In honor of Stan Lee’s 90th birthday, I thought
I’d share a little of the great man’s literary exuberance culled from three of
his monthly “Stan’s Soapbox” columns.
From Logan’s Run Issue 1, January 1977
“Okay! You can stop
holding your breath! The moment is at
hand! The third spectacular volume of
the Marvel Origins Trilogy is on sale—the story that tells you the inside story
of how we created the vilest villains, the freakiest fiends, the most
sensational sinners in all of comicdom.”
He tells more about this particular book, then shifts gears to trumpet
John Buscema’s “great comicbook workshop in New York,” and adds that two recent
graduates are now doing projects for Marvel.
He finishes this off by adding: “Okay, Johnny, I gave you the plug—now
will you tell Conan to gimme back my hub caps?”
From Star Wars Issue 15, September 1978
“Know something? I’m
gonna learn to speak Japanese! All of
the sudden, Marvel is threatening to be the latest and greatest ‘in’ thing in
the Land of the Rising Sun!” He describes
projects Marvel is producing for Japan, including movies, comics, toys, games,
and “even Spider-Man Samurai warriors!” Then, “I’m heading for Japan in the middle of
May, which is a couple of months from now (‘now’ being the time I’m writing
this)! I’m bustin’ to tell you all about
my trip, but I can’t cause I haven’t gone yet; see why I’m always mixed
up? See why we always tell you that
Marvel time is different from ‘real world’ time? See why, when someone asks me the date, I
panic and run for the hills?”
From The Micronauts Issue 18, June 1980
Unless you’ve been malingering on the moon for the past year
or so—and we know no Marvelite True would ever do that—you must be aware of how
many new and exciting projects your ever-loving’ Bullpen has been cooking up
for you!” He describes the higher priced
books and magazines, the Saturday morning cartoons, and a proposed Silver
Surfer movie, the latter of which, as far as I can tell, was never filmed. (Unless he’s referring to “Breathless,” in
which Richard Gere plays a drifter in Las Vegas who has modeled his life upon
the superhero). “Many people have asked
me, in voices quivering with care and concern, does this mean that Marvel is
losing interest in its own loveable line of regular comic books? The answer, of course, is a deafening,
resounding, thunderous NO!” After
assuring readers that the regular, monthly (40 cent) comics are what Marvel has
always been about, he concludes “and take it from me, good buddy, that’s the
way it’s gonna stay!”
What I remember most from his appearance at last year’s
Comikaze is his enthusiasm, his pizzazz, and his vitality. From the moment he appeared on stage, everyone
felt his youthful energy. Smiles
blossomed on our faces when he spoke. Stan
Lee pulses with boundless creativity. He illuminates everyone with his
irrepressible personality! He’s a
promoter, an entrepreneur, a visionary, and just one heck of a lot of fun! And you know what, faithful Dragon Cache readers? Even if you've been jetting around Jupiter lately, I defy any of you to think of him and
not smile!
Please, please, please, Stan Lee: never lose your enthusiasm
for life. We need more people like you
in our world: vigorous, spry, and just plain fun! I want to be more like you! (But then, really, who doesn’t?)
Happy 90th Birthday, Stan Lee! Excelsior!
Dragon Dave
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