Stan Lee

Stanley Martin Lieber was born on December 28, 1922, in New York City. In later years he would change his name to Stan Lee. At a very young age, he took an interest in books and movies. Stan’s favorite superhero was actually Robin Hood from the Errol Flynn films. When he transitioned into a young adult his focus would to writing for Dewitt Clinton High School.

His comic book aspirations didn’t start off as planned. You see, as opposed to writing, he started as an assistant at the newly formed  Timely Comics. Of course, over time this changed and eventually, he started on Captain America #3 and advanced to comic book editor in chief.

As the war ended, the interest in comic book characters took a nose dive and its fizzle had worn out. When the 1960’s began, a disheartened Stan Lee thought about throwing in the towel. His wife, Joan told him before you quit, why not try to write one story he liked. By the 1960’s the comic book world would change as Timely Comics would become Marvel Comics.

The year that changed it all

In the early 60’s, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the superhero team known as the Fantastic Four. From there, the two created iconic characters like the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, and X-Men. This success attracted other artists and writers, one of which being, the creator of Spider-Man, Steve Ditko.

Can you imagine Marvel Comics without Spider-Man? That’s like saying DC without Superman.

In the 1970’s and 1980’s Stan Lee worked to move Marvel heroes into a different direction. This, of course, included television shows and video games.

The later years

By the year 2000, Hollywood had finally figured out what Stan was preaching. They suddenly wanted to get his creation on the big screen. In 2009 Stan Lee sold Marvel Entertainment to Disney for a whopping $4 billion. Thus, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was developed. In it, they made sure that Stan Lee had a cameo in every movie.

In 2010, he created The Stan Lee Foundation in an effort to promote literacy, education, and the arts. It goes to show that he wants the next the world’s next “Stan Lee” to reach for the stars just like he did.

Stan Lee has won more awards that can be counted. His presence, not only created an industry but also maintained it during its darkest days. Without Stan, we may not have the industry we have today.

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