Stan Lee
Stan Lee, born Stanley Martin Lieber on December 28, 1922, in New York City, was a pivotal figure in comic book history, best known for creating iconic superhero characters such as Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the Fantastic Four. Lee's early life was marked by financial struggles during the Great Depression, which fueled his passion for storytelling through reading and writing. He began his career in comics at Timely Publications (later Marvel Comics), where he rose to prominence as a writer and editor, significantly shaping the superhero genre.
In the 1960s, Lee partnered with artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, introducing complex characters who dealt with real-world issues, setting his work apart from contemporaries. As publisher of Marvel Comics, he expanded the reach of his creations into television and film, achieving immense commercial success, especially in the early 2000s with blockbuster adaptations. Lee also had a notable presence in popular culture through cameo roles in many Marvel films.
Despite facing personal and legal challenges later in life, Lee's legacy as a creative visionary endures, influencing generations of comic creators and fans. He passed away on November 12, 2018, leaving behind a monumental impact on the entertainment industry and popular culture at large.
Stan Lee
Comic book writer, editor, publisher, producer
- Born: December 28, 1922
- Place of Birth: New York, New York
- Died: November 12, 2018
- Place of Death: Los Angeles, California
Significance: Stan Lee was the creator of many superhero characters, such as Spider-Man and Iron Man.
Education: DeWitt Clinton High School
Background
Stanley Martin Lieber was born December 28, 1922, in New York, New York. His parents, Celia and Jack Lieber, were Romanian immigrants. Lieber’s father was a dress cutter in New York City’s Garment District and his mother was a homemaker. When the Great Depression began in 1929, Jack Lieber lost his job and had trouble finding another one. The family had little money. When Lee was a teenager, the family lived in a one-bedroom apartment and Lee and his brother Larry slept in the living room.
Lee loved to read, listen to radio dramas, and go to the movies when he could afford it. He enjoyed the works of William Shakespeare, as well as the comic strips in the newspapers. He liked action movies, and his favorite actors were Errol Flynn and Roy Rogers.
When he was fifteen, he won several writing contests and began to consider becoming a professional writer. Lee graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1939 when he was sixteen years old. At the age of seventeen, he was hired to be an assistant at Timely Publications, a comic book company that later became Marvel Comics. He swept the floors and filled inkwells.
In 1940, Timely introduced the superhero called Captain America. Lee was given his first writing job—a short filler story with no pictures. "Captain America Foils the Traitor’s Revenge" was his first published work. It was also the first time he used the name Stan Lee. In his autobiography Excelsior!: The Amazing Life of Stan Lee, he said, "I was caught up in the fantasy of using a pen name, something suitable for strips, while saving my real name for the saga that would make me immortal . . . ."
Life’s Work
Lee’s first illustrated comic book strip was published in 1941 and, at the age of nineteen, he became a temporary editor at Timely Publications. He wrote the stories for Timely’s comics until the United States entered World War II. On November 9, 1942, Lee joined the US Army and was eventually assigned to write training manuals and films. He returned to work at Timely after his service. In the late 1950s, he also started his own company, Madison Publications, where he successfully published several humor books. After several years Timely, under its new name of Atlas Comics, asked him to create a superhero group that could compete with DC Comics’ Justice League. He worked with illustrator Jack Kirby and in 1961, his new superhero comic series, the Fantastic Four, was issued by Atlas Comics. The new comic books were a success. Lee and Kirby followed the Fantastic Four with more successful heroes—the Incredible Hulk, the Mighty Thor, Iron Man, and the X-Men.
In 1962, Lee and artist Steve Ditko created Spider-Man, Lee’s most successful hero. Spider-Man initially appeared as an eleven-page story in Marvel’s Amazing Fantasy#15. However, Spider-Man was so popular that Lee created a comic book devoted to him called The Amazing Spider-Man. Spider-Man’s alter ego, Peter Parker, was an ordinary human being who lived in New York City, made mistakes, and lost fights. Spider-Man’s motto was, "With great power there must also come great responsibility." Lee addressed social problems in the Spider-Man stories, including drug abuse, racism, and bigotry. His heroes often fought the communists, unlike DC Comics’ heroes, such as Superman, who lived in worlds that did not have real-life issues. Many of Lee’s characters lived in the same reality, called the Marvel Universe. (Atlas was renamed Marvel Comics in 1963.)
In 1972, Lee became publisher of Marvel Comics. In his new position he focused on bringing Marvel characters to television and film. Most of the films were failures, including Howard the Duck (1986). By 1996, Marvel had declared bankruptcy, but Lee became chairman of Marvel Entertainment in 1998. Soon movies based on Marvel characters were being produced and were box-office hits. X-Men in 2000 was followed in 2002 by the blockbuster hit Spider-Man. Lee was an executive producer for many films based on his superheroes, such as Spider-Man, Iron Man in 2008, Iron Man 3 in 2013, Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014, Ant-Man in 2015, Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017, and Black Panther in 2018. He was also an executive producer for many Marvel-inspired television shows, including Spider-Man from 1994 to 1998; Ultimate Spider-Man from 2012 to 2015; Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which debuted in 2013; Agent Carter from 2015 to 2016; Daredevil from 2015 to 2018; Iron Fist from 2017 to 2018; and The Gifted, which began in 2017. Lee often had cameo appearances in his films and television shows.
Lee created his own company Stan Lee Media in 2000, but it only lasted one year. In 2001, he started Pow! Entertainment, which produces films and television shows based on Lee’s non-Marvel characters. Beginning around the time of the death of his wife in 2017, the media reported that Lee was experiencing familial, managerial, and legal troubles regarding business matters and his assets, particularly as his daughter became more involved in his business affairs. In early 2018, he filed a lawsuit against Pow! Entertainment, claiming that the company had fraudulently secured his name and image rights; however, by July it had been reported that he had dropped the suit. At the same time, though he had continued to attend conventions and premiere events, his health seemed to deteriorate as his hearing and sight weakened among accusations of elder abuse.
Lee wrote two autobiographies, Excelsior!: The Amazing Life of Stan Lee in 2002, and Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir in 2015. He won many awards, among them the National Medal of Arts, presented in 2008 by President George W. Bush.
After being briefly hospitalized earlier in the year, Lee died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on November 12, 2018, at the age of ninety-five.
Impact
Stan Lee created hundreds of comic book heroes. He incorporated human characteristics, including flaws, into his heroes. This, plus his snappy dialogue and humor, gave his characters a new and appealing dimension that had not been seen before. His work has had a large impact on popular culture. In 2022, Marvel signed a licensing deal to use Lee's name and likeness in film and television projects.
Personal Life
Lee married model Joan Boocock on December 5, 1947, after dating for only two weeks. They had two children, Joan Celia, born in 1950, and Jan Lee, who died three days after birth in 1953. Joan Lee died in 2017.
Bibliography
Edgers, Geoff, and John Hinderliter. Who Is Stan Lee? Grosset, 2014.
Kandell, Jonathan, and Andy Webster. "Stan Lee Is Dead at 95; Superhero of Marvel Comics." The New York Times, 12 Nov. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/11/12/obituaries/stan-lee-dead.html. Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.
Lee, Stan, and George Mair. Excelsior!: The Amazing Life of Stan Lee. Fireside, 2002.
Lee, Stan.Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir. Simon, 2015.
Mills, Anthony R., and Stan Lee. American Theology, Superhero Comics, and Cinema: The Marvel of Stan Lee and the Revolution of a Genre. Routledge, 2014.
"Stan Lee Biography." Biography, A&E Networks Television, 13 Dec. 2019, www.biography.com/people/stan-lee-21101093. Accessed 8 Nov. 2015.
Wolfe, Alexandra. "Stan Lee, Comic Superhero." The Wall Street Journal, 23 Oct. 2015, www.wsj.com/articles/stan-lee-comic-superhero-1445612633. Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.