Los Angeles, Nov 13: Stan Lee, the man credited with bringing in a new renaissance in comic books with his many flawed, relatable superheroes such as Spider-Man and Iron Man, has died at 95
Born Stanley Martin Lieber on December 28, 1922, Lee introduced dozens of characters in collaboration with artists such as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko during his stint at Marvel Comics.
In his collaboration with Kirby, Lee co-created the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, and the X-Men,
It was through his uncle, Robbie Solomon, that Lee started his career at the age of 17. He became an assistant at Timely Comics, which eventually became Marvel.
He adopted the pseudonym “Stan Lee” and started writing comic books. His first credit as a writer was a Captain America story in 1941.
When Timely editor Joe Simon and his creative partner Jack Kirby departed from the company in 1941, Lee was made interim editor by publisher Martin Goodman.
He served in the United States Army after enlisting in early 1942. He was a member of the Signal Corps, repairing telegraph poles and other communications equipment.
Seeing the rise of DC comics, a breath of fresh air in the world of comics, Goodman asked Lee to introduce a new superhero team. The result was Fantastic Four that he created in collaboration with Kirby.
The two afterwards would work on a number of characters. Their process was that Lee would come up with a short plot outline and Kirby then would design and illustrate a comic based on a mixture of that synopsis and his own ideas. Lee would return to fill in the dialogue and captions.
He also worked with artist Everett, creating Daredevil. Through his work with Ditko, Lee introduced the world to Doctor Strange and Marvel’s most successful character, Spider-Man.
All these characters have now been turned into major film franchises that have earned Marvel billions of dollars in profits.
He leaves behind his daughter JC and younger brother Larry Lieber, a writer and artist for Marvel. Another daughter, Jan, died in infancy. His wife, Joan, was a hat model whom he married in 1947. She died in July 2017.
“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,” a family statement read.
“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,” it added. (Agencies)