Happy Excelsior!

On his very special Easter Sunday Idolatry, I thought I'd start with my favorite savior, Mr. Stan Lee.  For some reason, I can't get the image out of my head of eleven-or-twelve-year-old me sitting on the school bus looking at my Marvel Comics Activity Book.  There was a maze with a tagline that said something to the effect of "is it a bowl of spaghetti or Stan Lee's brain?"  It kind of looked like both.

I don't remember if it was a difficult maze.  I tried to find it; but all I came up with was Zombie Stan.  This isn't that picture; but I liked it.

I'm a Marvel Comics fan through and through.  Sure Batman is great, and Superman can be awesome when his story's told right, and Aquaman beats the pants off Namor in terms of potential; but Stan Lee created Spider-Man.  My all-time favorite super hero.  If that was all he'd ever done, it would have been enough.  But it wasn't enough for Stan "the Man."  He had a hand in creating the X-Men (arguably the greatest super-hero team in the history of comics - even though their movies are, so often, so lackluster), The Hulk (strongest hero in the Marvel Universe and - like Superman over at DC - Incredible when he's handled right), The Fantastic Four (sorry Stan, everyone's got to miss one), Thor (Vikings are just awesome), Iron Man and a plethora of others.

But Stan Lee writes comics, he makes movies, he's the Face of an Empire.  With things like Stan's Rants on YouTube, he ought to come off as this curmudgeonly old man, but he's just so lovable and fun.  I sometimes wonder how much of that is just because I've felt like I've known him for so long.  Stan Lee is like one of the family - an estranged Uncle you only get to see in old home movies and letters.   The one you want to be when you grow up.

When I'm not fantasizing that I'm going to be this great writer one day, I'm fantasizing that I'm going to create great comic books, and while Stephen King has probably influenced me more than any other creator, it's Stan Lee who I want to be in 30 or 40 years.

I'm starting late.  Best cut this shit out and get to work.


Excelsior!