It continues to amaze me how the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to (mostly) kick-a$$ at the box office. Between that, the Star Wars reboot, and all the Superhero TV shows, it's like the golden age for SciFi tweens.
To save me from going thru the comments, when was 10 years old joel?
I was a Marvel fan during the Bronze Age of comics, when they were 25¢, which seemed like a sweet spot, and gave up with they went to 40¢. I attribute my fast reading speed to a combination of comic books and stinginess, I would get to the rack and read thru a comic book before the clerk could go back to chase me away. Been poised to get a subscription to Marvel unlimited, but will probably wait for a bit longer. While Stan Lee was still a presence, it seemed to be a little less than in the 12 and 15¢ days.
I was a Silver Age guy, and let me tell you, when they jumped from 10¢ to 12¢, it was painful. On topic, Marvel was a revelation after the DC characters and writing at the time.
Fantastic Four and Iron Man
and then the introduction of Spider Man,
a _teen_age_ superhero with *angst*,
just when I was old enough to think
teenagers were cool.
I'm sorry to say that I rarely ever bought one: I often read the entire rack while loitering at the Clifton's supermarket magazine display, sometimes for hours.
A year or so later, I used my paper-route money to subscribe to Al Gaines's MAD Magazine, and learned to spell axolotl. Was a subscriber for years, probably until high school.
"Stan Lee, who died yesterday at age 95, is a topic that attracts obsessive nerds. Nerdery inspires a hunger to have a deeper, more complicated opinion than the standard one non-obsessives might have. In Lee's case that normal opinion is probably best expressed as 'Stan Lee was awesome, the prime driving force of the wonderful Marvel Comics universe, which has understandably brought joy to millions in comic books and now in our most popular motion pictures.'" Why Stan Lee's Flaws Were Part of His Virtues: Less creator than editor, pathetic company man, purveyor of childish nonsense? No amount of next-level quasi-sophisticated Stan Lee critique can avoid the proper conclusion: He was the Man.
When I was 10, Stan's Soapbox was my favorite part of any Marvel comic. Slang! Sarcasm! Self-deprecating-humor! Hyperbole! it was a revelation.
Ave atque vale.
Posted by: joel hanes | November 12, 2018 at 08:04 PM
You go Stan.
It continues to amaze me how the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to (mostly) kick-a$$ at the box office. Between that, the Star Wars reboot, and all the Superhero TV shows, it's like the golden age for SciFi tweens.
Meanwhile I'm bald.
Posted by: Ugh | November 13, 2018 at 07:45 AM
To save me from going thru the comments, when was 10 years old joel?
I was a Marvel fan during the Bronze Age of comics, when they were 25¢, which seemed like a sweet spot, and gave up with they went to 40¢. I attribute my fast reading speed to a combination of comic books and stinginess, I would get to the rack and read thru a comic book before the clerk could go back to chase me away. Been poised to get a subscription to Marvel unlimited, but will probably wait for a bit longer. While Stan Lee was still a presence, it seemed to be a little less than in the 12 and 15¢ days.
Posted by: liberal japonicus | November 13, 2018 at 08:12 AM
I was a Silver Age guy, and let me tell you, when they jumped from 10¢ to 12¢, it was painful. On topic, Marvel was a revelation after the DC characters and writing at the time.
Posted by: Michael Cain | November 13, 2018 at 09:06 AM
> When was 10
1963
Fantastic Four and Iron Man
and then the introduction of Spider Man,
a _teen_age_ superhero with *angst*,
just when I was old enough to think
teenagers were cool.
Posted by: joel hanes | November 13, 2018 at 11:04 AM
when they jumped from 10¢ to 12¢
I'm sorry to say that I rarely ever bought one: I often read the entire rack while loitering at the Clifton's supermarket magazine display, sometimes for hours.
A year or so later, I used my paper-route money to subscribe to Al Gaines's MAD Magazine, and learned to spell axolotl. Was a subscriber for years, probably until high school.
Posted by: joel hanes | November 13, 2018 at 11:10 AM
I have often said, in complete seriousness, that Stan Lee was the most influential moral philosopher of our time.
Posted by: CJColucci | November 13, 2018 at 12:37 PM
"Stan Lee, who died yesterday at age 95, is a topic that attracts obsessive nerds. Nerdery inspires a hunger to have a deeper, more complicated opinion than the standard one non-obsessives might have. In Lee's case that normal opinion is probably best expressed as 'Stan Lee was awesome, the prime driving force of the wonderful Marvel Comics universe, which has understandably brought joy to millions in comic books and now in our most popular motion pictures.'"
Why Stan Lee's Flaws Were Part of His Virtues: Less creator than editor, pathetic company man, purveyor of childish nonsense? No amount of next-level quasi-sophisticated Stan Lee critique can avoid the proper conclusion: He was the Man.
Posted by: CharlesWT | November 13, 2018 at 01:04 PM