The list of people who’ve influenced my work is long. But somewhere near the top, you’d find Stan Lee.

It’s been said that Stan Lee’s greatest creation wasn’t Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, The Hulk or any of the other Marvel characters. It was Stan Lee himself.

The things he said and wrote about the Marvel Universe (and himself) were as entertaining as any of his characters. His hype was so over the top, irreverent and good-natured that you knew he wasn’t taking himself seriously.

As a kid, I was firmly hooked on the heroics and drama of the Marvel Characters. But it was Stan’s sense of humor that—without me even realizing it—probably influenced me the most.

Apparently, with great power comes great humor…if you’re Stan Lee.

(To read about how I met Stan, check out my blogpost here. And for further giggles you can read another Last Kiss comic featuring Stan here.)

Original art from First Kiss #40 (1965) minus the Stan Lee head by John Romita, Sr. This gag first appeared in Comics Buyer’s Guide—where Last Kiss appears every month.

Transcript:

SCENE: Stan Lee and a young female companion enter a room where people are celebrating Stan’s birthday.
STAN’S FEMALE COMPANION: It’s like this everywhere!zzit’s as if someone declared today National Stan Lee Day!

STAN: I asked for “International,” but…maybe next year!

This comic originally ran on Dec. 28, 2012 to commemorate Stan Lee’s 90th birthday. Rest in piece and Face Front, True Believer!

Stan by John Romita, Sr. © Marvel Characters Inc Rest by Vince Colletta Studio Color by Diego Jourdan Pereira

Art Code: 40.1.8.1.DJP.lk28