Sean Kleefeld
Liberty Township, Ohio

Stan Lee. His name is synonymous with comic books.

I grew up long after Stan had made that name for himself. In fact, by the time I started reading comics with any regularity, he had had five or six successors as Marvel's editor-in-chief! But as I became acquainted with comic history, I came to know Stan as the grand marshal of all things comic. In my youthful enthusiasm, I easily bought into the hype that surrounded him.

As I grew older, I read more. More of his work, more work about him. I became familiar with his alliterative style and his naturally charming penchant for marketing. And I started to hear about "revisionists" who claimed Stan did nothing, he merely stole credit from great artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. Still fairly na've, I bought into those arguments.

But I continued to read and learn. I began to find the lives of comic creators and the creative process almost more interesting than the adventures they published every month.

And I started thinking for myself.

Maybe neither of those groups were right. Maybe Stan didn't create everything by himself, but maybe he didn't swoop in to steal credit at every opportunity either. Maybe he was a guy trying to squeak out a living writing comic books, and wound up as a figurehead for the company and later the industry.

But whatever his exact role in comicdom, I do know one thing: Stan Lee was in the thick of it. He was there, day in and day out, working on comic books as devotedly as anyone else in the business. He helped define the medium, even if we can't define his role in it.

To this day, I take notes from Stan. I try to use his exuberant style in inter-office communications for exactly the same reasons he used it with comic-book fans. I try to make every meeting we have -- no matter how insignificant -- to have the power and drama of a Stan Lee comic. I try to put good people on the job and let them churn out quality work. I try to live my professional life in much the way that Stan led his.

Comic books have been the one constant in my life since before I could actually read the words in them. And I owe some measure of thanks -- I'm not sure I'll ever know exactly how much -- but I owe some measure of thanks to Stan "The Man" Lee for teaching me to Face Front and Hang Loose.