It is with a heavy heart that we all read the announcement that comic book writer, editor, and executive producer, and all about godfather of modern comics (particularly Marvel), Stan Lee, has passed at the age of 95. A career spanning from 1939, when he was hired as an assistant to Timely Comics, which would later become the Marvel Comic empire we know today in the 1960’s, he worked as everything from inkwell re-filler to writer until 1972, when he became a publisher. He became the figurehead of Marvel Comics and shepherded the publication through some of its darkest times. Later in life, he worked on his own projects, including a two-season reality show on Syfy, Who Wants to Be a Superhero?.
Lee was responsible for several of today’s most enduring comics characters, including the co-creation of Spider-Man, the Hulk, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, The Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, and the X-Men. While at times his business practices were considered controversial, he was widely adopted by many in the comics community as a grandfatherly figure. Indeed, it’s become a fan favorite moment in the current slate of Marvel Cinematic Universe films to spot a “Stan Lee cameo” with each new movie. He’s also had cameo roles in FOX-produced Marvel films, including X-Men, and also “crossed streams” to appear on DC’s Teen Titans Go! To the Movies. His final credited comic book cameo appearance was in Sony’s Venom.
Lee reportedly died this morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in Los Angeles, CA. Carry forward, true believers.