Stan Lee is only the brains behind iconic superheroes such as Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Hulk, Fantastic Four, Thor, X-Men, and so many more, but for an eight-year-old kid with autism, he might very well be a superhero himself.
The New York Times reported the story of a young boy with autism named Jamel from East Harlem, New York, who is very much obsessed with Spider-Man.
For his eighth birthday, his mother decided to give him a party he will always remember. Jamel's family is not rich, but his mother wanted to spare no cost in making her son happy.
She covered every inch of a community room with Spider-Man artwork, and decorated the whole room with Spider-Man balloons and even created a spider out of frosting on top of Jamel's birthday cake.
They even had Spider-Man themed games such as pin-the-tail-on-the-Spider-Man game. His mother's efforts really paid off because Jamel told his mom that he was very happy at his party.
The story touched the hearts of so many individuals that it even managed to make its way to Spider-Man creator Stan Lee. His neighbour thought that it would be a great idea if Lee drew a sketch of the young boy's favourite superhero as a gift to him.
But Lee wrote the superhero's story, not drew it.
"This was a unique experience. Corky called me and said there was a little boy. She wanted a sketch, so I did one. I'm not known as an artist, which is lucky for the world," he said.
He signed his name at the bottom of the sketch and sent it to the little boy. Jamel is still too young to realize the value of the one-of-a-kind sketch, but he is happy with it all the same.
The sketch featured Lee's version of Spider-Man saying, "Hi Jamel." In fact, when Jamel received the package, he gave a grin and a quizzical look as if asking, what is this?
Nonetheless, Lee was more than thrilled that his character managed to touch the life of the young boy, who, just like Spider-Man, also lives in New York. He explained that he created Spider-Man so that kids can find a superhero and role model to relate to, someone who stood alone and was definitely not a sidekick.
"I decided I'd have these characters live in the real world, instead of Gotham City or Metropolis," he explained.
