Stan Lee – Jim Keefe

I was fortunate enough to meet Stan Lee when I was working on staff at King Features Syndicate back in the 1990s. He was a young 75 years old at the time with the energy of someone in their thirties.

When I read the letter I got from him later I can hear that definitive way he had of speaking… “Excelsior!”

I’ve been reading a lot of similar letters online since his passing. Stan Lee consistently took the time over the years to write these kind of notes encouraging others in the business. Something quite out of the ordinary for someone with his fame.

An amazing and iconic man who will be sorely missed…

For more on Stan Lee I’d recommend the following two books.
(Click on the image for a link to Amazon.com)

When the Spider-Man newspaper strip came out in the late 1970s I was 11 years old. Out came the scrapbook and scissors and I started collecting.

The following are a few of the holiday strips Stan Lee and John Romita did for the strip. Please excuse the slight yellowing that comes with age and rubber cement.

The first is dated 12/18/1977.

The second one is for 12/25/1977 – Christmas day.
This one, which was shot from the original, I found over at ripjaggerdojo.blogspot.com

And last but not least…

So remember when Peter was a DJ for Flash Thompson and Harry Osborn’s disco night club, Perdition? This one is from December 24, 1978 – when disco was king.

I always loved how Stan Lee and John Romita touched base like this in real time on the holidays. It was a great way to connect to the readers.

And with that said – Happy holidays web-slingers all!