Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Remembering Stan Lee, 1922 - 2018

Josh Gold -
L o s   A n g e l e s,  U S A - 


Stan Lee, 1922 - 2018. Image courtesy of  Marvel
Stan Lee, the co-creator of numerous superhero characters such as the Fantastic Four, Hulk, Spider-Man and Iron Man passed away Monday in Los Angeles at age 95.

An Ambulance was rushed to Lee's Hollywood Hills home. He was reportedly taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where Lee later passed away.

Disney and Marvel released a joint statement honouring the memory of Lee:

Today, Marvel Comics and The Walt Disney Company pause and reflect with great sadness on the passing of its Marvel Chairman Emeritus, Stan Lee. With a heavy heart, we share our deepest condolences with his daughter and brother, and we honor and remember the creator, voice and champion of Marvel Comics.

“Stan Lee was as extraordinary as the characters he created. A super hero in his own right to Marvel fans around the world, Stan had the power to inspire, to entertain, and to connect. The scale of his imagination was only exceeded by the size of his heart,” said Bob Iger, Chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company.

Array of Stan Lee Comics courtesy: The Comics Bolt
Stanley Martin Lieber, aka Stan Lee, loved the written word from an early age, and wanted to craft stories like those in his favorite books and films, which he consumed voraciously. From a simple upbringing in the teeming landscape of Manhattan, young Stanley worked his way through a succession of jobs until the day he found himself an assistant at a comic book publishing company—Timely Comics.

In between refilling artists’ inkwells, erasing pencil lines from comic pages and fetching an untold number of lunches, Stanley expressed his desire to write and create tales of his own; in the May 1941 issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #3, he got his wish. Readers would find a prose story in that issue, “Captain America Foils the Traitor’s Revenge,” sporting the byline of “Stan Lee.” A star was born.

“I used to be embarrassed because I was just a comic book writer while other people were building bridges or going on to medical careers. And then I began to realize: entertainment is one of the most important things in people's lives. Without it, they might go off the deep end. I feel that if you're able to entertain, you're doing a good thing.”  STAN LEE, 1922-2018.

Marvel Editor-in-Chief, Stan "The Man" Lee
As Stan’s roles and tenure with Timely Comics grew and evolved, so did the company itself. With Stan at its helm, Timely Comics morphed first into Atlas Comics and then into the name that would catapult it into legend and forever be synonymous with Stan Lee: Marvel Comics.

As Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief, Stan “The Man” Lee made his voice the voice of the stories themselves. Writing virtually every Marvel title and working with such luminaries as Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Don Heck, Gene Colan and John Romita, Stan began building a universe of interlocking continuity, one where fans felt as if they could turn a street corner and run into a Super Hero. A rich collection of characters grew out of his nonstop plotting sessions with his artists, including the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and more. Today, it would be almost impossible to find a corner of the Marvel Universe that Stan didn’t have a hand in.

Marvel fans found a friend in Stan Lee. He introduced the famous “Stan’s Soapbox” to speak directly to his readers, reaching a personal level rarely seen in comics of the day. Always pushing for new ways of creating comics, Stan also inaugurated the “Marvel method” of plotting and art, creating some of the most iconic stories in the industry to this day.

Stan Lee, 1922 - 2018. Courtesy of  Marvel
When something mattered to Stan, you felt it in his words, whether in an editorial or in the stories themselves. With passion for the medium, he helped refine and reform the Comics Code Authority and addressed hot-button issues like discrimination, drugs and intolerance.

Stan stepped up from his position as Editor-in-Chief in 1972 to tackle the role of Publisher at Marvel Comics, and while a strong succession of writers followed in his wake, his spirit and voice remained throughout the adventures that followed. His outspoken love for comics even extended to a series of college campus talks; given any chance to educate and illuminate on the industry, he took it. An entire generation of young readers expanded and strengthened their vocabulary and knowledge through Stan’s stories.

In later years, Stan took on new projects of his own outside of Marvel, but always kept one eye on the universe he created, watching with pride as it continued to grow and expand. Stan worked tirelessly to promote Marvel properties and characters to the film industry, and his spunky cameos in Marvel films and television series became an important part of his legacy.

Stan Lee, 1922 - 2018. Image courtesy of  Marvel
Over the years, Stan was widely recognized for his remarkable accomplishments, receiving the National Medal of Arts, being inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame and Jack Kirby Hall of Fame and being named a Disney Legend. He continued to work, write and enjoy life and creativity every day—and the world is better for it.

Marvel and the entire The Walt Disney Company salute the life and career of Stan Lee and offer their undying gratitude for his unmatchable accomplishments within their halls. Every time you open a Marvel comic, Stan will be there. Please join us today in remembering Stan “The Man” Lee.

“Stan Lee was as extraordinary as the characters he created. A super hero in his own right to Marvel fans around the world, Stan had the power to inspire, to entertain, and to connect. The scale of his imagination was only exceeded by the size of his heart”.

BOB IGER
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company


“Stan Lee's contributions to Marvel, a company he helped forge into a household name, will forever live on and we will continue to celebrate the imaginative characters he helped create and the fantastic universe he helped build. My thoughts and prayers go out to his daughter and brother at this time.”

IKE PERLMUTTER
Chairman of Marvel Entertainment


“Stan Lee's passion, charisma, and his love for the characters and stories he created shaped Marvel into what it is today. His relentless drive and dedication to tell imaginative stories changed the lives of countless fans for over 75 years, and his spirit lives on in the people he's inspired. His legacy will never be forgotten. My thoughts go out to his family at this difficult time.”

DAN BUCKLEY
President, Marvel Entertainment


“To so many of us he was a father figure, a mentor, a best friend. Stan let us into the pages of his comics and into his world. He told us all about himself, warts and all. He made us laugh when things were bleakest, he let us in and made us feel like we were a part his family so that when he creatively took a chance and leaped off the precipice of that building, we were always right there with him. He wasn’t just a guy in a suit, he was Stan 'The Man' Lee! Goodbye my friend and of course…EXCELSIOR!”

JOE QUESADA
Chief Creative Officer, Marvel Entertainment


“No one has had more of an impact on my career and everything we do at Marvel Studios than Stan Lee. Stan leaves an extraordinary legacy that will outlive us all. Our thoughts are with his daughter, his family, and the millions of fans who have been forever touched by Stan’s genius, charisma and heart. Excelsior!”

KEVIN FEIGE
President, Marvel Studios


“There aren't enough hyperboles left in the Marvel Universe to cover the tremendous titan who was Stan Lee. His wondrous wit, his crafty creativeness, and his spectacular showmanship were all hallmarks of his genius. In the words of Benjamin J. Grimm, ‘I gotta go now, I think I got somethin' in my eye.’”

JEPH LOEB
Executive VP, Head of Television, Marvel Entertainment


“There are so many of us who would not be the men and women we've become, and be where we are today, without the influence Stan Lee had on our lives; not only through the heroes he created and the lessons we learned from them, but from the example 'The Man' himself set in life. The more I got to know Stan, the more I saw how he put a little piece of himself in each and every character he created, and by doing so, he allowed readers to see their own reflection and imagine the possibility that they, too, could transcend their problems and become something amazing, uncanny, and fantastic.”

C.B. CEBULSKI
Editor in Chief, Marvel Entertainment

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