A Stan Lee special celebrating the Marvel icon is set to air on ABC this month. Having made his comic book debut in 1941, Lee was a major player in the massive industry that comic books and comic book characters would go on to become.
Throughout his lengthy career, Lee co-created a variety of highly popular characters for Marvel such as Hulk, Iron Man and Thor and helped Marvel become a serious competitor to DC Comics. While helping to create new characters and the shared universe that they inhabited, Lee unwittingly revolutionized the then still nascent comic book genre. His characters were imbued with a certain degree of flawed humanity, something that other comic book heroes of the early days didn’t possess. By creating characters that struggled with personal issues beyond the villains they were tasked with battling, Lee built a connection with his audience that touched readers’ lives on a deeper level. The irony of superhuman characters still falling victim to the daily trivial matters that affect the rest of us ensured that comic books have never been the same since. Unfortunately, Lee passed away in November of last year, but his creations continue to inspire new generations in ways the comic book pioneer could never have expected. And because of that legacy, appreciation for Lee and what he left behind will never cease to exist.
As CBR reports, the latest celebration of Lee’s life and work will come Friday, December 20 on ABC in a one-hour TV special called Celebrating Marvel’s Stan Lee. The special will focus on Lee’s life with never-before seen footage of the late comic book maestro, with appearances from Tom Hiddleston, Cobie Smulders, Mark Hamill, Method Man, Todd McFarlane and Kevin Smith, among others. A description from ABC on the special reads:
Filmed in part in front of a live audience at The New Amsterdam Theater in New York City, “Celebrating Marvel’s Stan Lee” takes viewers on an action-packed journey throughout the life of Lee and across the Marvel Universe, sharing never-before-seen interviews and archive footage with Lee himself from deep within the Marvel and ABC News archives.
In addition to the upcoming TV special, Marvel Executive Vice President/Creative Director Joe Quesada had the following to say about Lee’s impact on his fans and the work he created:
"As a young man, Stan ‘The Man’ Lee always dreamed of writing, going on to create some of the greatest heroes of our modern times. Stan showed each of us how to be a hero in our everyday lives, and the stories he wrote will go on to influence generations of fans for decades to come. We can’t wait for all you True Believers out there to see this special to honor and celebrate Stan’s incredible life and all the lives he has touched."
It is indeed spectacular to think of what Lee created and the tremendous growth that comic books have experienced, largely as a result of his work and creativity. With much of the heavy lifting of creating and popularizing comic books now out of the way (there was, after all, a time when comic books were equated solely with children), recognizing how massive Lee’s contributions were is much easier.
What this means is that Lee’s legacy will continue to impress and inspire for generations to come. But those of us who knew of a time when Lee was alive and taking on cameos in the Marvel movies should count themselves lucky. A talent as great as his doesn’t come along that often, and being able to share in an era in which Lee was still working was a genuine treat for millions.
Source: CBR