The Soapbox - Similarity

 

"One of the things we try to demonstrate in our yarns is that nobody is all good, or all bad.  Even a shoddy super-villain can have a redeeming trait, just as any howling' hero might have his nutty hangups.  One of the greatest barriers to real peace and justice in this troubled world is the feeling that everyone on the other side of the ideological fence is a 'bad guy'.  We don't know if you're a far-out radical, or Mr. Establishment himself -if you're a black militant or a white liberal - if you're a pantin' protest marcher or a jolly John Bircher - but, whatever you are, don't get bogged down by kindergarten labels!  It's time we learned how fruitless it is to think in terms of us and them - of black and white.  Maybe, just maybe, the other side isn't all bad.  Maybe your own point of view isn't the only one that's divinely inspired.  Maybe we'll never find true understanding until we listen to the other guy; and until we realize that we can never march across the Rainbow Bridge to true Nirvana - unless we do it side-by-side!

Excelsior!

Smiley"

Stan's Soapbox, March 1969

The more things change...

53 years later, we could still heed this advice.

The Soapbox - On Differences

"Bear with me gang.  It's philosophy time again!  I was having a discussion the other day with a professor pal of mine from U.C.L.A. about the so-called 'generation gap,' and I laid a few personal opinions on him that I'd like to share with you.

First, we're never gonna solve the generation gap till we stop seeking the wrong answers to the wrong questions.  Everyone yaps about young people being 'different' nowadays.  Forget it!  Human nature doesn't change.  It's the human condition that changes - it's the environment!  What's happened to us is, the world has been wildly changing, producing new sets of rules each time you blink your eye.  It's the social climate that's been changing, not you 'n me, Bunky!

Here, this'll show what I mean.  Say you've got two homes, a large country estate and a small city apartment.  You play your stereo full blast on your estate, but who cares?  No one can hear it.  You're not disturbing anyone.  But play it just as loud in your small apartment with the paper thin walls and your neighbors wanna clobber you!  You haven't changed.  You're the same yoyo in both places.  But the conditions are different!

The fact is, young people are the same as ever, the same noisy, scroungy, mangy, nutty, wonderful crazies they've always been - and adults are still the same grouchy, grunchy, goopy, hard-pressed and harassed heroes they've always been - and which you'll soon become!  Nothing's change but the labels.  Which leads to point #2 -

None of us is all that different from each other.  We all want essentially the same things outta life - a measure of security, some fun, some romance, friendship, and the respect of our contemporaries.  That goes for Indians, Chinese, Russians, Jews, Arabs, Catholics, Protestants, blacks, browns, whites, and green-skinned Hulks.  So why don't we all stop wasting time hating the 'other' guys.  Just look in the mirror, mister - that other guy is you!

Excelsior!"

Stan Lee, Stan's Soapbox, February 1980

The Soapbox - Being Right

"These brief, random thoughts are being written just a short time after the Attica State Prison tragedy.  Now I've no intention of imposing my own opinions upon you about which side, which party or parties might have been right or wrong.  Instead, I'd like to discuss the theory of 'right or wrong' itself.  Is it possible that too much harm, too much injustice has been caused in the name of 'right' - in the pursuit of combating 'wrong?'  In every human conflict, isn't each disputant completely convinced that his particular cause is wholly 'right' while the opposing viewpoint is totally 'wrong?'  And, armed with the sense of being 'in the right,' don't we dogmatically attempt to impose our own will upon those who hold different convictions?  But, what if we had no such hang-ups about right and wrong?  What if we were to remember that what's right for here may be wrong for there?  In fact, what's right for you may be wrong for me - and what's right for today may be wrong for some other time.  'Right' to a liberal is politically 'wrong' to a conservative, just as 'right' to a labor leader can be 'wrong' to an industrialist, or 'right' to a child can seem 'wrong' to a parent.  Yet, I wonder what life would be like if we weren't so preoccupied with proving ourselves right and the other guy wrong.  I wonder if we might not find the peace, the understanding we all seek by striving to relate to each other, to sympathize with each other's problems, to reach out to those who may differ from ourselves and to realize that they too may be 'right' in their own way, from their own point of reference.  I wonder - mightn't it be worth a try?

Excelsior!"

Stan Lee, Stan's Soapbox, 1972

 A little primer for an upcoming blog today.  While it gets a little to close to relativism, the sentiment remains true.  The part in bold in particular.  We are all far too concerned with being right.  For believers, there are too many of us more concerned with being "right" than being righteous.  And it's time for change.

To be continued...

Stan's Soapbox

Yesterday, I received my copy of the collected Stan's Soapbox from the Hero Initiative*.  I cannot tell you how excited I am for this to have arrived.  And if you want a look at an inspiration for this Assorted Mitchellany and all it has been, look no further than the Soapbox.

Stan's Soapbox was a column in Marvel Comics written by Stan Lee that ran from May 1967 through August 1980 (hmmh, something special about that particular month).  Through the years, 144 entries and musings in the Soapbox; 46,728 words, with only 15 months missed and 1 doubling.  The Soapbox was part marketing, part musing, part hokum, and part soapbox.  It was the place for Stan to be Stan and to speak directly to the reader.

See, readers of comics knew this Stan.  Not just the Stan of cameos, but the Stan that made them feel a part of the club.  The Soapbox was where Stan invited you into the clubhouse.  That urged you to become a Marvel Zombie, to join the Merry Marching Marvel Society or Friends of Old Marvel. He wrote as if he were speaking directly to you.  And for kids that felt that they never fit in at home, at school, in their town, this sense of community was a godsend.

While the Soapbox was most often used to alert readers of new Marvel titles, great Marvel offerings, and the like, it was also Stan's forum to address social issues.  To address current events.  To speak truth into that idea that doing something simply because it is good and the right thing to do is sufficient. That true super-heroics need no other justification.  And that we can be heroic in the world around us.

In the days after his passing, a soapbox that Stan used to speak out against bigotry circulated through various channels.  It's a great one and I do suggest checking it out.  We need that same sense today and for always.

But I'd like to end with one of my other favorite Soapboxes.  On the power of love.

Another reminder why Stan is, and will always be, the Man!

"For many years we've been trying, in our own bumbling way, to illustrate that love is a far greater force, a far greater power than hate.  Now we don't mean you're expected to go around like a pirouetting Pollyanna, tossing posies at everyone who passes by, but we do want to make a point.  Let's consider three men:  Buddha, Christ, and Moses...  men of peace, whose thoughts and deeds have influenced countless millions throughout the ages - and whose presence still is felt in every corner of the earth.  Buddha, Christ and Moses...  men of good will, men of tolerance, and especially men of love.  Now, consider the practitioner's of hate who have sullied the pages of history.  Who still venerates their words?  Where is homage still paid to their memory?  What banners still are raised to their cause?  The power of love - and the power of hate.  Which is truly enduring?  When you tend to despair... let the answer sustain you.

                    Excelsior!
                              Smiley"

* - for fans of popular culture, Marvel, super-heroes, and comic books, the Hero Initiative is a wonderful charitable organization designed to help provide financial aid, emergency medical aid funds, and an avenue back to work to aging and retired comic creators.  We can all be a hero to those creators that were our heroes.  Check it out at their website here.

Stan Lee

Stan Lee passed away today at the age of 95.

I knew this day was coming and was still not ready for it.  It's been a hard year for comic fans, losing many legendary creators.  Steve Ditko, Marie Severin, Harlan Ellison, Norm Breyfogle.  But this one hits the hardest.

Stan truly was the Man.  An American comic-book writer, editor, film executive produced, actor, and publisher.  He was the first editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and has been its publisher, chairman, and chairman emeritus.  Of late, he has been known for his cameo appearances in the Marvel Studios films.  It was great to see how he appreciated his creations being brought to life on screen.

While Stan may have gotten more than his share of the credit of the creation of Marvel characters over time by virtue of his visual presence, his contributions to the art form are unparalleled.  Stan brought character to comic books.  He brought real struggles and emotion to comic creations, grounding the Marvel Universe in 1960s New York.  And though it was Spider-man's motto, you could see the mantra "with great power there must always be great responsibility" throughout his work.

More than anything else, Stan was always comics greatest advocate and cheerleader.  A born showman with a bit of P.T. Barnum huckster, Stan knew how to evangelize his art form.  Always the optimist, he was simply a great personality.

I had the pleasure of getting a signature and a picture with the legend a few years ago.  I remember thinking at the time how frail he looked, but he just kept bopping along, smiling and going through the thousands of signatures and photographs that day.

Stan always used the word Excelsior! to sign off.  He took it from Arthurian legend, stating it meant "onward and upward to greater glory."

Rest in Peace Stan.  Excelsior!