Todd McFarlane Shares How Stan Lee Inspired His Career

If you have, what was it like the first time you met comics legend Stan Lee?

Beloved comics artist and Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane remembers the encounter so vividly that he actually created a re-enactment video, complete with the requisite Stan Lee cameo.

The video starts with McFarlane reading the Stan Lee bio-comic that Lee wrote with Peter David and Colleen Doran, and transitions into a heartwarming story about the way Stan Lee inspired him to not only break into comics, but to treat fans and wannabe creators on the way up a little bit better. He had previously released it already, but today reposted it in honor of Lee’s 94th birthday, along with the following message:

Happy birthday to the GREAT Stan Lee !! He’s 94 years young today. I’ve know and worked with Stan for a large portion of my life and I’ve been VERY grateful for that.

I learned many lessons from him over the years, but one that still sticks with me from our first meeting was how he treated his fans! He made (and still does) EVERY ONE of his fans feel SPECIAL! He always has an encouraging word and such enthusiasm (even at 94 years old) which make him that much more AWESOME!!

A while back I did a reenactment video of our first meeting and I wanted to share it again (and YES Stan has a cameo in it).
Stan has been a HUGE inspiration to me and continues to inspire SO many others.

Happy Birthday Stan the Man!!