Today’s the day when the demigod of American comic industry, who has bestowed us with many superheroes like Spider Man, Hulk, X-Men, Thor, Iron Man was born. He’s none other than the National Medal of Arts receiver, Stan Lee.
Born in New York City on 28 December, 1922, Stan Lee turns 93 today. Though in his life long journey there have been many ups and downs, Lee has successfully managed to cross all the hurdles and fulfill his roles in not just being a comic writer but also editor, publisher, media producer, television host, actor and former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.
Lee was particularly known for his dynamism and embedding his characters with a sense of humanity, tackling real-world issues like bigotry and drug use, which have influenced comics for decades. An outgoing, humorous showman, he also developed a number of slogans as part of his style, including a Latin-derived call to rise, “Excelsior!”
Lee started intellectual-property company POW! Entertainment in 2001 and through this company Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo was started. The Expo was kicked-off back in November 2011, by Regina Carpinelli and her two younger brothers, Mario and Fabiano since then, the multi-diverse convention is growing at a whopping 20 per cent growth and bringing in more and more entertainment zones to itself.
Though Lee has stopped writing for comics, the king of comic world often makes a cameo in big-screen productions of his classic comics. His cameos include over 20 Marvel films ranging from the Avengers to the X-Men and from Spider Man to the most recent Ant Man.
While Lee is known for his American comic works, his work also reaches the Indian shores. He’s been actively working closely with Graphic India’s co founder, Sharad Devarajan to bring out Chakra: The Invincible, a kids animated franchise wherein the hero built a worldwide following through animation on Cartoon Network India. A digital mobile series was also launched on Rovio’s Toons TV through the Angry Birds game along with comic series. And now, the legendary creator is looking at India with aspirations to make his first Bollywood live action film based on the very same superhero – Chakra.
Lee also launched the History Channel show Stan Lee’s Superhumans, a series that looked at people with remarkable skills and abilities. Stan Lee has two autobiographies under his hood; Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee and the recently launched graphic memoir Amazing Fantastic Incredible.
Like Lee once said ‘’Nuff Said!’. On this joyous occasion, we wish this amazing energetic man, happy birthday.
Excelsior!
