Two months ago Stan Lee, creator of the Hulk, or La Masa as I knew him in the 1970s, died, but he also created Spiderman, Thor, The Avengers and The Fantastic Four.
I have to say that I didn't know who Stan Lee was until many years ago, too many perhaps, but his stories contributed to my having a more transient childhood in the hard years of boarding school.
Looking back over his biography, I read that he wanted to be a writer of successful novels, but never succeeded and dedicated his life to creating one of the most important superhero sagas in comic history; something for which he will always be remembered and for which we can never stop thanking him.
As I said I was an unconditional fan of Hulk, the comic I read the most in my childhood, along with Spiderman and Thor.
I remember that to buy them I collected the little money I made selling copper, lead and cardboard. After reading them, I exchanged them with friends and continued reading the saga of my favorite superhero.
I won't forget that my years at boarding school were spent reading Stan Lee's comics and that I also spent telling his stories to my boarding school classmates. I still remember sitting them at snack time and while they ate the chocolate bread and drank a bag of three hundred milliliters of fresh milk from Sandra, I would tell them the stories I had read from Hulk, from Spiderman or Thor. Although I have to say that, on more than one occasion, I used my imagination to continue with the stories I read, adding new plots and dialogues.
I've always said that I started out as a writer at boarding school and that my foundations were strengthened by telling the stories of my superheroes and the trailers of the films they exhibited at the Scala cinema in my neighbourhood.
So, in an indirect way, I owe Stan Lee a part of who I am now and how I have to tell the stories I tell.
Thank you, Stan Lee.
Image source: verne.elpais.com
