Stan Lee Birthday: The Comic Genius Turns 90

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Posted: 12/28/2012 5:17 am EST  |  Updated: 12/28/2012 12:39 pm EST

Today is the birthday of comic genius and wily television personality, Stanley Lieber, better known as Stan Lee. The Marvel writer and editor behind works such as "The Amazing Spiderman" and "The Incredible Hulk" is turning 90 years old this Friday, December 28.
A young Stanley Lieber began his comic career at Timely Comics in 1939 in New York. His initial duties included proofreading, erasing pencil marks and filling inkwells, but two years after this drudgery he enjoyed his first text-filler job in a 1941 issue of "Captain American Comics," writing under the pseudonym Stan Lee.
His first real career break arrived at 19 years old, when Timely editor Joe Simon and his creative partner Jack Kirby left the company. Lee was subsequently given the post of interim editor, but it was his talent for writing and imagining epic heroes that earned him the permanent position of editor-in-chief, a seat he would occupy until 1972 when he was made publisher of Timely's later evolution, Marvel Comics.
Lee's truly creative era began in the late 1950s, however, when DC Comics spurred a trend in superhero stories, courtesy of characters like the Flash and the Justice League of America. Lee was given the task of creating a team of heroes similar to JLA for Marvel, the result of which was the Fantastic Four. Working mostly with Kirby as well as with Bill Everett and Steve Ditko, Lee went on to devise personalities like the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, the X-Men, Daredevil, Doctor Strange and, of course, the Amazing Spider-Man.

In his later career, Lee dabbled in work for DC Comics, refashioning heroes like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Flash for a series called, "Just Imagine..." His most recent endeavor is a new YouTube channel, aptly named "Stan Lee's World of Heroes."
I'd like to wish Mr. Lee a very happy 90th birthday.

Star Trek Infographic

Now I know this is supposed to be mostly AD&D but I just couldn't help but share this since I am a Star Trek fan and I just love the visual way this is conveyed.

Brush up on a whole slew of facts and figures about Star Trek: The Original Series, which you didn't actually need to know.

The full size original is here: http://www.behance.net/gallery/Star-Trek-infographic/2085020

Inn generator

While I have given up on WoTC for a couple of years now, surprisingly enough, their new online Inn Generator  works for any edition your playing.

Here is The Shifty Greaves Tavern generated from there. The only thing you have to watch out for is some of the 4ed races don't jibe with 1ed.

Staff

Rooms Available (9/10)

7 servers and 2 bouncers

Barkeep

Zoa Tethenbri (F, Halfling, 45)

Class (Fine)

Room: 2gp/day, Noble's Quarters: 10gp/day

NPCs Present (210)

10 Bards, 55 Merchants, 13 Military Elite, 88 Nobles, 20 NPC Adventurers, 10 Priests, 5 Shady Characters, 9 Other

Today's Special

Locale (Truly Nasties)

Baked pheasant with leeks, Silvermoon mead

Atmosphere (Sad)

The passing of a local priest hit the community hard, and today is the anniversary of her death.

Topics of Conversation (4)

• A server chuckles as a customer whispers into her ear—something about a "moonlight stroll."
• Parents speak of their ire at their childrens’ dreams of someday becoming adventurers.
• A customer laments his upcoming chores. He despairs of a full two weeks of hard work attending to his master’s errands.
• Two patrons quietly negotiate a small business deal involving the sale of various local commodities.

Random Events (1)

• Outside, a man appears to be waiting for someone to leave (or enter) the inn. He seems nervous.

7 RPGs

Over at Google+ #7RPGs  there is new meme making the rounds and Gnome Stew has picked up.
The idea is to post your 7 RPGs you have most played or GMed.

So here goes -

In order:

1. Advanced D&D 1ed.
2. D&D Basic/Expert
3. Rolemaster 
4. Runequest
5. DragonQuest
6. Traveller
7. Call of Cthulhu

This list covers both played and GMed categories. In the beginning I only played and now it seems I only GM.

I just noticed the picture is in chronological order, while the list is in order of most played. I'm assuming this won't mess folks up.