to all of them demanding copies of Marvel Comics from abroad, the proprietor had to give in.
He saw a business opportunity. And soon procured for us, not only more adventures of ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘The Incredible Hulk’, but also of ‘Fantastic Four’, of ‘Thor’, of ‘The Avengers’ and of ‘X-Men’, among several others.
And the great excitement we had derived, from access to these comics, is not easy to explain to a new generation that has seen them all on television and cinema screens.
Especially, to the millennials who probably will never know the wonder and awe of action-packed comic books.
The passing of Stan Lee, therefore, is the passing of an era. As a man who co-created some of the most endearing superheroes, he has taken sci-fi fantasy and super-hero stories to a whole new plane, a higher plane.
It was long ago, in 1962, that ‘Spider-Man, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, first appeared. But it was only in 2002 that the first Spider-Man movie released. And I am still surprised as to why it took Hollywood so long.
However, in quick succession, with the Spider-Man movie series came other highly successful series of ‘The Avengers’ and ‘X-Men’. Also, ‘Iron man’, ‘Ant Man’ and ‘Captain America’ which have all had the fabulous finger-prints of Stan Lee.
“I never had any idea that these characters would last this long”, he had said in interview clips which were telecast by CNN on his demise. “In fact, I, and the people I worked with, who co-created them, with me - the many talented artists - just hoped that the books would sell and we continue to get our salaries, and be able to pay our rents”.
Even he did not know how far his dreams would take him. His mid-boggling futuristic imagination, and his portrayal of superheroes with all their failings and flaws, ensured that the readers’ and audience’s love for superheroes does not die.
A few months ago, when my daughters excitedly went to watch ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ by Marvel Studios, on the day it released in Bahrain, I thought of my teenage times. The times I had rushed to the book store on hearing that a new set of Marvel Comics have arrived.
Also, Stan Lee’s cameo appearances in almost all Marvel Studio productions have portrayed him as a simple loveable human being. But he will remain a super-hero. A real one. Not a fictional one.
From comics to movies, Stan Lee’s imagination has only taken us, and the entertainment world, ‘ever upward’. Excelsior!
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