I’m not going to bore you with numbers and statistics. I’m not going to go over sales figures either. What I’m going to talk about in our Tuesday blog is the effect of Marvel Comics on fans like me. I’ve been a ‘Marvel Man’ for as long as I can remember, I just liked the characters better.
It’s said that while DC created the superhero, Marvel perfected the medium. They did this by focusing on the inner workings and motivations behind characters along with the flash of super powers. The characters were young and troubled with inner demons and troubled relationships all in an effort to make them more compelling and the effects were felt right away.
According to a special 70th Anniversary magazine produced by Marvel, the company toiled in DC’s shadow for years until Stan Lee was given a chance to change Marvel Comics forever. His efforts to reinvigorate the industry were realized and the rest is history.
The reason I’m a comic book fan in general is that I’m a sucker for never ending stories. Marvel has an exhaustive narrative that is engrossing and fun. It has been extremely special to read along with such great adventures for the last 20+ years and follow such characters as Spider-Man, Thor and Captain America. Their stories have become the stuff of legend and with the recent amount of comic book based movies we can see that comics are still a driving force behind pop culture.
For all the great things that Marvel has done over the last 70 years there is one man that can never get enough thanks, Stan Lee. Lee is the creative mastermind behind several of Marvels marquee characters. It’s his vision of what a comic book universe should be like that is still considered the Marvel way. His limitless energy and showmanship has made Marvel a juggernaut of creative output and we all owe him a big thanks.
I’m well aware that the history of Marvel isn’t all pixie sticks and cap guns, there were bad times. Like when Jack Kirby split from the company under the midst of internal turmoil. I just prefer to look back at the good times if I’m going to look back at all.
The biggest contribution that Marvel made to the comic world is simple, they made mistakes. They paved the road that other companies use to tell their stories. If Marvel hadn’t forged ahead into what was then uncharted territory then you wouldn’t have companies like Image breaking new barriers with their storytelling.
Marvel taught us how to build a cohesive comic book universe with a narrative that will stand the test of time. They taught us enthusiasm for a newer form of fiction that has limitless possibilities. They also showed us that life was not perfect and that our problems wouldn’t always be easily solved, but that with effort and perseverance we could overcome any obstacle.
What saddens me about comics today is that we’ve seemingly forgotten two things: The core audience and messages that can be imparted on the those readers. I’m not a part of the core audience of Marvel comics, I’m too old. I’ve always contended that comics are for the young and that they teach kids all kinds of valuable lessons on morality. Comics as a teaching tool have been lost on a generation that could care less about lessons about right and wrong in their fictional stories, a generation that truly has been desensitized by the amount of violence they see in life and on TV.
My real hope is that Marvel continues to tell stories that inspire teens to reach great heights, or at the very least fill their lives with wonder and amazement like it did for me all those years ago. Spider-Man is more than a cool character, he’s Peter Parker a complete person that you can root as he struggles with problems that some of us can relate to.
Even though some of the magic is gone for me, the magic is still there for a younger generation. The first 70 years of Marvel have had their ups and downs but in the end it has been wonderful. Here’s to Marvel and the stories they will tell in the future.
