A Tribute to Stan Lee and Lessons I Learnt from Him

I just got to know that Stan Lee has passed away.  Felt motivated to write this article after a short break.

Stan, you have brought joy, fantasy and aspirations to millions, young and old, through your wonderful creations.  Through your comics and movies, you have made people to believe that there is a hero in everyone of us; and hope and victory, despite how dark things may seem to be, can still emerge.

It was shocking to see that Ironman, that handsome high-tech billionaire playboy (I would gladly settle for just 1 attribute no need all 4) suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (“PTSD”) after the aliens invasion.  He was even about to give up his suit and gave it to a random boy.  This is ludicrous!!  Any third party onlooker would point their nasty fingers and judge him that “hey come on get a grip! dont you know your responsibilites blah blah blah!!??”  Many grumbled that those scenes depicting his PTSD are boring and not “Ironman-like”.  However, I found them the most meaningful and happy for such a storyline.  I am sure many mental health sufferers would agree too.

It was clearly portrayed that even superheroes have their limits and began their journey spiraling downwards. .  Their species may be human, gods (eg. Thor, Ragnarok), mutants (well technically still humans), racoons and whatnot.  At some time in their superhero career, they burnout.  They start to question their own identity.  Are they doing enough?  Are they doing too much?  Do others appreciate and recognize what they had done? Are they causing more damage than they should?  What is right?  What is wrong?  They wonder WTF is going on, like a freaking mid life crisis.

Even the Hulk was filled with fear and lost self-confidence for the first time when he was defeated swiftly by Thanos.  Unbelievable!  I uttered “Oh my God!” when i saw that. After that 1 defeat, he couldn’t even mustered enough courage to activate himself to be huge and green again but has to embarrassingly put on Ironman’s hulkbuster suit to defend against Thanos armies.  That green unbeatable beast hid inside Bruce as a coward and refused to come out! Unbelievable!  And thats the very suit that Ironman manufactured to fight the Hulk in the first place!  What an irony!  If that is not great shame I dont know what is.

PTSD.  Fear.  Depression.  Self-doubt.  Disappointment.  Betrayed.  Anger at oneself for not able to do anything.  Losing self-confidence.  Shame.  Guilt.  Wanting to resign from Avengers.  Despair.  Repentance.  Asking for forgiveness for destruction caused.  (note- list not exhaustive)

Every mental state stated above was experienced by at least 1 superhero that Stan illustrated.  

Unlike in a movie, there is no inspiring background music that gives you goosebumps or creatively directed cinematography to showcase one’s victory and make whoever watching you go “whoa!! yr so cool!!”.  Reality is you alone sitting on a bench in a park staring blankly at a random spot while waiting for the nicotine in that 15th cigarette you had smoked that afternoon to flood your system to numb those painful emotions and thoughts that assailed you wave after wave.

In that state, one will never believe that be it 2 months, 2 years or even 20 years, it is actually possible to slowly but painfully crawl out of that hellhole.

Take your time for sanity to return.  You are not in a race, not even against yourself.  Once sanity returns, first things first.  Whats the right thing to do now?  “Now” as in at this moment.  Not tomorrow or next week.  After whats done now, then another “now” moment. Then another.  Just like I am typing now, all i care about now is my grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary and how to convey it in my own style.  This is especially so when crawling out of a mental hellhole, its 1 baby step at a time.  Thats how progress is made.

Courage is not without fear.  Its experiencing fear feeling that deathly cold skeletal fingers gripping your throat but do whatever needs to be done anyway, centimeter by centimeter.  (for Americans reading this, inch by inch)

Anyone who did or is currently doing so, has already been reborn as a hero.

I am a hero.  And so are you.

Rest in peace, Stan. You are that hero that bring forth that hero in everyone of us.

#Excelsior

#stanlee

#marvel