The sun has set on Stan Lee. The creative genius, who together with Jack Kirby took Marvel out of their financial mist in the ‘60s, died at the age of 95 – having left an irreplaceable and untouchable legacy. Lee was edging towards his twenties when he found himself the interim editor of Marvel predecessor Timely Comics. As Marvel struggled against their main competition DC Comics, so did Lee with his characters.
It was only after 1960 that Marvel began to enjoy mainstream popularity in comics after Lee through his collaborations with Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko created The Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. DC Comics had been enjoying huge success with their trinity – Superman, Batman and Wonderwoman – and the Justice League of America. But Lee’s new bunch of superheroes were not just super-powered beings in the generic sense, they had issues.
"I wanted them to be diverse. The whole underlying principle of the X-Men was to try to be an anti-bigotry story to show there’s good in every person," Lee said in an interview to Comicbook.com. Such was the uniqueness of his characters that it immediately catapulted both Lee and Marvel to unparalleled heights of popularity.
Lee later became the full-fledged publisher and chairman of Marvel Comics, overseeing their expansion from a small division of publishing house to a large multimedia corporation. His love and admiration for the fans, however, did not decline as he continued to meet and greet them through numerous public appearances as well as his innumerable cameos in Marvel films.
"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 realise: 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," he told The Washington Post.
It’s so hard to simply put into words the extraordinary character of a man that was Stan Lee; someone who lived his entire life cheering up and entertaining others through his marvelous creations. Lee truly lived up to powerful quote: “With great power there must also come – great responsibility!”
The world will forever be indebted to you, Excelsior!