On November 12th, Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee passed away at the age of 95. An icon in pop-culture, Stan Lee was much loved by his fans due to the personal nature of his writing, whether it be his rallying cry of "Excelsior" that ended each of his Stan's Soapbox pieces where he would address the Mighty Marvel fellowship every month, or his myriad colourful characters that captured the imagination. His appearances in film and television, not least in the company's more recent Marvel Cinematic Universe film projects, has made him a familiar face to many as a figurehead of the comics industry. His influence is hard to pin down to exact numbers, but there can't be many people who haven't been touched by his work and boundless energy.
This brings me on to the focus of this piece. Whilst his influence in the West is well known, he has also had a hand in some Japanese projects to mixed success.
There have been, of course, translations of Stan Lee's creations in Japan, from the Spider-Man manga from 1970 by Ryoichi Ikegami through to more recent anime adaptations of Iron Man and the X-Men, but he also co-created some series that were intended for both Japanese and Western audiences.
The manga Heroman was penned by Stan Lee and released in 2009 as a manga series in Square Enix's Shōnen Gangan magazine. It has many superhero tropes, as a young man named Joey defends the Earth from a powerful race of cockroach-style aliens with a broken down robot that, once struck by lightning, becomes the titular giant mech tasked with defending the Earth alongside our young hero. The mix of ordinary youngster blessed with access to mighty powers in order to fight the forces of evil may not belong to Stan Lee exclusively, but it has plenty of his excitable charm - enough to lead to anime adaptation by renowned studio, Bones, which debuted in 2010.
In 2017, the Stan Lee/Hiroshi Nagahama (Mushishi) co-production, The Reflection, was first aired, funded by Crunchyroll and a once again recounting the tale of various individuals granted superhuman powers following a mysterious event. Stan Lee offers himself up as a villain in the series, appearing (and voicing) as himself with the alter-ego Mr Mystic. Unfortunately the series, animated by Fate's Studio DEEN, has not found much favour with fans, which is disappointing given that it is now his final Japanese co-venture.
Ending on a high, a personal favourite. With an original concept by Stan Lee, Ultimo featured a refined story and artwork by Heroyuki Takei (best known for Shaman King). The series was kickstarted by a request from Dream Ranch to collaborate on a series, and so Stan conceptualised a series about two robots of the same level of power, an idea that was new to him. About the series, Stan Lee was quoted as saying:
I am deeply honored for this great opportunity to collaborate with an award-winning artist/writer of the stature of Hiroyuki Takei. I enthusiastically expect that the combination of an American story-telling style merged with Takei-san's acclaimed Japanese style will result in our joint creation Ultimo presenting an original, exciting type of manga that will appeal to comic book fans around the world.
Once again, Stan Lee himself is revealed as the main villain of the series with a design I can only describe as awesome! The manga has filled 12 volumes and although the series is out of print, I can only hope for a re-release so it can once again find a wide audience.
Despite some of the controversy regarding his care in recent years, Stan Lee will be best remembered as one of the planets greatest entertainers, a man with an incredible enthusiasm for his work and love for his fans - a creator of legends for the modern era that will, much like mythical figures of ancient times, remain with us as a species through countless generations. Few people get to leave such an indelible mark upon the world, but his absence will be felt globally. As much a titan as his own creations.
Excelsior Stan Lee, you will be missed but never forgotten.
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