Columbia, SC (WLTX) - He used to work with Stan Lee, now this Midlands comic book artist is reacting to the legend's death.
Vic Carrabotta is a comic-book artist known for his work during the industry's "Golden Age."
"Stan, you can talk about him forever you know. Stan was a very nice guy. He's going to be well missed. I can tell you right now," Carrabotta said. "He laid the groundwork for what's going on really. He leaves a legacy behind for a lot of artists. I look at it if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have been here."
Before superheroes dominated the shelves, Carrabotta created artwork for all types of comics: crime, war, western, and even romance comic books. A number of those stories were written by his close friend, Stan Lee.
"The first story I ever did with Stan Lee, a five-page story, 'The House on the Hill.' That was the first story I ever got. I walked into his office and he says, 'Here, I want this back in a week.' So I got one every week after," laughed Carrabotta.
Carrabotta and Lee started working together back in 1953. He says Lee was a revolutionary of his time, starting with Spider Man.
"Superheroes were not big in those days. They couldn't sell superheroes. Everybody was against it. The public was against it. They would say, 'What's so interesting about a spider?' Stan threw it the other way around. He would take a bad thing and make a good thing out of it," Carrabotta explained.
Lee may have passed away at the age of 95, but his legacy will live on forever in the hearts of everyone who ever picked up one of his comics.
"Even though he had a position, he always came to your position. You could talk to him eye ball to eye ball,” said Carrabotta. “He did it. He wasn't going to say he was going to do something and not do it. He did it. People are not going to forget him. No way.”