RIP, Stan Lee

Stan Lee with Marvel’s Beatles Story.

November 12, 2018, 95 year old Stan Lee passed away, the year after his British-born wife had died. Born in 1922, Lee was the brains behind the Marvel Comics many superheroes, co-creating many of the characters which today are well known movie and TV heroes, like Spider-Man, the X-Men, The Avengers and Daredevil.

For years, the Beatles made cameo appearances in Marvel Comics, and in 1978, Marvel published the Beatles’ story in comic book form.

The Beatles Story

David Anthony Kraft wrote the script and the drawings were done by a couple of future superstar artists: George Perez and Klaus Janson.

Back in 2005, Stan suggested a collaboration for Ringo. Stan the man wanted to make a superhero of him. It was going to be an animated series, which Ringo would voice. The two of them made headlines that day, but nothing came of it. At the time, Stan said: “Ringo is beloved worldwide for his commitment to people and his singular wit. Our Ringo superhero character will combine these qualities, along with secret powers which people generally didn’t know about because he has kept them secret, until now.”

In 2012, Stan remembered what happened: “We were going to do something together–an animated cartoon, he wanted to be a superhero. Ringo, you’re a sweet guy–you ain’t no superhero. But we were going to come up with something funny. The best thing that came out of it was that we took a photo where I’m playing the drums and he’s reading Spider-Man. We had four or five meetings. I had a bunch of ideas, he didn’t like ’em–he had a bunch of ideas that were horrible! We just didn’t make it. We’re good friends, but we’ve never done anything.”

Ringo reads up on Spider-Man as Stan Lee takes care of the drums.

Apparently, Stan had pitched the same idea to Paul McCartney. Paul said this when remembering Stan: “I was  lucky enough to meet him. He came over to my office and we sat around for a while chatting about comic books and my admiration for his work. Actually he was suggesting making a superhero who would wield a Höfner bass guitar. The guitar would have super powers and we spent some time imaging what those could be. He had a great sense of humour and I must say the idea of becoming a guitar wielding superhero in one of his comic books was very appealing.”

Paul McCartney and Stan Lee met up again during Superbowl

McCartney, who was the comic book fan among the Beatles, once composed a song featuring two Marvel characters, “Magneto and Titanium Man”.

Wings performed “Magneto and Titanium Man” during their world tour of 1975-76 featuring Jack Kirby’s drawings as backdrop.

Beginning with the first Spider-Man film in 2002, Stan Lee has made cameos in Marvel films, the last of which was in the current movie, “Venom”. This was actually part of his contract, a special clause in the agreement specifies that Stan must appear in any film based on one of his characters.

Pop culture wouldn’t have been what it is today without Stan “the man” Lee. Excelsior!