On Monday, Stan Lee, the co-creator of Spider-Man, The Hulk and many other superheroes, passed away at the age of 95. Since his death, there's been a flood of condolence, tribute and thanks for the man that basically created the Marvel Universe. Aside from one newspaper mistaking him for Spike Lee, the remembrance has been touching. Marvel added their very own tribute to the list with this video:
The video praises Lee's legacy as the creator of a universe that has outlived him and likely will outlive many others, but also as a compassionate person driven to make change in the world. They laud him for his commitment to diversity (he created Black Panther in the 60s) and also his belief that a superhero shouldn't be all-powerful, flawless or, in other words, inhuman (*cough* Superman), but rather should be a flawed person who people can relate to. In many of the older comics, Lee would also write a column called "Stan's Soapbox" where he would just give his opinion on basically anything, trying to talk directly to the reader and make them feel like an "old friend." In one such column, that resurfaced after his death, he wrote:
Bigotry and racism are among the deadliest social ills plaguing the world today. But, unlike, a team of costumed super-villains, they can’t be halted with a punch in the snoot, or a zap from a ray gun. The only way to destroy them is to expose them — to reveal them for the insidious evils they really are.
