Stan Lee was the undisputed father of Marvel Comics, and remained a figurehead of the empire that Disney went on to grow with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Animation and Publishing. He remained until his death Chairman Emeritus at Marvel.
“Stan Lee was as extraordinary as the characters he created. A superhero in his own right to Marvel fans around the world, Stan had the power to inspire, to entertain, and to connect. The scale of his imagination was only exceeded by the size of his heart,” said Bob Iger, Chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company.
Stanley Martin Lieber was born in New York but knew what he wanted to do from practically day one, and as soon as was possible, he joined Timely Comics as an assistant. Timely became Atlas Comics, and, finally, with Stan running the show, became the Marvel Comics we know today. His first story appeared 1941: “Captain America Foils the Traitor’s Revenge”. Stan Lee was 19 years old at the time.
He was a father figure, crazy old uncle, Watcher, creator, rebel, and social change mover. His work inspired literally millions of people of every gender, ethnicity and social status to know that they were capable of being superheroes, and millions of artists and writers to be bold about whatever subject they wanted to put in a comic book. He brought superheroes into the third dimension. They are, for the most part, normal humans who gained their super powers. There are a few exceptions, though.
He made well over 50 cameos, either in person or in ads or photos onscreen. In Venom, he pretty much confirmed that he was a Watcher, keeping an eye on the world. Here he is with the other Watchers in Guardians of the Galaxy 2:
For all he did, he was most famous to this generation for these. He even appeared with his beloved wife Joan, who predeceased him in 2017:
But my favorites are a couple of his Iron Man ones:
Whatever cameo he played, it was usually hilarious:
He was even animated several times – in Big Hero 6, he appeared in the film in a portrait, then in animated form in an after-credits scene (I cannot believe some people still leave at the beginning of the credits when watching Marvel films!)
Animator and author Tom Sito noted: “Experts will now debate just how much Stan Lee did to create the Marvel universe, and how much he took credit for. Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, John Buscema, Johnny Romita, Marie Severin all contributed so much.
Suffice it to say the results speak for themselves. Marvel Comics started at a time there were so many small publishers. Dell Comics, All Star Comics, Charlton, Timely Comics, E.C., Detective Comics, etc. Most are gone, DC is the only one to approach the stature of Marvel.
While the DC characters, Superman, Batman, etc. were created in the 1930s, a much simpler time for heroes, the Marvel pantheon was mostly developed in the late 50s, 1960s. The era of psychoanalysis and social turmoil. The Marvel characters were created with this added layer of complex private lives. Spiderman is the first neurotic superhero. As worried about paying his bills and dating as beating Dr. Octopus. The Fantastic Four are a family unit, etc.
This added level of complexity made the Marvel characters ideal for longer stories like movies. You gotta give it to Stan Lee to preside over and guide this complete fantasy culture, that entertained and inspired millions of kids.”
Historian Jerry Beck: “Stan Lee turned writing for comic books into literature – and specifically his creations and writing have influenced generations of fans, artists, writers and creators to greater levels. I daresay he was the most influential writer of the 20th Century – with a major impact on the 21st – and centuries to come.”
Stan Lee loved life and loved writing and drawing. He would advise would-be creators to read everything that they could get their hands on, and carry a sketchbook around and “Get so you can draw anything and it looks like what it’s supposed to be. It’s a lot of work, but if you really have it in you, it’s not like work. It becomes fun.
He also said: “Every day, there’s a new development. … There’s no limit to the things that are happening.”
Excelsior.
(Note: Thanks to Aileen Guerrissi for the beautiful cover photo!)