Thursday, November 15, 2018

Non-Episode #5 - Rest in Peace, Stan Lee

Hi folks. I'm sick, so I won't get a new episode up this week. Like swollen lymph nodes in my neck, crackling ear, whisper-quiet voice, went-home-early-with-a-fever sick.  It sucks.

I know that if I don't write this, then by the time I record next week I'll forget to mention that Stan Lee passed away. That's no slight on Stan. I've just got a terrible short term memory.

Stan Lee, of course, invented everything you love (alongside Jack Kirby--who more people need to mention in their tributes because Stan sure as hell would have). His name is synonymous with the word "Marvel" and probably the best part of watching the movies in recent years has been watching closely, looking for Stan's cameo.

There's not going to be another Stan cameo.

The Stan cameo probably started out of necessity when he'd provide narration to the old cartoon shows. Long before I had any idea who he was, I was watching Saturday morning cartoons and would hear this guy with a deeply resonant, professorial voice introducing Spider-Man and signing his name to each show. Later in life, I saw his name on a comic and still unclear on who he was I thought, "The narrator guy from the cartoons?"  Somewhere in my teen years I guess it probably clicked. I definitely understood the impact when he showed up in "Mallrats" and put Brodie on the right path.

In the comic world, I was always more of a DC guy. Mostly because Batman. And the Flash...but Batman. But in the late 00s and early Teens, Batman took what I felt was a turn for the worse (to be saved by Scott Snyder's run at a later date). I not only wasn't enjoying Batman in that time, I didn't even UNDERSTAND it. It was weird and disjointed and I wasn't feeling it. I missed my gritty, urban, tough as hell BATMAN that I'd known my entire life.  And I stopped reading it.  Needing something to fill the void, I turned to a character who ticked all of those boxes.  Who?  Black Panther, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

When Batman wasn't Batman to me, one of Stan's creations kept me reading funny books. And I kept reading Black Panther up until they ended the title (pre-movie, of course). I owe him for that.

I lost touch with the Marvel movies. The last one I saw was Guardians of the Galaxy 1. It's been a minute. Mostly I just don't have anybody in my life with whom I regularly go to movies and I don't like going by myself. I also just don't think about it much. It seems like there's a new major Marvel movie coming out every time I blink and once I got behind it was easier to just stop caring. Don't get me wrong--I'm sure they're great and it's a fulfilling experience for all of you who've kept up. But at this point the only way I can envision myself catching up on it is if I start dating someone and it's important to her. Then I'll have it sorted in like a week...but as it is, I've missed a lot of the past 4 years of projects that got Stan's blessing. Oops.

(Holy crap...since Guardians in 2014 there have been 16 goddamn movies. In four years. How are all of you doing this? You're rich, right? You're all rich? And have endless time? At 2 hours per movie and an estimate of $12 per movie ticket that would be 32 hours and $192. Wow. That's...that's how you've spent 32 hours and $192, before BluRay or streaming media hours/money is counted. But who am I to judge? I once spent $150 to see the Spice Girls. Good seats though. Good seats.)

Sorry for whatever the hell I was trying to prove there.

Stan Lee left a mark on the world in a way that made it a brighter, more fun, more entertaining place. Not everybody does that. Most of us don't even TRY to do that. He was an once in a lifetime personality. The good news is, our lifetimes got to intersect with him. The bad news is, he was our only one.

I think I worded it pretty well on my Facebook page on the day Stan died:
I'd suggest raising a toast to all of the characters Stan Lee created, but your liver would be shot by the end of that. So instead I'm going to suggest that we all go out and make something to share with the world. Be creative, do stuff, share it. That'd be a damn fine tribute.

So...go do that, I guess.

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Check us out next time. Should be able to talk next week, and I hope to do an episode all about Kurt Vonnegut, because I released my album of songs inspired by his work this week. Which I definitely should promote on the show once I can record it, I guess.

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