On November 12, the world became just a little grayer with the death of Stanley Martin Lieber, a.k.a. Stan Lee. In his 95 years on this Earth, Stan "The Man" Lee -- along with such luminaries as Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Don Heck, Gene Colan and John Romita-- built a universe.
And then Bill Maher decided to be a Bill Maher. Maher wrote a piece titled "Adulting" for his Real Time With Bill Maher Blog and released it prior to the final episode of the season. He begins the piece like this:
The guy who created Spider-Man and the Hulk has died, and America is in mourning. Deep, deep morning for a man who inspired millions to, I don't know, watch a movie, I guess.
Sure. He guesses.
But Maher continues:
Now, I have nothing against comic books – I read them now and then when I was a kid and I was all out of Hardy Boys. But the assumption everyone had back then, both the adults and the kids, was that comics were for kids, and when you grew up you moved on to big-boy books without the pictures.
But then twenty years or so ago, something happened – adults decided they didn't have to give up kid stuff. And so they pretended comic books were actually sophisticated literature. And because America has over 4,500 colleges – which means we need more professors than we have smart people – some dumb people got to be professors by writing theses with titles like Otherness and Heterodoxy in the Silver Surfer.
In graphic novels and comic books there's plenty of mature and well written content by the likes of Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Gail Simone, Ann Nocenti, Louise Simonson,Alan Moore, Garth Ennis, Gail Simone, Ann Nocenti, Louise Simonson, Judd Winnick, Tom King and Brad Meltzer, to name a few. Things like:
Getting imploded due to uncompromising Objectivist morality...
Watchmen- Alan MooreDC Comics
Graphic vigilante violence and language...
Punisher- Garth EnnisMarvel Comics
Existential ponderings on existence itself...
Sandman- Neil GaimanDC Comics/Vertigo
Or the graphic death, loss and trauma of your father's murder.
Identity Crisis- Brad MeltzerDC Comics
Cursory research could have given you this, but Maher didn't want to negate his argument with any kind of thought. So he said this:
I don't think it's a huge stretch to suggest that Donald Trump could only get elected in a country that thinks comic books are important.
Of course in order to believe this you have to ignore that Trump's predecessor and the forever president, Barack Obama, was not only a fan but was shaped by his favorite hero Spider-Man.
Marvel Comics
But maybe if Maher had read and retained the lessons in the comics written by Stan Lee and others, he would have learned this wise maxim: "With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility."
This was perhaps the most enduring lesson Stan Lee ever taught. A few examples of failing at this lesson are Maher using his power (his platform) to irresponsibly elevate Milo Hanrahan (fuck him, that's his last name. I'm calling him by the name of the father he has issues with instead of his preferred grandmother's name), who Maher calls "a younger Christopher Hitchens" ONE WEEK before he resigned Breitbart following outrage over his past comments about pedophilia. (A downfall that then Maher tried to take credit for.)
Or there's Maher thanking Steve Bannon for appearing on his show and telling him, "Says volumes why Republicans are in power and we have none," five weeks before the midterm election 'Blue Riptide' (because you don't see it, but it kills you!!).
Or the numerous appearances of Ann Coulter, Kellyanne Conway, Dana Rohrabacher, Matt Schlapp, Glenn Greenwald, Tomi Lahren, Boris Epshteyn, Louise Mensch, Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro, and many more. You can get lost in a rabbit hole for days filled with the worst people that Bill Maher gave a platform to and normalized.
Maher is a hypocritical assclown lost past the point of his relevance -- other than empowering the worst elements of America.
Funny, how he forgot this check cleared. Hypocrite.
Stan Lee stood for what made it better.
Marvel Comics
Good bye, Stan. "Excelsior."
R.I.P Stan Leemedia1.giphy.com
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