"The Father of Marvel" Stan Lee (1922-)
Stanley Martin Lieber was born on December 28, 1922 in New York City. He was born to Cecelia and Jack Lieber, who were Romanian immigrants that just moved to the city. They were not the wealthiest of families. Every month was very hard for the family, they could barely make ends meet every month (“Stan Lee Biography”). Lee had a very hard childhood. He did not have the greatest opportunities as a kid. To make matters worse he grew up in part of The Great Depression. Lee and his brother, Larry, grew up with little to nothing while lived in a cramped New York apartment. The family moved multiple times in order to find cheaper living during the hard times.
After Lee graduated high school he landed a job with a small comics company call Timely Comics. Lee was ecstatic that he was able to get the job. He worked very hard in order to get his work published. He had a rough start with the company. He had already worked there for two years and hadn’t had anything published. Then, his luck took a turn. Lee got the break he needed and his work “The Traitor’s Revenge” was published in Capitan America #3 in 1941 (“Stan Lee-Biography”). From there Lee’s career exploded.
It was at this point Lee started going by “Stan Lee” instead of Lieber. He did it so his name would be easier to remember and it sounded better. Unfortunately soon after Lee’s big break he had to go participate in WWII. Lee did not actually fight, but instead he did war sketches and drawings for documentation. Once Lee came back from his time in service, he had all these great ideas for comics and heroes. At this point and time Superman and Batman comics were a hit for DC Comics and Timely needed a comeback. Lee worked with Marvel great Jack Kirby, and produced Capitan America comics that were winning over fans that were previously fans of Superman and Batman.
Around the early 1960’s Timely Comics changed their name to Marvel Comics (“Stan Lee Biography”). Also around this time the creation of DC Comics “The Justice League of America” was created. This was a blow to Marvel. Lee and Kirby were a well established team at Marvel at this point. Lee did the writing, while Kirby did the editing and artwork. Lee and Kirby were asked to try and save Marvel from the shrinking fan base due to The Justice League. Lee and Kirby took the challenge with fire in their eyes and as a result, The Fantastic Four was created in 1961 (“Stan Lee Biography”). This was Marvels first super hero team. This spark of creativity caused Lee and Kirby to go off. They were making hit super hero after hit super hero. During this time period heros like Ironman, Spiderman, Hulk, Xmen, Daredevil and Thor all came to life. Shortly after this the rise of “The Avengers” came along and put DC and Marvel neck and neck in the comic book industry that was moving at record pace.
While Lee was writing such hit comics, he created a few trade marks for himself. He always wore dark sunglasses everywhere he went, even inside. He also had a signature mustache that became very popular around his co workers and his fans. Whenever Lee finished a comic he would always end it with his go to phrase “Excelsior”, which the fans loved and would quote him on. And lastly, if anyone ever got into an argument with Lee or a deep discussion, Lee would always end his statements with “nuff said”. This is also the most common remark he leaves on any fan mail her receives.
There was a point in the late 80’s when comic books were starting to take a new turn. The comics started to come off the pages and onto the screen, the television screen. Lee began to write scripts and produce TV shows for some of his most notable works. He became deeply involved with the TV show “The Amazing Spiderman”. This also began the time when Lee himself would actually be in the shows. Most of the time he would be the narrator in the shows, but every once and a while, a cartoon version of Lee could be spotted getting saved or being talked to by a hero. Lee didn’t just stop at TV, he went to the even bigger screen. Lee started to help write and help direct the movies about his heroes. Lee loved the idea of his comics getting brought to life with real life actors and special effects. Lee has made cameos in all of his heroes movies including The Fantastic Four, Spiderman, Capitan America, Hulk, Ironman, and the Avengers. Lee hasn’t just stuck to his comics though. He has also created a TV show called Stan Lee’s Super Humans on History Chanel (“Stan Lee Biography”). In the show Lee searches the planet for people with super human abilities and “powers”. He also created a Youtube account where he does a majority of things like rants about present day problems and other fan pleasing material.
Today, Stan Lee is 90 years old and is happily living life with his wife Joann. They live a quiet life in retirement in New Jersey. Lee still does appearances from time to time at comic book conventions such as Comic Con, but has been canceling a lot recently due to some unknown medical problem. But according to Lee he will be back in action soon and is as active as ever.
After Lee graduated high school he landed a job with a small comics company call Timely Comics. Lee was ecstatic that he was able to get the job. He worked very hard in order to get his work published. He had a rough start with the company. He had already worked there for two years and hadn’t had anything published. Then, his luck took a turn. Lee got the break he needed and his work “The Traitor’s Revenge” was published in Capitan America #3 in 1941 (“Stan Lee-Biography”). From there Lee’s career exploded.
It was at this point Lee started going by “Stan Lee” instead of Lieber. He did it so his name would be easier to remember and it sounded better. Unfortunately soon after Lee’s big break he had to go participate in WWII. Lee did not actually fight, but instead he did war sketches and drawings for documentation. Once Lee came back from his time in service, he had all these great ideas for comics and heroes. At this point and time Superman and Batman comics were a hit for DC Comics and Timely needed a comeback. Lee worked with Marvel great Jack Kirby, and produced Capitan America comics that were winning over fans that were previously fans of Superman and Batman.
Around the early 1960’s Timely Comics changed their name to Marvel Comics (“Stan Lee Biography”). Also around this time the creation of DC Comics “The Justice League of America” was created. This was a blow to Marvel. Lee and Kirby were a well established team at Marvel at this point. Lee did the writing, while Kirby did the editing and artwork. Lee and Kirby were asked to try and save Marvel from the shrinking fan base due to The Justice League. Lee and Kirby took the challenge with fire in their eyes and as a result, The Fantastic Four was created in 1961 (“Stan Lee Biography”). This was Marvels first super hero team. This spark of creativity caused Lee and Kirby to go off. They were making hit super hero after hit super hero. During this time period heros like Ironman, Spiderman, Hulk, Xmen, Daredevil and Thor all came to life. Shortly after this the rise of “The Avengers” came along and put DC and Marvel neck and neck in the comic book industry that was moving at record pace.
While Lee was writing such hit comics, he created a few trade marks for himself. He always wore dark sunglasses everywhere he went, even inside. He also had a signature mustache that became very popular around his co workers and his fans. Whenever Lee finished a comic he would always end it with his go to phrase “Excelsior”, which the fans loved and would quote him on. And lastly, if anyone ever got into an argument with Lee or a deep discussion, Lee would always end his statements with “nuff said”. This is also the most common remark he leaves on any fan mail her receives.
There was a point in the late 80’s when comic books were starting to take a new turn. The comics started to come off the pages and onto the screen, the television screen. Lee began to write scripts and produce TV shows for some of his most notable works. He became deeply involved with the TV show “The Amazing Spiderman”. This also began the time when Lee himself would actually be in the shows. Most of the time he would be the narrator in the shows, but every once and a while, a cartoon version of Lee could be spotted getting saved or being talked to by a hero. Lee didn’t just stop at TV, he went to the even bigger screen. Lee started to help write and help direct the movies about his heroes. Lee loved the idea of his comics getting brought to life with real life actors and special effects. Lee has made cameos in all of his heroes movies including The Fantastic Four, Spiderman, Capitan America, Hulk, Ironman, and the Avengers. Lee hasn’t just stuck to his comics though. He has also created a TV show called Stan Lee’s Super Humans on History Chanel (“Stan Lee Biography”). In the show Lee searches the planet for people with super human abilities and “powers”. He also created a Youtube account where he does a majority of things like rants about present day problems and other fan pleasing material.
Today, Stan Lee is 90 years old and is happily living life with his wife Joann. They live a quiet life in retirement in New Jersey. Lee still does appearances from time to time at comic book conventions such as Comic Con, but has been canceling a lot recently due to some unknown medical problem. But according to Lee he will be back in action soon and is as active as ever.