Stan Lee (1922-2018) was an American comic-book writer, editor, and publisher, who was executive vice president and publisher of Marvel Comics.
Stan was born in New York City, to Celia (Solomon) and Jack Lieber, a dress cutter. His parents were Romanian Jewish immigrants. Lee co-created Spider-Man, the Hulk, Doctor Strange, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Daredevil, Thor, the X-Men, and many other fictional characters, introducing a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. In addition, he challenged the comics’ industry’s censorship organization, the Comics Code Authority, indirectly leading to it updating its policies. Lee subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
Here are several of his observations.
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o I felt someday I’d write the Great American Novel and I didn’t want to use my real name on these silly little comics” [about why he changed his name to Stan Lee to begin with.]
o If a character had the first initial in both names, I could at least remember one of the names” [his reason for creating characters with the same initial… bad memory]
o [When asked about what he has for breakfast] I’ve had the same thing for years. I have orange juice and then I have cereal. I have granola with berries and sliced bananas and a cup of coffee and man it’s great. I’m a creature of habit. [When asked about what he has for breakfast.]
o The X-Men are basically just me being really lazy. If I said that their powers came from a mutation that would be it. I wouldn’t have to explain it any further.
o I love Marvel and the people there. I’m glad I’m still part of it. I always sympathized with the people who did work for hire; I was one of them.
o [Refuting an allegation] I have never had a lap dance in Tampa or any other part of Florida. If I ever did have a lap dance, I don’t think I would be discussing television ideas with the girl that was giving it to me.
o [About cameos in Marvel movies] If it’s a Marvel movie, I’m there for it. Whenever a new movie comes out, I hope they’ll have a spot for me. I get such a kick out of doing it. The fans seem to like it. I’m going to tell you a secret, here’s the reason the movies make so much money: My cameo. A man takes a girl to the movie, right? They’re watching the movie and they bend down to get some popcorn. In so doing, they miss my cameo. Now the movie ends, and they say, ‘My God, we missed Stan’s cameo!’ So what do they do? They run to the box office and buy two more tickets and see it again. That’s why the movies do so well, because of my cameos.
o 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 people, you’re doing a good thing.
o [About Jack Kirby in a tweet on what would have been the artist’s Birthday] He was a legend, he truly was. Nobody could draw like Jack.
o [on Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko who had just passed away] Steve was certainly one of the most important creators in the comic book business. His talent was indescribable. I worked with him for many years and was always impressed with how he saw everything in terms of photos and pictures and movement and scenes. He told a story like a fine movie director would. I’m sure there will be a lot written about him as time goes by and I will be one of the guys who buys the first book. You made a real impression here in the world.
o [on Fredric Wertham’s book, “Seduction of the Innocent”] He said something like two-thirds of kids in reform schools read comic books. I bet two-thirds of them also drink milk, but that didn’t seem to matter much to him.
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To learn more about Stan’s life and work, please click here.