Born Stanley Martin Lieber on December 28, 1922, he grew up poor in Washington Heights, where his father, a Romanian immigrant, was a tailor. He went to high-school at
DeWitt Clinton High School. He loved adventure books and Errol Flynn's movies so, after high-school Stan Lee joined the WPA Federal Theater Project, where he appeared at a few shows and wrote obituaries.
He was appointed "editor-in-chief" at age of 19 by Martin Goodman, when the previous editor resigned. In 1942, he enlisted in the Army and served at the Signal Corps, where he wrote manuals and training films with a group, that included Frank Capra, Oscar winner Pulitzer Prize winner William Saroyan and Theodor Geisel (also known as Dr. Seuss). After the war, he returned and became Editor for several decades.
After DC Comics created the Justice League, Lee and Kirby in November 1961 created their own team of superheroes: the Fantastic Four. And for new renamed Marvel Comics, they created the Hulk, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Daredevil and X-Men. The Avengers had their own issue released in September 1963.
In the cultural mind-set of that Era, it was no surprise that snobs of Manhattan's high literary culture discriminated Stan Lee for the way he made his living. People "avoided me as if I had the plague. ... Today, it's so different ... "
Long before the Marvel characters came into the world of movies, they appeared on television. An animated Spider-Man, on ABC from 1967 to 1970. Bill Bixby played Dr. David Banner who, when exited turns into a green giant, who is played by the bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno, in the "The Incredible Hulk" of CBS, from 1977 to 1982.
Pamela Anderson gave her voice to Stripperella, a Spike TV pseudo-erotic animation for which Satan Lee wrote from 2003 to 2004.
Stan Lee's last years were not easy. For example, after his wife, Joan, passed away in July 2017, he sued POW! Entertainment executives - a company he founded in 2001 to create movies, TV and video games - for $ 1 billion, for alleged fraud, but a few weeks later he suddenly gave up on the lawsuit.
He also brought his former business manager to court and asked for a Restraining Order against the man who managed his affairs. It is estimated that Stan Lee's assets worth up to $ 70 million. And in June 2018, it came to the public through the Los Angeles Police Department, Stan Lee was victim of elder abuse so, an investigation was in course.On their own and through cooperation with other cartoonists and writers such as Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and others, Stan Lee catapulted Marvel, a small cartoon comics company, making it the Nr.1 comic book publisher in the world and later a giant, through Animation series, Video Games, and Movies.
Lee worked with Kirby on the Fantastic Four, Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, The Silver Surfer and X-Men. With Ditko, he created Spider-Man and the surgeon: Doctor Strange. And with the artist Bill Everett created the blind superhero: Daredevil.
According to Stan Lee himself in 2014, in the Chicago Tribune: "I used to think that what I did was not very important. There are people building bridges, doing medical research to cure diseases, and here I make stories about fictitious people, who do crazy, extraordinary things" dressed like cosplayers, "but I suppose I realize that the entertaiment is not easily discarded from people's lives."
Stan Lee was the face of Marvel and even after reaching his 90 years, his fame and influence were enormous. Born in Manhattan, he wrote, directed the art of Marvel, in most series, and comic strips that appeared in the newspapers. He also wrote a monthly comic book column, the "Stan's Soapbox," which he signed with his typical: "Excelsior!"
Lee was as extraordinary as the characters he created. I could even say that he was a superhero by himself for all Marvel fans around the world. Stan Lee had the power to inspire, entertain, and connect people with each other. According to those close to him, the greatness of his imagination was only surpassed by the size of his heart.
In the early 1960s, the fearless Stan Lee endowed his Marvel superheroes with personality, not just superpowers. Until then, the typical heroes of DC Comics were characters without imperfections or personal crises, unlike his heroes who had human weaknesses and personal problems, as for example: the Peter Parker (Spiderman), that worried about the dandruff in his hair and was filled with fear of dating. His evil characters were also a enormous complexity and unrivaled of psychological confusion.
Marvel' stories taught that even superheroes such as Spider-Man and Captain America have problems with self-esteem and relationship crises with women, just like we humans do. And they did not live 24 hours a day in a fancy dress. Through the sincerity of characters such as Spider-Man, Thor, Iron Man and others, we learn that human nature also has a dark side.
The way he did things at Marvel was to develop a story with an artist and then write a synopsis. After the cartoonist drew the storyboards, Lee filled the speech balloons, and the captions. This process became known as "The Marvel Method."
Just as expected, like sometimes happens on Youtube, collaboration with other artists lead to bitter discussions due to Copyright. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko often engaged in bitter fights often, and both end up receiving credit on the Spider-Man movies and TV shows.
"I don't want anyone to think I treated Kirby or Ditko unfairly (...) I think we had a wonderful relationship. Their talent was incredible. But the things they wanted weren't in my power to give them." (Playboy magazine, April 2014)
Just like any Marvel employee, Stan Lee had no rights to the characters he helped create for Marvel. Remember what Obadiah Stane did to Tony Stark in the 1st Iron Man movie?
In the 1970s, Lee helped push the boundaries of censoring in the Comics, when it had become too fanciful world for children, so he started including actual issues of modern society and culture, making the stories even more human like.
In 1954, the publication of the psychologist Frederic Wertham's book: "Seduction of the Innocent", appealed to the government to regulate violence, sex, drug use, disrespect for authority, etc, in comic books, as a way of reducing juvenile delinquency.
The comic book publishers, filled with fear, decided to form the Comics Code Authority, a self-censorship institution that ended up putting down the drain any adult interest in comic books and doing of these something too childish, that only children would enjoy.
After that, Lee then wrote scenarios with banal characters but in 1971, in the "Amazing Spider-Man" , he inserted an anti-drug story in which Peter Parker's best friend Harry Osborn had taken drug pills. This publication did not bear the "seal of approval" of C.C.A. on the cover, but it became extremely popular, and later that institution made some of its censorship guidelines more flexible.
In 2002, Stan Lee published an autobiography: "Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee".
Stan Lee leaves as family: his daughter J.C. Lee; the younger son Larry Lieber, also writer and artist in Marvel; Jan, the daughter, who died as a child; his wife, Joan, who was a model for hats, whom he married in 1947.
Due to Stan Lee's passing, a family statement came to public:
"J.C. Lee and all of Stan Lee's friends and colleagues want to thank all of his fans and well-wishers for their kind words and condolences. Stan was an icon in his field. His fans loved him and his desire to interact with them. He loved his fans and treated them with the same respect and love they gave him. He worked tirelessly his whole life creating great characters for the world to enjoy. He wanted to inspire our imagination and for us to all use it to make the world a better place. His legacy will live on forever."
Like Alfred Hitchcock before him, humbly Stan Lee made appearances in the Marvel movies, animations and other movies, playing chess, delivering mail, playing Playboy millionaire in Iron Man, presenting Strippers, watering the grass, comforting Mary Jane and Peter Parker, hugging his wife during an invasion, defying Thor to drink, as an officer of the US Army, as an ET, as museum night-watchman, as a Don Juan, as peril unaware passenger, as a driver and cab-man, as a neighbour giving opinions, as DJ, etc.😄
In the movie, Spider-Man 3 (2007), he talks to Peter Parker, after stopping in the street of Times Square to read the newspaper saying: "The web-launcher will receive the key to the city" and Stan Lee chats with Peter Parker: "You know... I guess one person can make a difference …"
Just like Bruce Lee made a difference and forever revolutionized the world of Martial Arts, Stan Lee made a revolution in comic books industry and inspired generations too.
Text and Adaptation: Miguel Fight
Sources: Stan Lee's fans, Marvel, Chicago Tribune, Wikipedia, Playboy Magazine, Gene Simmons, The Washington Post, Spider-Man PS4 videogame,
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