Excelsior and Imperius Rex

Jack Kirby and Stan Lee (Marvel Silver Age)

The laudatory obituaries are piling up for Stan Lee (1922-2018), but I confess that I didn't immediately take to the new Marvel Comics that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby launched in 1961.

For one thing I couldn't afford to buy more comic books. Most of my allowance was already committed to the DC lineup.

Stan Lee's innovations: Fan Pages and Bullpen Bulletins (Giant-Size Marvel blog)

Second, some of Marvel's heroes were too similar to DC's, e.g., Marvel's Mr. Fantastic and Sub-mariner seemed like knock-offs of DC's Elongated Man and Aquaman.

Third, kids who read and re-read their precious purchases notice things like paper and ink quality; DC's was better.

Fourth, too many of Marvel's stories were "to be continued", meaning that I had to buy the next issue to see how the story turned out. (To save money I learned to speed-read at the comic-book stand without buying them...sorry about that, Woolworth's!)

A few years later after-school and summer jobs gave me the wherewithal to sample more of Marvel's products. Favorites were Spider-man and the Fantastic Four, which hooked me with the 1966 three-part series on Galactus, the unstoppable planet destroyer.

I also liked the fan letter pages and previews of upcoming issues. IMHO, the dense text, more than the angst-ridden Marvel heroes, showed that comic book fans were capable of looking past the pretty pictures.

To Stan Lee we say Excelsior! and Imperius Rex! R.I.P.