DESCRIBED as the pioneering creative force of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee died yesterday. He was 95. But first some trivia. His real name was Stanley Martin Lieber. He first used “Stan Lee” as a pseudonym when he started writing the Captain America comics series. He later admitted to eventually legally changing his name to “Stan Lee” supposedly to avoid confusion.
Which reminds me of another iconic figure in entertainment, Freddie Mercury, whose character is at the center of the hit movie, “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Mercury, the late lead singer of the rock group Queen, was born Farrokh Bulsara. Would he have become popular had he retained that name instead of changing it to Freddie Mercury? That’s a good topic for debate.
Anyway, Stan Lee, collaborating with artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditco, created a number of comics superheroes including, aside from Captain America, the Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch and the Thing), Spider-Man, the Hulk, Iron Man, Daredevil, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Thor, the X-Men, etc.). Some of these comics series he actually co-wrote with his brother Larry Lieber.
Those comics character are now the film making industry’s biggest sellers. Which brings me to one point: I didn’t really know many of these characters when they were mere comic strips. The movies were an occasion for me to brush up on my knowledge of them (interestingly, my children are more knowledgeable than me in this regard, and so too my wife, who knew many things comics, notably the X-Men).
I was more into novels than comics although I must confess I didn’t read the latter because I didn’t have any budget to buy them growing up. And when I was in my teens, I was already attracted to the comics in Bisaya and the Tagalog ones, which I could read by renting them in one of the reading nooks along Osmeña Blvd. So I was more of a Captain Barbel than a Captain Marvel fan.
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I have an admission to make. I still have to watch “Bohemian Rhapsody” even if I am a long-time fan of the band Queen. I actually want to watch it with my family and use the occasion to bond with my two sons, who have become Queen fans also. But I still have to save money for the tickets and the snacks.
I checked those stalls in Colon St. selling pirated DVDs but until yesterday night the vendors there are still ignorant of the film. When I asked them one by one if they had pirated copies of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” each one of them would look at me and say, “Bo—what?” “The movie about the band, Queen,” I would always hasten to add. “Ahh, Queen...” they would say, then shake their head.
How could they not know “Bohemian Rhapsody,” I muttered as I walked away. I reckon from their actions that they know Yoyoy Villame’s “Butsikik” and Max Surban’s “Dayang-dayang” more than the Freddie Mercury classic. But it’s probably good that I could not find a pirated copy of “Bohemian Rhapsody” because I will be forced to watch it in a moviehouse and join the moviegoers in singing those iconic Queen songs. Mas alegre, di ba?