Lee, Stan (1922-2018), an American comic book editor, writer, and publisher, helped create dozens of the most popular characters in the history of modern comics. Lee’s creations were superheroes—that is, characters with extraordinary powers. With the American artist Jack Kirby, Lee created such superheroes as the Black Panther, the Incredible Hulk, the Mighty Thor, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men. With another American artist, Steve Ditko, he created the Amazing Spider-Man. Lee’s superheroes appeared not only in comic strips and in comic books but also on television and in motion pictures. Films based on Lee’s charactersSpider-Man films that began in 2002 rank among the biggest box-office hits in movie history.
Lee’s most popular superheroes first appeared during the early 1960’s, when comic books were undergoing a slump in popularity. His superheroes had flaws and distinct, human personalities. They appeared in relatively sophisticated stories that appealed to older readers, especially college students, as well as children. Lee’s stories included wry humor. They often featured satire or dealt with social problems, such as racial prejudice and drug abuse, a rarity in earlier comics.
Lee was born on Dec. 28, 1922, in New York City. His real name was Stanley Martin Lieber. After high school, Lee joined Timely Comics, owned by Martin Goodman, a cousin-in-law, as an editorial assistant. Timely eventually became Marvel Comics. Lee became an editor with the company in 1942, responsible for hiring writers and artists. Lee frequently hired himself as a writer. Based on the success of Marvel’s 1960’s superheroes, Lee became the company’s publisher in 1972 and ended his day-to-day involvement with the company’s comic books. He later concentrated on supervising cartoons and motion pictures that featured Marvel Comics characters.
Lee and the American artist John Romita, Sr., launched an Amazing Spider-Man newspaper strip in 1977. Lee edited many anthologies of Marvel Comics stories, notably Origins of Marvel Comics (1974). With the American artist John Buscema, he wrote How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way (1978), a popular instructional book. With George Mair, an American author, he wrote an autobiography, Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee (2002). With Peter David, an American author, he wrote a graphic novel memoir, Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir (illustrated by Colleen Doran, 2015). Lee and the American author Kat Rosenfield wrote the novel A Trick of Light, a science fiction adventure story that was published in 2019, after Lee’s death. Lee died on Nov. 12, 2018.
