Goodbye Stan Lee

Even before I learned how to read, I remember spending hours going through my brother’s boxes of comic books, full of mystery and fantasy and where everything was possible. Both my dad and brother were also superhero lovers and for me, Sunday mornings were synonym of countless hours of being immersed into a larger, better world than the one I could see around me in the Colombia of the late 1980’s.

Stan Lee, also known as Excelsior!, was the genius behind Marvel’s comics and the superheroes of my childhood. His characters, however, did not evolve into a formidable Hollywood empire until many decades after they were created.

In my view, what makes them so great is the idea that people otherwise common and sometimes awkward could become superheroes. Beyond the fistfights on tall buildings, the ability to fly or run at incredible speeds, Stan Lee’s stories sent a far more humble message:
“Maybe you could feel a little bit like an outsider, and still end up OK”.

This month, with great sadness, we lost an irrefutable prodigy. The 95 year old Marvel legend, Stan Lee, whose creations touched so many lives passed away.

With this newsletter I wanted to pay a small tribute to this great man by presenting a couple of my works from the series “Stars and Superheroes”.

We all Have Secrets
Oil on Canvas
40 IN × 40 IN

Spider Man struggled with the life of a teenage boy who was broke, taunted at school, unnoticed by the girls he revered, and who made more mistakes than those his family could endure. But throughout the magic of his character in the Marvel World he learned to pick himself back up after every setback and keep fighting even when there seemed little incentive to do so…a familiar teaching in our day to day lives.

The Face of Love
Oil and Diamond Dust on Canvas
40 IN × 40 IN

Captain America is another of my Marvel’s favourites. As a mortal, he had limited abilities but in spite of his limitations, he never stopped trying on his quest to help others and to stand up to those who prey on the weak.

Finally he gets an opportunity when his mortal self gets injected with the Super Soldier Serum and becomes Captain America. But beyond getting a man with the body of a god, humanity gets a one man army with the moral certitude that is always needed and that would become his greatest superpower. It is like this, that Captain America became a moral compass for the world, one that even gods will follow into battle.

His Legacy

The origin stories of the Marvel heroes remain in my head reminding me, even to this day, that common people with common lives, with financial difficulties and everyday problems can make a difference in the world.

I leave you with one of my favourite quotes:

“That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt, a real superhero." - Stan Lee

post·script

Stan Lee created all these characters:

A
Abomination (comics)
Absorbing Man
Acrobat (comics)
Actor (comics)
Adria (comics)
Aged Genghis
Agent X (Jim Burley)
Agon (comics)
Air-Walker
Liz Allan
Amphibion
Ancient One
Annihilus
Ant-Man
Ape-Man
Ares (Marvel Comics)
Asbestos Man
Athena (Marvel Comics)
Attuma
Avengers (comics)
Awesome Android
B
Balder (comics)
Batroc the Leaper
Beast (comics)
Beetle (comics)
Billy Connors (comics)
Black Bolt
Black Knight (comics)
Black Knight (Nathan Garrett)
Black Knight (Sir Percy)
Black Panther (comics)
Black Widow (Marvel Comics)
Black Widow (Natasha Romanova)
Blastaar
Blizzard (comics)
Blob (comics)
Bluebird (Marvel Comics)
Boomerang (comics)
Bor (Marvel Comics)
Betty Brant
Brother Voodoo
Brotherhood of Mutants
Burglar (comics)
C
Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics)
Peggy Carter
Sharon Carter
Cat-Man (Marvel Comics)
Chameleon (comics)
Circus of Crime
Clea
Clown (comics)
Cobra (Marvel Comics)
Izzy Cohen
Collector (comics)
Crime Master
Crimson Dynamo
Crystal (comics)
Cyclops (Marvel Comics)
Cyttorak
D
Daily Bugle
Daredevil (Marvel Comics character)
Death-Stalker
Destroyer (Marvel Comics)
Diablo (Marvel Comics)
Doctor Strange
Doctor Doom
Doomsday Man
Dormammu
Dorrek VII
Dragon Man
Dredmund the Druid
Doctor Druid
Dum Dum Dugan
E
Eel (comics)
Egghead (Marvel Comics)
Ego the Living Planet
Electro (Marvel Comics)
Elektro (comics)
Enchantress (Marvel Comics)
Enclave (comics)
Enforcers (comics)
Eternity (comics)
Executioner (comics)
F
Fafnir (Marvel Comics)
Falcon (comics)
Fancy Dan
Fandral
Fantastic Four
Farley Stillwell
Doctor Faustus (comics)
Femizons
Fenris Wolf (Marvel Comics)
Fin Fang Foom
Richard Fisk
Vanessa Fisk
Fixer (comics)
Funky Flashman
Forbush Man
Bill Foster (comics)
Jane Foster (comics)
Frederick Foswell
Frankenstein's Monster (Marvel Comics)
Freak (Marvel Comics)
Frigga (comics)
Frightful Four
Nick Fury
G
Galactus
Galaxy Master
Mac Gargan
Gargoyle (comics)
Giant-Man
Gibbon (comics)
Gladiator (Melvin Potter)
Goliath (Marvel Comics)
Googam
Goom
Gorgilla
Gorgon (Inhuman)
The Governator
Gregory Gideon
Grey Gargoyle
Jean Grey
Dr. John Grey (comics)
Grizzly (comics)
Groot
Growing Man
The Guardian Project (comics)
H
H.E.R.B.I.E.
Agatha Harkness
Hate-Monger
Hawkeye (comics)
Heimdall (comics)
Hela (comics)
Hera (Marvel Comics)
Hercules (Marvel Comics)
Hermes (Marvel Comics)
High Evolutionary
Hippolyta (Marvel Comics)
Happy Hogan (comics)
Hogun
Hulk (comics)
Human Cannonball (Marvel Comics)
Human Torch
I
Iceman (Marvel Comics)
Idunn (comics)
Immortus
Impossible Man
Inhumans
Invisible Woman
Iron Man
J
Jack Frost (Marvel Comics)
Jack Murdock (comics)
Jackal (Marvel Comics)
J. Jonah Jameson
John Jameson (comics)
Edwin Jarvis
Abner Jenkins
Jester (Marvel Comics)
Gabe Jones
Rick Jones (comics)
Erik Josten
Juggernaut (comics)
Junior Juniper
K
Ka-Zar (comics)
Kaecilius
Kala (comics)
Kaluu
Kang the Conqueror
Kangaroo (comics)
Karnak (comics)
Karnilla
Master Khan
Kid Colt
Kingpin (character)
Klaw (Marvel Comics)
Eric Koenig
Krang (Marvel Comics)
Kraven the Hunter
Kree
L
Laufey (comics)
Leader (comics)
Leap-Frog (comics)
Ned Leeds
Living Brain
Living Laser
Living Tribunal
Lizard (comics)
Lockjaw (comics)
Loki (comics)
Looter (comics)
Lucifer (Marvel Comics)
Willie Lumpkin
M
Machinesmith
Mad Thinker
Madame Masque
Magneto (comics)
Man Mountain Marko
Man-Beast
Man-Thing
Mandarin (comics)
Dino Manelli
Mangog
Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell)
Martha Connors
Marvel Boy
Marvel Boy (Robert Grayson)
Masked Marauder
Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde)
Alicia Masters
Matador (Marvel Comics)
Maximus (comics)
Aunt May
Medusa (comics)
Melter
Mentallo
Mephisto (comics)
Merlin (Marvel Comics)
Metal Master (comics)
Midgard Serpent (Marvel Comics)
Millie the Model
Mimic (comics)
Mindless Ones
Miracle Man
Mister Fantastic
Mister Fear
Mister Hyde (comics)
MODOK
Mole Man
Molecule Man
Molten Man
Monsteroso
Montana (comics)
Baron Mordo
Mordred (comics)
Morgan le Fay (Marvel Comics)
Morrat
Mother Night (comics)
Mysterio
N
Count Nefaria
Foggy Nelson
Night Nurse (comics)
Nightmare (Marvel Comics)
O
Doctor Octopus
Odin (comics)
Olympians (Marvel Comics)
Harry Osborn
Norman Osborn
Overmind (comics)
Owl (Marvel Comics)
Ox (comics)
P
Karen Page
Painter (comics)
Richard and Mary Parker
Pinky Pinkerton
Plantman
Plunderer (comics)
Pluto (Marvel Comics)
Porcupine (comics)
Pepper Potts
Princess Python
Prowler (comics)
Psycho-Man
Puppet Master (Marvel Comics)
Purple Man
Hank Pym
Q
Quasimodo (comics)
Quicksilver (comics)
R
Radioactive Man (comics)
Rebel Ralston
Rattler (comics)
Ravage 2099
Ravonna
Rawhide Kid
Red Barbarian
Red Ghost
Redwing (Marvel Comics)
Rhino (comics)
Franklin Richards (comics)
Ringmaster (comics)
Randy Robertson
Robbie Robertson (comics)
Ronan the Accuser
Betty Ross
Thunderbolt Ross
S
Sandman (Marvel Comics)
Happy Sam Sawyer
Scarecrow (Marvel Comics)
Scarlet Witch
Scorpion (Marvel Comics)
Sentinel (comics)
Sentry (Kree)
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos
Shalla-Bal
She-Hulk
Shocker (comics)
Sif (comics)
Silver Surfer
Silvermane
Sinister Six
Jasper Sitwell
Skrull
Sleeper (Marvel Comics)
Spencer Smythe
Space Phantom
Spider-Man
Spider-Slayer
Spymaster (comics)
George Stacy
Gwen Stacy
Starborn
Stilt-Man
Franklin Storm
Stranger (comics)
Stripperella
Mendel Stromm
Strongman (comics)
Baron Strucker
Super-Adaptoid
Super-Skrull
Supreme Intelligence
Surtur (Marvel Comics)
Swordsman (comics)
T
T'Chaka
Glenn Talbot
Thing (comics)
Flash Thompson
Thor (Marvel Comics)
Tiboro
Tigra
Tinkerer
Titanium Man
Toad (comics)
Trapster
Bolivar Trask
Triton (comics)
Tumbler (comics)
Two-Gun Kid
Tyr (Marvel Comics)
Tyrannus (comics)
U
Uatu
Ulik
Ultimo (Marvel Comics)
Uncle Ben
Unicorn (comics)
Unus the Untouchable
V
Vanisher
Volla (comics)
Volstagg
Vulture (Marvel Comics)
W
Walking Stiletto
Adam Warlock
Warriors Three
Wasp (comics)
Watcher (comics)
Mary Jane Watson
Whiplash (comics)
Whirlwind (comics)
Whiz Wilson
Wyatt Wingfoot
Witness (comics)
Wizard (Marvel Comics)
Wonder Man
Wong (comics)
Wong-Chu
Warren Worthington III
Wrecker (comics)
X
X-Men
Professor X
Xemu (comics)
Y
Yancy Street Gang
Ho Yinsen
Ymir (Marvel Comics)
Yon-Rogg
Yondu
Z
Zabu
Baron Zemo
Heinrich Zemo
Zeus (Marvel Comics)
Zombie (comics)

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Carolina Vargas Reis ART | Toronto, Canada
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