Happy 81st birthday to "Smilin'" Stan Lee, guru of the Marvel universe. I hope I have half his energy when I'm his age. Hell, I wish I had half his energy these days. Maybe if I did, I would have gotten around to posting this yesterday, which is when his actual birthday was. I'll try to atone with this quick anecdote: Years ago at a comic convention, there was a very lovely lady who was dressed as a then-popular Marvel character named The Valkyrie. She was stunning, and Stan couldn't resist going up to her and saying, "Hi, I think I created you." The lady was nice but she said, "I think Roy Thomas created me when he was writing The Avengers." Stan was crushed (who wouldn't be?) but then, as he started to walk away in shame, a nearby fan piped up and said, "But Valkyrie used to be The Enchantress, and the Enchantress first appeared in an issue of Thor that you did with Jack Kirby!" Stan brightened up and told the lady, "Ha! I knew I'd created you!"