He was a proofreader at 17, an editor at 19, a prolific writer throughout the 50's & 60's, and publisher of Marvel by age 50. In fact, his very name is synonymous with Marvel, having created many of the characters who've been adapted into movies & television shows since the 70's. The Marvel Studios movies of 2019 likely will be the last where he'll make obligatory cameo appearances.
To sum it up, Stan Lee has passed away, about six weeks shy of his 96th birthday, after a battle with pneumonia, among other issues.
Stanley Martin Lieber went to work for Timely Comics while still in high school, working as a proofreader and doing other minor tasks, in 1939. His first published work was a text piece on Captain America, published around 1940-1. After Cap's co-creators, Joe Simon & Jack Kirby, left for DC, Lee, not yet 19, was named editor. He left to serve in the Army in World War II, and returned to Timely after the war.
In 1961, Lee ushered in what has become known as the Marvel Age of Comics with the introduction of The Fantastic Four. By this point, Kirby had returned, and co-created the FF, as well as the company's interpretation of the Norse Thunder God, Thor, with Lee. In 1966, Marvel contracted with Canadian animators Grant Simmons and Ray Patterson to adapt Silver Age tales of Thor, Captain America, Sub-Mariner, Iron Man, & The Incredible Hulk in a syndicated daily series which lasted one season. In some form or another, Marvel's heroes have been a television fixture ever since.
I actually met Lee when a class field trip in New York made a stop at Marvel in 1973. He had boundless enthusiasm, as you could tell from his monthly editorials. Around this time, Lee appeared on To Tell The Truth:
In 1982, with Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends entering its 2nd season on NBC, Lee was added to the show as narrator, and 1st season reruns were re-edited to add his narration for continuity purposes.
Lee also did commercials. He shilled for Personna razor blades in the 70's, but good luck trying to find the ads.
Such was his dedication to Marvel that he has made cameo appearances in virtually every Marvel movie in the last decade. That string, as I wrote above, will end next year, and that "Captain Marvel", Marvel Studios' 1st film of 2019, will be dedicated to Lee.
Rest in peace, Stan. Excelsior!!
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