While he may have been born Stanley Martin Lieber, the rest of the world will forever know him as Stan "The Man" Lee. It was difficult to learn of his passing last Tuesday, especially since it was very sudden. To a lot of people, Stan's passing is just another celebrity death. But that's just not the case. Stan was different than other celebrities. He was an excellent writer who was able to entertain thousands of people for decades. Today his greatest creations are cemented into pop culture. Everyone knows who Spider-Man, Iron Man and the Fantastic Four are. They are multi-million-dollar franchises that are dominating our world. But all of this would not have been possible without Stan Lee.
In his obituary published by biography.com, Stanley Martin Lieber was born in Manhattan, New York on December 28th, 1922. From a young age, he enjoyed writing. At the age of sixteen, Stan managed to land a job with Timely Comics. The company would have a few renames down the line. First being renamed Atlas Comics, then eventually the infamous Marvel Comics later down the line. In the late 1930s and early 40s, superheroes were only starting to appear in comic books. These characters helped boost the morale of soldiers fighting overseas in World War II. Prior to that, comic books were just books of old newspaper comics strips stapled together. One of the most famous heroes from this time is Captain America. While Stan Lee was not the creator of Captain America (That title belongs to Joe Simon and Jack Kirby), the first comic book he ever wrote was "Captain America #3" (May 1941). Lee would continue to work with Kirby as the years went on and the two would create most of the Marvel characters we know today. But Lee never wanted to become a comic book author, he wanted to be a novelist. To keep his identity in tack he created the pseudonymStan Lee.
Early in the 1960s, Stan was close to quitting the comic book business. The decade prior was a bad time for the comic book industry. The war was over, resulting in an end to wartime propaganda comics. On top of that, in the 1950s comic books were blamed for causing rebelliousness with adolescence. However, Stan's wife, Joan Lee (1922-2017) told him to write one more comic the way he wanted it to be written. The recent success of the Justice League of America, published by DC Comics, inspired Lee to create the Fantastic Four (First Appearance in November of 1961). From then on Stan Lee co-created countless other characters. The X-Men, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Invincible Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk and many more.
Lee would become many things during his time at Marvel Comics. His remembrance page on Marvel.com lists all the positions he had at one point while working with the company. He was Marvel's Editor-in-Chief, the art director, marketing manager and many more. Throughout the seventies, he was seen as the face of Marvel. Lee helped bridge the gap between comic readers and writers by providing a monthly column in his comics titled: "Stan's Soapbox". Stan would step down from editor-and-chief in 1972 to assume the Publisher role for Marvel.
What made Stan's writing stand out was his ability to humanize these costumed beings. These were characters written with problems and worries similar to the readers, creating a relatability not really tackled by DC Comics. One of Stan's proudest creations was Spider-Man. Everyone can relate to Peter Parker one way or another. Making the character become as successful as Superman and Batman.
Near the end of his life, Stan was interviewed by a number of websites. Below by Fandango.com is a snip bit of an interview with Stan where he reflects on his success.
Stan Lee talked to us about his career and the best thing a writer could hear. R.I.P. 💔 https://t.co/jWoa120K9r— Fandango (@Fandango) 1542060993
Stan Lee was not only the face of Marvel Comics, but he was also the face of the entire comic book community. He never cared about the fan wars between Marvel and DC. He was a writer, someone who just wanted to entertain others. One of his most famous quotes (Besides Excelsior!) reads:
"I used to be embarrassed because I was just a comic book writer while other people were building bridges or going on to medical careers. And then I began to realize: entertainment is one of the most important things in people's lives. Without it, they might go off the deep end. I feel that if you're able to entertain, you're doing a good thing."
The day of his passing was a sad day. He was much more than a celebrity, he was our own personal superhero. Never have I seen my Instagram feed be filled with so many posts honoring a fallen celebrity. All day, post after post, one way or another was to Stan Lee. And now, with this new era without the pioneer emerges it is our jobs to carry out his message and keep his memory alive. Because with great power, there must also come great responsibility. We are the future now, and we should all strive to be like Stan "The Man" Lee. The writer who touched all our hearts and gave us a reason to strive to be heroes.
