Excelsior! Stan Lee

Good old Stan Lee is dead. Those who grew up on, and with, Spiderman and Marvel comics will experience nostalgia and an odd sense of personal loss — the end of an era, the death of an icon. ‘There’s just something that feels nice about holding a comic book,’ the American comic book writer had famously declared. In a world when comics were a child’s favourite accompaniment, Lee’s superheroes came alive in the active imagination of an innocent worldview. And then, there was the occasional tiff: whose superhero was the strongest? Which scored better — the dark DC world or the exuberant richness of Marvel? There were no easy answers, just war of words and a suspended resolution fired by what can only be a child’s stubborn belief: my hero is the best. 

There is an interesting Indian connect: ‘Spider-Man: India’ was published by Gotham Entertainment Group in 2004. Director Satyajit Ray had once met Lee to discuss an Indian version of Spiderman. Fashioned in the human mould, Lee reinvented superheroes, making them more relatable, more responsive. His heroes erred, faltered, were temperamental, had doubts, also fears — a sharp departure from the archetypal hero. They squabbled among themselves, and in vulnerable moments, faced the episodic chastening defeat. Honoured with multiple awards, Lee pushed the envelope with his social consciousness, vision and vanguard creative vigour, catapulting Marvel from a small publishing house to what it now is — a billion-dollar multimedia giant. Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Black Panther (the first black superhero), Thor, among others on a long list, found expression on celluloid, achieving dazzling heights in Hollywood. The latest Avengers film was dubbed the fastest-grossing global grosser in history. 

Lee inspires. Back in the days, he used comics to provide social commentary, touching upon racism, bigotry, discrimination, even Vietnam War. In the ’70s, the US department of health, education and welfare asked him to write about the dangers of drugs, which he did. His Spiderman believed that ‘with great power comes great responsibilty’. Lee understood it only too well. Excelsior! Stan Lee. The world of comics has lost a hero.