It’s midnight West Coast time here in the U.S., which means legendary comics writer and editor Stan Lee’s ninetieth birthday is underway from sea to shining sea. Having spent most of his life working in and around comics, Lee has had an immeasurable impact on the industry, the art form and of course the commercial value of comics.We thought it could be fun to break down ninety reasons to love Stan–one for every year he’s been around–but just rattling off ninety memorable characters he had a hand in creating would be too easy. Rather, we wanted to divide it up into a few categories and get a bit of a cross section going.For the most part, we’ll just let these reasons stand on their own–it’s pretty obvious why “Spider-Man” is a reason to love Stan, after all…but we’ll explain some of them as we feel it’s needed or adds something.Excelsior!
Ninety Reasons to Love Stan Lee
Stan’s vast character library
1. Adam Warlock2. Annihilus3. Ant-Man4. Aunt May and Uncle BenThe best parents in comics aren’t actually parents.5. Avengers
6. BATROC THE LEAPER
H.E.R.B.I.E.
18. FRANKLIN RICHARDS
20. GROOT
21. Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson
The Power of Myth
38. RAVAGE
2099
49. Any number of supporting characters
52. Virtually Every Villain You’ve Seen in a Movie
The Shared Universe
New York, New York
Superheroes as Metaphor
A Little Diversity
Just Imagine…
Just Imagine Stan Lee Creating…
Marvel Style
Moral Ambiguity
The Tortured Hero
Consequences
The Danger Room
Branding
The Bullpen
The Merry Marvel Marching Society
Helping to save the superhero
How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way
If it works, steal it.
Justice League of America
The Avengers
The lovably corny catch-phrases
Secret Origin
His Underappreciated Work Outside of Superheroes
His Service in World War II
The Comics Ambassador
Still Working After All These Years
His Arc Reactor
comparing himself to Iron Man
His tweets are still cooler than yours
this week’s exchange
He’s got a sense of humor about himself
Chuck
He has absolutely no modesty whatsoever.
He’s won every award in the world.
Working with the Hero Initiative
Hero Initiative
“shifted” to Hero
The Stan Lee Foundation
Loose Lips that Launch Ships
says something offhand
Forever Embracing Change
Where’s Stan?
Stan Lee on Film
The Ambulance
Batman: The Animated Series
He never stops smiling
He gets to hang out with America Young
Stan Lee’s World of Heroes
65 Years of Marriage
90 Years of Stan Lee
