In a tribute to the Marvel Legend Stan Lee, who passed away at the age of 95 on 12 November 2018, DC Comics dedicated the final page to him in all their book releases this week.  The message reads ‘With Utmost Respect from the Distinguished Competition… ‘Excelsior!’

Distinguished Competition was the nickname Lee used for DC when he would joke about them in Marvel letters pages.

Before Lee and his partners Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko created a multitude of characters in the 1960s that went on to be a booming success, DC used to be the foremost name in the superhero comic business for decades

With successes like Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Avengers, Marvel eventually trounced DC as the top superhero comic published to a point of igniting a heated rivalry.

As time progressed, Lee warmed up to DC and even collaborated with them on special projects including writing Batman, Superman, and the line of Just Imagine comics where he reprised iconic DC characters with his own inventive spin.

DC’s tribute to Lee shows that companies can rise above rivalries and show respect to an icon who had a tremendous impact on the world of superheroes.

Since the Comic making process takes weeks, the tributes to the Comicbook Legend are showing up in the releases now.