“Put someone in a room with Stan Lee and Obama, and they’ll head straight for Stan; that’s how popular he is.” -Jose Rivera
Stan Lee, one of the creators of the Marvel Universe, passed away this past Monday, November 12, 2018. Born Stanley Martin Lieber, he used the pseudonym Stan Lee once he started putting his name on comic books, as he didn’t think it was worthwhile work. He didn’t want anyone associating his name with comic books because he had hopes of one day writing the next “Great American Novel.” Though this childhood dream did not pan out, he certainly can be credited for writing the “Great American Comics.”
His introduction to the comic industry was in 1939 at Timely Comics, where he was lucky enough to work on Captain America #3 after a couple years of working his way up in the company. During World War II, he wrote military handbooks for the Army Signal Corps, and wrote scripts for Army training films, which was a job also held by Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Doctor Seuss.
He created some of the most iconic characters in comic books, such as Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, Dr. Strange, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and more. Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko have to be given credit for the looks and personalities of the characters. He was highly talented at marketing himself and his comics, but some criticize Lee for not giving enough credit to his story co-creators.
Looking into the future of the comic book world, there probably won’t be any huge changes in the Marvel Universe because of his passing. Marvel has been run without him for years now, but the world will miss him and his silly cameos in all future Marvel movies.
-Jacqui VanLiew & Jose Rivera