May he rest in peace. It is sad indeed, but he made it to 95 in style. I reckon Hela will let him pass to Valhalla!
I have reprints of most of Stan's work (still missing out on Silver Surfer, which is supposed to be his best), there's plenty of people who would want to diminish Stan's role in the creation of the characters as opposed to Kirby, Ditko and those other magnificent artists, but if you read his work there's no denying that he had a great handle on how to shape those characters, how to write them, how to 'sell' them.
Among his work, one particular favourite of mine is the original Mar-Vell Captain Marvel story in Marvel Super-Heroes #12. Stan wrote that issue together with Gene Colan. Gene 'the dean', one of the finest artists of those times, actually voiced his dislike of the character and his design, this one was clearly all Stan. I don't know what Colan was on about, I also can't understand why the character wasn't more of a hit: that first story was an amazing set-up! An alien spy disguises himself as a scientist on a military base, develops an affection for humanity, but has to work under orders from an observing superior (based in a spaceship in orbit over earth), who hates him and wants him to die so he can steal his girlfriend (employed on the same ship), so he's assigned dangerous tasks and needs to find ways to ensure his own survival while also finding the need protect the humans he's grown to admire - which is a fact he needs to disguise from the rulers of his own race, who mean for him to determine if humanity is a threat or not (and if so, handle it).
All of the above is written in good pacing within half an issue.
Stan was a very good writer and an undeniable force behind Marvel.
