Excelsior!: Stan Lee Wins Medal of Arts Honor
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| Photo courtesy POW! Entertainment |
Today, Stan Lee, quite possibly the biggest name in comics, was awarded the National Medal of Arts. In the 1960s, Lee built the success of Marvel Comics on the backs of his famous characters: Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Fantastic Four, and The X-Men, among many others who are still followed today by millions of fans. Rather than mimic his contemporaries with stalwart, righteous super-heroes, Stan Lee created flawed characters who instantly tapped into the growing pains of his readership.
Known for his enthusiastic approach to narration, Lee was his usual chatty, sarcastic self about the award in an interview with the Washington Post:
"I wonder what took so long," said Lee, 85, in an interview Sunday. "Say 'He said it with a laugh' or I'll shoot you."
The award is selected by the National Endowment for the Arts and was presented to Lee by President Bush. According to the NEA website, “The National Medal of Arts is the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the United States Government.” ‘Nuff said!
More on Stan Lee’s contributions to the medium can be found in the thorough Marvel Visionaries: Stan Lee retrospective. Congratulations, Stan.
Ray Ciscon on November 18, 2008 at 12:36 PM
It's about time!
Comic Books are modern mythology. As long as Marvel maintains the quality they've shown with their recent movie releases, the legacy of Stan Lee will live on for generations to come.
Now if they would only give a posthumous one to Jack Kirby, and they might as well give one to Steve Ditko while they're at it.
Congrats to Stan, he deserves it.
on November 18, 2008 at 12:50 PM
Hi Ray. Kirby is certainly due for more recognition, agreed. There are quite a few Collected Kirby editions out there, and DC will release a collection of Kirby's Demon stories this month. A great bio/retrospective coffee-table book on Ditko released a few months ago from Fantagraphics. It's a good time to be a comics fan.
Grantman on November 18, 2008 at 01:39 PM
I second the comments on Kirby and Ditko. A triumvirate of awesome proportion! I remember switching from DC to Marvel and never looked back.
James Jones on November 18, 2008 at 02:21 PM
I join the chorus of congratulations for Mr. Lee, and advocacy for Kirby and Ditko, hoping that we can add Jim Steranko to the list as well.
Eric j on November 18, 2008 at 04:45 PM
I also agree that Kirby deserves a posthumous piece of this medal, but Ditko would likely reject it as an ideologically dubious proposition for the Government to be granting it's imprimatur to particular artists.
John Bezold on November 18, 2008 at 07:17 PM
Congrats to Stan ..Nothing comes close to the magic he, along with my favorite Jack Kirby , Steve Ditko & company created in the 60's...I use to think that Stan & Jack were the Lennon/McCartney of comics. Now, and not to diminish the many accomplishments of the Beatles, think that John and Paul were in actuality the Lee/Kirby of the music industry. I agree it's a wonderful time to be a comics fan. Thanks Stan
James on November 19, 2008 at 10:10 AM
STAN the MAN....his new company POW! is going to explode like Marvel did.