Marvel Comics is an entertainment juggernaut.
But it was not always that way. Though many of the characters and stories through which it entertains billions of fans across a range of mediums are as old as the company itself, it’s the influence of Stan Lee that made it the powerhouse it is today.
Our hero was born in 1922 to Romanian-born Jewish immigrants Celia and Jack Lieber, in New York City.
Times were tough for the family; Jack, a dress cutter, found it difficult to get work, and so they moved uptown to a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan.
For all the financial stress, Lee’s upbringing was a good one. He spent his time engrossed in books, and enjoyed visiting the cinema once a month. He particularly enjoyed adventure films, especially those starring Errol Flynn.
“I thought that this guy was the greatest because he always played such heroic roles. He was either the sheriff of Dodge City, or he was Robin Hood, or he was Captain Blood. When I would leave the theatre, I’d be about 10 years old I guess… I would imagine I had a little crooked smile on my face the way Errol Flynn did, and an imaginary sword at my side…I wanted to be Errol Flynn so badly.”
Lee was a good student at school, and was encouraged to write by his teachers. He worked writing obituaries and press releases while still at school, at the time dreaming of one day writing the ‘Great American Novel’. He also took part-time jobs as a sandwich delivery boy, office worker, and usher.
At 16, Lee graduated early from high school, and joined the Federal Theatre Project – an initiative designed to provide artists with work during the Great Depression.
Not long after, Lee heard word that the husband of his cousin was working for a pulp magazine publisher who was looking for writers. Unbeknownst to him, he was applying for a position in the newly founded comics division, Timely Comics.
“I had never thought I’d be doing comics. I figured… in those days comics were really not highly respected by the outside world. So I figured I’d stay there for a few months and get some experience, and then I would try to get into the other departments which were more, I thought, legitimate,” he told PR.com.
With his relative’s help, Lee acquired an assistant’s position in 1939. He was officially hired by Joe Simon, co-creator of Captain America.
Initially, his duties were mundane. “”In those days (the artists) dipped the pen in ink, (so) I had to make sure the inkwells were filled. I went down and got them their lunch, I did proofreading, I erased the pencils from the finished pages for them”.
After a while, Simon and his colleague Jack Kirby were so overwhelmed by work that they asked Lee if he would be willing to write something for the next edition of Captain America Comics.
He said yes.
Lee made his comic-book debut with Captain America Foils the Traitor’s Revenge in 1941. He used the name Stan Lee, planning to use his real name for more ‘high end’ works in the future, but would eventually adopt it as his legal name.
With the story, Lee was already making big changes. His story introduced Cap’s signature ricocheting shield-toss, which remains one of his abilities to this day.
It was a great time to be part of the industry. Later, the period between 1938 and 1950 would be revered as the Golden Age of comics, as the medium gained popularity thanks to the introduction of many of the most popular superheroes, including Batman, Superman, Captain Marvel, and The Human Torch.
Two months after his first filler episode, Lee was promoted to full-time author, and began to create his own characters. They included The Destroyer and Jack Frost, who would become mainstays of the era.
In late 1941, Kirby and Simon left Timely after a dispute with publisher Martin Goodman, and moved to the competitor, Native Comics (later to become DC Comics).
It was a loss for Timely but a gain for Lee. At only 18 years old, he was appointed interim editor. Beyond his writing ability, Lee demonstrated a knock for business, and he was eventually installed as editor-in-chief.
His work in comics was soon suspended, however. In 1942, Lee entered the United States Army, where he served in the signal corps before transferring to the training film division, where he wrote manuals, slogans, and occasional cartoons. This lasted for three years.
Lee returned to Timely, which soon-after changed its name to Atlas Comics, and was forced to work beyond the superhero tales he had previously produced. He wrote westerns, sci-fi, suspense, and even romance (which he penned from a women’s perspective with the byline “As told to Stan Lee”).
By the end of the 50s, Lee was losing interest in the field. As he was preparing to move on, Goodman asked Lee to create a new superhero team to counter DC’s newfound success, Justice League of America.
His wife told him to write whatever story he felt like writing. After all, he was going to change careers soon anyway.
So it was that Lee turned away from the idealistic heroes of the time to create flawed, intrinsically human characters that dealt with personal issues not so dissimilar to those faced by a teenaged audience.
The Fantastic Four first appeared in November 1961 in an issue written by Lee and illustrated by Jack Kirby, who had returned to the freshly branded Marvel Comics.
It was a huge success, but it was just the beginning. Lee went on to create the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, the X-Men, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, and Spider-Man. He also rebooted Captain America and The Sub-Mariner (later known best as Namor).
The characters, although very unique, were depicted as living in a shared universe. This fact culminated in The Avengers, a superhero team that brought the most popular of these superheroes together to tell some of the medium’s most epic tales.
Lee’s work, along with that of his artists, was inspiring a new generation of comic enthusiasts. As comic historian Peter Sanderson wrote, “The Marvel of the 1960s was in its own way the counterpart of the French New Wave and the foreign innovators in film: Marvel was pioneering new methods of comics storytelling and characterisation, addressing more serious themes, and in the process keeping and attracting readers in their teens and beyond. Moreover, among this new generation of readers were people who wanted to write or draw comics themselves, within the new style that Marvel had pioneered, and push the creative envelope still further.”
A community had been generated in this new era of comics, and its members revered the name Stan Lee above any other.
He was suddenly a social messiah, and he used the position to change the medium for good. In 1969, he co-created the first African-American superhero, Falcon, and wrote a three-issue arc of Spider-Man covering the dangers of drugs. The Comics Code Authority (CCA) refused to approve the story because of its depiction of drug use, regardless of the context. Lee published it anyway, and Marvel was praised for its socially conscious endeavours. In response, the CCA loosened its laws to allow for more mature themes to be presented.
Lee also started a monthly column called Stan’s Soapbox, through which he denounced all kinds of bigotry and discrimination.
In 1972, Goodman resigned, and Lee took on the role of publisher. The last comic he wrote was Fantastic Four #125 in August 1972.
By the early 80s, Lee turned his attention to a new medium: the screen. Though initial attempts to launch franchises like Hulk and Captain America did not prove successful, the success of 2000s X-Men marked the start of 15+ years of Marvel’s box office domination. The film also saw Lee make the first of his big-screen cameos, a Marvel tradition that has lasted through 27 films, along with a range of TV shows and video games.
“I’m a frustrated actor. My … goal is to beat Alfred Hitchcock in the number of cameos. I’m going to try to break his record,” he joked in 2006.
1994 saw Lee inducted into The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame, the first of many recognitions he would receive for his work. He was also granted The Life Career Award at the 2002 Saturn Award, a Vanguard Award from the Producers Guild of America, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Lee founded the Stan Lee Foundation in 2010 with a mission to bring literacy, numeracy, and the arts throughout the United States.
He has remained active in the industry for nearly 70 years, and is perhaps even more celebrated now today than when he was most active. Best yet for fans, Stan Lee shows no sign of slowing down.
“I don’t really see a need to retire as long as I am having fun.”
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Stan Lee passed away on November 12th, 2018.