Stan Lee once said,
"I don’t know what it is. I’ve always worn sunglasses," he replied. "They’re like my mask, I guess. It was probably just some silly affectation. When I was very young and just starting off as a writer, I always lit a pipe and held it in my teeth as I wrote. I hated smoking a pipe, but I felt it made me look older and like I writer. I was 18. Sunglasses are better for your health."
Stanley Martin Lieber, famously known as Stan Lee, was born on December 28, 1922 in the Big Apple. As a child Stan was greatly influenced by movies and books, especially the heroic characters played by Errol Flynn. Since his early years Stan never shied away from hard work. At a young age he would have all different types of part time jobs from writing obituaries to delivering sandwiches from the Jay May Pharmacy to the offices in Rockefeller Center. He was an usher for the Rivoli Theater on Broadway and sold subscriptions of the New York Herald Tribune newspaper. After winning the High School Writing Contest, sponsored by the New York Hearld Tribune 3 times in a row, they had recommended that Stan consider writing professionally. Stan affectionately recalls that "probably changed my life".
His Uncle Robbie Solomon helped Stan become an assistant at the new Timely Comics, later known as Marvel Comics, division of pulp magazine as well as a comic-book publisher in Martin Goodman's company in 1939. In the beginning Stan's responsibilities were lacking poetic beauty at first. He nostalgically recalls in a 2009 interview about his early years,
"In those days (the artists) dipped the pen in ink, (so) I had to make sure the inkwells were filled...I went down and got them their lunch, I did proofreading, I erased the pencils from the finished pages for them"
Stan's comic-book debut was in Captain America Comics #3, with the text filler "Captain America Foils the Traitor's Revenge" (cover-dated May 1941). He used the pseudonym Stan Lee, which years later he would adopt as his legal name. He said that he had done this due to the low social status of comics back in the day. Stan's career progressed from being a text filler to actually writing comics. Stan's first co-created character was the Destroyer in Mystic Comics #6.
After a split between Jack Kirby and Joe Simon with Martin Goodman due to creative differences, Goodman promoted Stan, who was just shy of 19 years old, to Interim Editor. That is AWESOME! Go Stan! The young Interim Editor, proved to be quite the businessman. This had led him to stay as the comic-book division's Editor-In-Chief as well as Art Director. In 1972, Goodman bequeathed his role as publisher to Stan Lee. He left knowing the company he founded was placed in the best hands......and the rest is history (I'm actually going to create another post just about the history of Marvel in the near future).
He married the English beauty, Joan Clayton Boocock and together they had a daughter, Joan Celia "J. C." Lee. Sadly they had lost their second daughter just 3 days after she was born.
The Lees resided in Hewlett Harbor, New York, from 1952 to 1980. They also had a condo on East 63rd Street in Manhattan from 1975 to 1980. During the 1970's they owned a vacation home in the hamlet Remsenburg, New York located in Southampton. From the East coast to the West Coast, in 1981 they moved to a home in West Hollywood, California. Fun fact, this house was previously owned by a radio announcer, Don Wilson, for the comedian Jack Benny. There they lived, loved, and laughed...creating precious memories with dear friends and family.
Over the years Stan's health has been a battle with multiple health issues. In September 2012, he had an operation to insert a permanent pacemaker. Cancellation of planned appearances at conventions was a must so that Stan could recover. On July 6, 2017, his beautiful wife of 69 years, sadly passed away due to complications from a stroke. At the time, Joan was 95 years old. It took a toll on Stan, but through his grief he chose to keep moving forward. He continued to make appearances at multiple conventions. A little over a year later, on November 12, 2018, the world lost one of the most creative-beloved legends. The cause of death was from cardiac arrest, respiratory and congestive heart failure. The death certificate also indicated that he had aspiration pneumonia.
Stan left us with his legacy. From this first superheroes with the legendary co-creator, artist Jack Kirby, on Fantastic Four to the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, and X-men. As well as collaborations with other talented artists like Steve Ditko on Doctor Strange and can't forget the famous Spider-Man with the spidey senses. Stan was a creative force that envisioned a multi-verse of endless possibilities and even though these were superheroes with exceptional abilities, he made them human. We were able to connect with their struggles, the insecurities, the successes, and oh so good moments of the these beloved characters.
He will always be remembered as the Face and Father of Marvel. For we will always remember him when we look at the characters that he loved so much. We will always laugh when we look back at the many live-action cameos he had in the span of 2 decades. Earliest live-action cameo was as a juror in the 1989's TV Movie, "The Trial of the Incredible Hulk".....but one of my favorite cameos of Stan was from The Amazing Spider-Man, where he had headphones on and he was grooving and moving to the music, all the while there is a destructive battle between Spider-Man and the Lizard behind him.
Thank you, Stan Lee for your creative spirit and generous heart. Not only did you touch the lives of millions with your iconic characters, but you have helped so many in their time of need. I will never forget what you did for the victims of Hurricane Irma in Florida. Even though your last official trip was at MegaCon Orlando, you still made one more trip to MegaCon Tampa just to help those who were devastated by mother nature's fury. All the proceeds from your special charity auction went to the victims of Hurricane Irma. You were and will always be forever loved, respected, and honored. We will miss you Stan. Excelsior!
