Stan Lee (1922-2018) has told the story of his own success so many times in his life that it has become a kind of superhero story itself: in 1961 he was commissioned by Martin Goodman, owner of the ailing publisher Marvel Comics, stealing an idea from rival DC Comics: DC had assembled its most popular characters into a team, the Justice League of America. Stan Lee racked his brains for days until he came up with four characters that he felt would work as a team. He called them “Fantastic Four”.
The comic book, which he developed with artist Jack Kirby, was very different from the competition’s “Justice League”. The four fantastic heroes didn’t act very heroically, they constantly fought and had the dynamic of a dysfunctional family. This approach – superheroes with human weaknesses – Lee made the successful Marvel formula. In doing so, he changed the US comics business forever.
He teamed up with Steve Ditko to create Spider-Man, a superhero who is actually an insecure high school student struggling with grades, lovesickness and family stress without a mask. Then came the Hulk, a scientist with an anger problem, Thor, a disabled doctor-turned-god of thunder, Iron Man, a millionaire scared to death, and finally Dr. Strange – an arrogant surgeon who is given magical powers. Lee also helped to create the “X-Men”, mutants who are hostile to society at large.
100 years ago, on December 28, 1922, Stan Lee was born in New York.
The son of Jewish immigrants from Romania – his birth name was Stanley Lieber – originally wanted to write novels. In 1939 he started as a clerk at Timely, the comics and dime book division that would later become Marvel. He took Stan Lee as the author’s name – supposedly to save his real name for bigger things.
Lee wrote for comics like Captain America and became editor of Timely by the age of 19. From this position, he watched the comic book decline on newsstands in the United States before his ideas revived the market in the 1960s.
Lee remained editor-in-chief until he became a publisher himself in 1972. During this time, he also established himself as the mouthpiece of the publisher to the fans. “Bullpen Bulletins” were the pages of the booklet in which he replied to readers’ letters and told anecdotes from the editors. He staged himself as a crazy circus director. In his column he established dictums like “Nuff said” and his battle cry “Excelsior!”. He gave himself the nickname Stan “The Man” Lee.
Beginning in 1980, Lee, always equal parts writer and salesman, moved to Hollywood. He had hopes of marketing the Marvel characters in other media – which, with the exception of a “Hulk” series, he did not succeed. It wasn’t until the late ’90s that superhero cinema began to boom. First with the “X-Men” films from 1999, then with “Spider-Man” (2002) and its sequels. After Marvel Studios’ Iron Man (2008), the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe eventually became the dominant pop culture franchise of the 2010s.
By this time, Lee had long since risen to the role of Honorary Chairman. His small appearances in every film based on a Marvel comic cemented his new prominence as a mascot of sorts for the publisher, which has been owned by Disney since 2009. They also underscored his reputation as a brilliant uncle with tinted glasses and a mischievous head, which he had already established in the 1960s. He always wore his gray to white hair strictly combed back.
Stan Lee was able to enjoy the success of his creation to the end – even as he fought multiple lawsuits with his artists over the rights to the characters they created together, and his company POW!, founded in 2002! Entertainment landed numerous business failures.
Stan Lee died on November 12, 2018 at the age of 95, almost a year and a half after his wife Joan, to whom he was married for 69 years.
On the occasion of the milestone birthday, a gala will be held in Los Angeles in his honor. Marvel Comics has been paying tribute to the iconic creative head in numerous sections on its website for weeks. This commemorates some of Lee’s most popular stories – and his hilarious cameos in the comics. In a 1963 edition of his fictional “Fantastic Four,” Lee and co-star Jack Kirby are uninvited guests at Reed Richards and Susan Storm’s wedding.
In Germany, the book “Stan Lee” from the series “Popular Errors and Other Truths” has been published to coincide with the 100th. On almost 120 pages, author Eric Hegmann tells entertaining anecdotes from the life and career of the comic creator and clears up mistakes. Contrary to popular belief, Stan Lee never owned Marvel Comics. He even had to sue to get his share of the success.
There is no shortage of other books about the comic genius. After his death, biographies by Bob Batchelor (“Stan Lee: The Man behind Marvel”) and Abraham Riesman (“True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee”) were published.
The powerful photo book “The Stan Lee Story”, which former Marvel editor-in-chief Roy Thomas produced with Stan Lee’s participation while he was still alive, is almost overwhelming. The first edition from Taschen-Verlag, limited to 1000 copies, weighed more than 12 kilos, was personally signed by Lee and cost 5000 euros. But it’s long since sold out.
In the meantime, “The Stan Lee Story” has appeared in a somewhat more manageable edition, which is still impressive at 600 pages. Using illustrations and personal photos, she traces Stan Lee’s impressive career. It was one of the pop culture icon’s last projects.
A new comic art of his is written on the Marvel website: “100 years and he still inspires us all.” (dpa/epd)
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