Stan Lee Speaks Out in Video for Banned Books Week

Lately, I've been all about Marvel films. It started with Thor, the 2011 superhero movie starring Chris Hemsworth as the hammer-wielding title character. 

Stan Lee (left) with Chris Hemsworth, star of the 2011 Marvel film Thor.
Image via the interwebs

After watching Thor, I offered my none-too-favorable opinion of the film through a social media outlet. Almost immediately, friends whom I didn't know were comic book geeks chimed in, saying I had to watch the Marvel films in a certain order in order to fully understand and appreciate each one. Two of these friends even presented the chronological output of these films so that I could watch them in the order that they were released. From that point, there was no turning back.

Of course, there would be no Marvel films without Marvel Comics, the publishing powerhouse that releases comic books featuring Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, X-Men, and other now-iconic characters that were co-created by Stan Lee. Lee is undeniably the face of Marvel Comics, appearing at comic conventions and making cameos in films based on Marvel comic books, among other acts of publicity.

Lee is, not surprisingly, a huge proponent of the comic book as a medium. He sees comic books as integral to fostering a love of reading in children, who for decades have been engaged by comics' stunning visuals, larger-than-life characters, and gripping storylines. Lee also supports the freedom to read comic books, poo-pooing pushes throughout the years to ban them.

In a video produced by the American Library Association (ALA) and the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), Stan Lee speaks out against the banning of comic books, just in time for Banned Books Week. You can watch the video at THIS LINK.