Stan Lee

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This article is about the comics creator. For other uses, see Stan Lee (disambiguation).
Stan Lee
in 2007
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Writer, Editor, Publisher, Producer, Actor, Reality show host
Notable works
Spider-Man
Fantastic Four
X-Men
Hulk
Iron Man
Thor
Daredevil
Doctor Strange
AwardsComics Hall of Fame
Signature
Signature of Stan Lee

Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber; December 28, 1922)[1] is an American comic book writer, editor, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.

With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, and many other fictional characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters[2] and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books.[3] In addition, he headed the first major successful challenge to the industry's censorship organization, the Comics Code Authority and forced it to reform its policies.[4] Lee subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.

Biography

Early life and career

Lee was born in New York City, New York, in the apartment of his Romanian-born Jewish immigrant parents, Celia (née Solomon) and Jack Lieber,[5] at the corner of West 98th Street and West End Avenue in Manhattan.[1] His father, trained as a dress cutter, worked only sporadically after the Great Depression, and the family moved further uptown to Fort Washington Avenue,[6] in the Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights. When Lee was nearly 9, his only sibling, brother Larry Lieber, was born. By the time Lee was in his teens, the family was living in a one-bedroom apartment at 1720 University Avenue in The Bronx. Lee described it as "a third-floor apartment facing out back", with him and his brother sharing a bedroom and his parents using a foldout couch.[7]

Lee attended DeWitt Clinton High School in The Bronx,[8] where his family had moved next. A voracious reader who enjoyed writing as a teen, he worked such part-time jobs as writing obituaries for a news service and press releases for the National Tuberculosis Center; delivering sandwiches for the Jack May pharmacy to offices in Rockefeller Center; working as an office boy for a trouser manufacturer; ushering at the Rivoli Theater on Broadway; and selling subscriptions to the New York Herald Tribune newspaper. He graduated high school early, at age 16½ in 1939, and joined the WPA Federal Theatre Project.

File:CaptAmerica3.jpg
A text filler in Captain America Comics#3 (May 1941) was Lee's first published work. Cover art by Alex Schomburg.

With the help of his uncle, Robbie Solomon,[9] Lee that same year became an assistant at the new Timely Comics division of pulp magazine and comic-book publisher Martin Goodman's company.[10] Timely, by the 1960s, would evolve into Marvel Comics. Lee, whose cousin Jean[11] was Goodman's wife, was formally hired by Timely editor Joe Simon.[10]

His duties were prosaic at first. "In those days [the artists] dipped the pen in ink, [so] I had to make sure the inkwells were filled", Lee recalled in 2009. "I went down and got them their lunch, I did proofreading, I erased the pencils from the finished pages for them".[12] Marshaling his childhood ambition to be a writer, young Stanley Lieber made his comic-book debut with the text filler "Captain America Foils the Traitor's Revenge" in Captain America Comics #3 (May 1941), used the pseudonym "Stan Lee", which years later he would adopt as his legal name. Lee later explained in his autobiography and numerous other sources that he had intended to save his given name for more literary work. This initial story also introduced Captain America's trademark ricocheting shield-toss, which immediately became one of the character's signatures.[13]

He graduated from writing filler to actual comics with a backup feature, "'Headline' Hunter, Foreign Correspondent", two issues later. Lee's first superhero co-creation was the Destroyer, in Mystic Comics #6 (August 1941). Other characters he created during this period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comics include Jack Frost, debuting in USA Comics #1 (August 1941), and Father Time, debuting in Captain America Comics #6 (August 1941).[14]

When Simon and his creative partner Jack Kirby left late in 1941, following a dispute with Goodman, the 30-year-old publisher installed Lee, just under 19 years old, as interim editor.[15] The youngster showed a knack for the business that led him to remain as the comic-book division's editor-in-chief, as well as art director for much of that time, until 1972, when he would succeed Goodman as publisher.[16][17]

Lee entered the United States Army in early 1942 and served stateside in the Signal Corps, writing manuals, training films, and slogans, and occasionally cartooning. His military classification, he says, was "playwright"; he adds that only nine men in the U.S. Army were given that title.[18] Vincent Fago, editor of Timely's "animation comics" section, which put out humor and funny animal comics, filled in until Lee returned from his World War II military service in 1945. From then through 1947, he and his wife, Joan Clayton Boocock, rented the top floor of a brownstone in the East 90s in Manhattan.[19] They later bought two-story, three-bedroom home at 1084 West Broadway, in Woodmere, New York, on Long Island, living there from 1949 to 1952.[20] The family, which by this time included daughter Joan Celia, bought a home at 226 Richards Lane in the Long Island town of Hewlett Harbor, New York, living there from 1952 to 1980,[21] including the 1960s period when Lee and his artist collaborators would revolutionize comic books.

In the mid-1950s, by which time the company was now generally known as Atlas Comics, Lee wrote stories in a variety of genres including romance, Westerns, humor, science fiction, medieval adventure, horror and suspense. By the end of the decade, Lee had become dissatisfied with his career and considered quitting the field.[22][23]

The Fantastic Four #1 (November 1961). Cover art by Jack Kirby (penciller) and an unconfirmed inker.

Marvel revolution

In the late 1950s, DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz revived the superhero genre and experienced a significant success with its updated version of the Flash, and later with super-team the Justice League of America. In response, publisher Martin Goodman assigned Lee to create a new superhero team. Lee's wife urged him to experiment with stories he preferred, since he was planning on changing careers and had nothing to lose.[22][23]

Lee acted on that advice, giving his superheroes a flawed humanity, a change from the ideal archetypes that were typically written for pre-teens. His heroes could have bad tempers, melancholy fits, vanity, greed, etc. They bickered amongst themselves, worried about paying their bills and impressing girlfriends, and even were sometimes physically ill. Before him, most superheroes were idealistically perfect people with no serious, lasting problems.[24]

The first superhero group Lee and artist Jack Kirby created was the Fantastic Four. Their immediate popularity led Lee and Marvel's illustrators to produce a cavalcade of new titles. With Kirby, Lee created the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, the Mighty Thor and the X-Men; with Bill Everett, Daredevil; and with Steve Ditko, Doctor Strange and Marvel's most successful character, Spider-Man.

Comics historian Peter Sanderson wrote that in the 1960s,

DC was the equivalent of the big Hollywood studios: After the brilliance of DC's reinvention of the superhero ... in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it had run into a creative drought by the decade's end. There was a new audience for comics now, and it wasn't just the little kids that traditionally had read the books. The Marvel of the 1960s was in its own way the counterpart of the French New Wave.... Marvel was pioneering new methods of comics storytelling and characterization, addressing more serious themes, and in the process keeping and attracting readers in their teens and beyond. Moreover, among this new generation of readers were people who wanted to write or draw comics themselves, within the new style that Marvel had pioneered, and push the creative envelope still further.[25]

Stan Lee's Marvel revolution extended beyond the characters and storylines to the way in which comic books engaged the readership and built a sense of community between fans and creators.[26][27] Lee introduced the practice of including a credit panel on the splash page of each story, naming not just the writer and penciller but also the inker and letterer. Regular news about Marvel staff members and upcoming storylines was presented on the Bullpen Bulletins page, which (like the letter columns that appeared in each title) was written in a friendly, chatty style.

File:AmazingFantasy15.jpg
Amazing Fantasy#15 (1962), the first appearance of Spider-Man. Cover art by Jack Kirby (penciller) & Steve Ditko (inker).

Throughout the 1960s, Lee scripted, art-directed, and edited most of Marvel's series, moderated the letters pages, wrote a monthly column called "Stan's Soapbox," and wrote endless promotional copy, often signing off with his trademark phrase "Excelsior!" (which is also the New York state motto). To maintain his taxing workload, yet still meet deadlines, he used a system that was used previously by various comic-book studios, but due to Lee's success with it, became known as the "Marvel Method" or "Marvel style" of comic-book creation. Typically, Lee would brainstorm a story with the artist and then prepare a brief synopsis rather than a full script. Based on the synopsis, the artist would fill the allotted number of pages by determining and drawing the panel-to-panel storytelling. After the artist turned in penciled pages, Lee would write the word balloons and captions, and then oversee the lettering and coloring. In effect, the artists were co-plotters, whose collaborative first drafts Lee built upon.

Because of this system, the exact division of creative credits on Lee's comics has been disputed, especially in cases of comics drawn by Kirby and Ditko. Similarly, Lee shares co-creator credit with Kirby on the two Fantastic Four films, while also sharing the same credit with Ditko with the Spider-Man feature film series.

In 1971, Lee indirectly reformed the Comics Code. The US Department of Health, Education and Welfare asked Lee to write a story about the dangers of drugs and Lee wrote a story in which Spider-Man's best friend becomes addicted to pills. The three-part story was slated to be published in Amazing Spider-Man #96-98, but the Comics Code Authority refused it because it depicted drug use[28]; the story context was considered irrelevant.[29][30][31] With his publisher's approval, Lee published the comics without the CCA seal[32][33]. The comics sold well and Marvel won praise for its socially conscious efforts.[34] The CCA subsequently loosened the Code to permit negative depictions of drugs, among other new freedoms.[35]

Lee also supported using comic books to provide some measure of social commentary about the real world, often dealing with racism and bigotry. "Stan's Soapbox", besides promoting an upcoming comic book project, also addressed issues of discrimination, intolerance, or prejudice.[36][37] In addition, Lee took to using sophisticated vocabulary for the stories' dialogue to encourage readers to learn new words. Lee has justified this by saying: "If a kid has to go to a dictionary, that's not the worst thing that could happen."[35]

Later career

Lee at the 1975 San Diego Comic Con.

In later years, Lee became a figurehead and public face for Marvel Comics. He made appearances at comic book conventions around America, lecturing at colleges and participating in panel discussions, and by now owning a vacation home on Cutler Lane in Remsenburg, New York[38] and, from 1975 to 1980, a two-bedroom condominium on the 14th floor of 220 East 63rd Street in Manhattan.[39] He moved to California in 1981 to develop Marvel's TV and movie properties. He has been an executive producer for, and has made cameo appearances in Marvel film adaptations and other movies. He and his wife bought a home in West Hollywood, California previously owned by comedian Jack Benny's radio announcer, Don Wilson.[40] Lee was briefly president of the entire company, but soon stepped down to become publisher instead, finding that being president was too much about numbers and finance and not enough about the creative process he enjoyed.[1]

Later in the 1990s, Lee befriended former lawyer Peter Paul, who supervised the negotiation of a non-exclusive contract with Marvel Comics for the first time in Lee's lifetime employment with Marvel.[citation needed] This enabled Paul and Lee to start a new Internet-based superhero creation, production and marketing studio, Stan Lee Media, in 1998. It grew to 165 people and went public, but near the end of 2000, investigators discovered illegal stock manipulation by Paul and corporate officer Stephan Gordon.[41] Stan Lee Media filed for bankruptcy in February 2001, and Paul fled to São Paulo, Brazil.[42][43] He was extradited back to the U.S., and pleaded guilty to violating SEC Rule 10b-5 in connection with trading of his stock in Stan Lee Media.[44][45] Lee was never implicated in the scheme.

Some of the Stan Lee Media projects included the animated Web series The 7th Portal where he voiced the character Izayus; The Drifter; and The Accuser. The 7th Portal characters were licensed to an interactive 3-D film attraction in four Paramount theme parks.

In the 2000s, Lee did his first work for DC Comics, launching the Just Imagine... series, in which Lee reimagined the DC superheroes Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and the Flash.

Lee created the risqué animated superhero series Stripperella for Spike TV. In 2004, he announced plans to collaborate with Hugh Hefner on a similar superhero cartoon featuring Playboy Playmates.[citation needed] He also announced a superhero program that would feature Ringo Starr, the former Beatle, as the lead character.[46] Additionally, in August of that year, Lee announced the launch of Stan Lee's Sunday Comics,[47] hosted by Komikwerks.com, where monthly subscribers could read a new, updated comic and "Stan's Soapbox" every Sunday. The column has not been updated since February 15, 2005.

In 2005, Lee, Gill Champion and Arthur Lieberman formed POW! (Purveyors of Wonder) Entertainment to develop film, television and video game properties. The first film produced by POW! was the TV movie Lightspeed (also advertised as Stan Lee's Lightspeed), which aired on the Sci Fi Channel on July 26, 2006.[citation needed] POW! president and CEO Champion said in 2005 that Lee was creating a new superhero, Foreverman, for a Paramount Pictures movie, in tandem with producer Robert Evans and Idiom Films, with Peter Briggs hired to collaborate with Lee on the screenplay.[48]

In 2005, Lee filed a lawsuit against Marvel for his unpaid share of profits from Marvel movies, winning a settlement of more than $10 million.[citation needed]

In 2006, Marvel commemorated Lee's 65 years with the company by publishing a series of one-shot comics starring Lee himself meeting and interacting with many of his co-creations, including Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, the Thing, Silver Surfer and Doctor Doom. These comics also featured short pieces by such comics creators as Joss Whedon and Fred Hembeck, as well as reprints of classic Lee-written adventures.

In 2007, POW! started a series of direct-to-DVD animated films under the Stan Lee Presents banner. Each film focuses on a new superhero, created by Stan Lee for the series. The first two releases were Mosaic and The Condor. In June of that year, Walt Disney Studios entered into an exclusive multi-year first-look deal with POW! Entertainment.[49]

On March 15, 2007, Stan Lee Media's new president, Jim Nesfield, filed a lawsuit against Marvel Entertainment for $5 billion, claiming that the company is co-owner of the characters that Lee created for Marvel.[50] On June 9, 2007, Stan Lee Media sued Lee; his newer company, POW! Entertainment; POW! subsidiary QED Entertainment; and other former Stan Lee Media staff at POW![51]

In 2008, Lee wrote humorous captions for the political fumetti book Stan Lee Presents Election Daze: What Are They Really Saying?.[52] In April of that year, at the New York Comic Con, Viz Media announced that Lee and Hiroyuki Takei were collaborating on the manga Karakuridōji Ultimo, from parent company Shueisha.[53] That same month, Brighton Partners and Rainmaker Animation announced a partnership POW! to produce a CGI film series, "Legion of 5".[54] That same month, Virgin Comics announced Lee would create a line of superhero comics for that company.[55] He is also working on a TV adaptation of the novel Hero.[56]

Personal life

On December 5, 1947, Lee married Joan Clayton. The couple had two children: Joan Celia "J.C." Lee in 1950 and Jan Lee, who died three days after delivery in 1953.[1]

Interests

Lee's favorite authors include Stephen King, H. G. Wells, Mark Twain, Arthur Conan Doyle, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and Harlan Ellison.[57]

Awards and honors

Lee has received several awards for his work, including being formally inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1995.

He was among the celebrities scheduled to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2008.[58]

On November 17, 2008, Stan Lee was awarded the National Medal of Arts.[59][60]

The County of Los Angeles declared October 2, 2009 Stan Lee Day.[61]

The City of Long Beach declared October 2, 2009 Stan Lee Day.[61]

He won the Comic-Con Icon Award 2009 at Scream Awards.[62]

Fictional portrayals

See also: List of comics creators appearing in comics
Lee and Kirby (lower left) as themselves on the covers of The Fantastic Four #10 (Jan. 1963). Art by Kirby & Dick Ayers.

Stan Lee and his collaborator Jack Kirby appear as themselves in The Fantastic Four #10 (January 1963), the first of several appearances within the fictional Marvel Universe.[63] The two are depicted as similar to their real-world counterparts, creating comic books based on the "real" adventures of the Fantastic Four.

Kirby, during his years of working for DC Comics in the 1970s, created the character Funky Flashman as a possible parody of Stan Lee.[citation needed] With his hyperbolic speech pattern, gaudy toupee, and hip '70s-Manhattan style beard (as Lee sported at the time) this ne'er-do-well charlatan first appeared in the pages of Mister Miracle.

Kirby later portrayed himself, Lee, production executive Sol Brodsky, and Lee's secretary Flo Steinberg as superheroes in What If #11, "What If the Marvel Bullpen Had Become the Fantastic Four?", in which Lee played the part of Mister Fantastic. Lee has also made numerous cameo appearances in many Marvel titles, appearing in audiences and crowds at many characters' ceremonies and parties, and hosting an old-soldiers reunion in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #100 (July 1972). Lee appeared, unnamed, as the priest at Luke Cage and Jessica Jones' wedding in New Avengers Annual #1. He pays his respects to Karen Page at her funeral in the Daredevil "Guardian Devil" story arc,[volume & issue needed] and appears in The Amazing Spider-Man (June 1977).

In Alan Moore's satirical miniseries 1963, based on numerous Marvel characters of the 1960s, Moore's alter ego "Affable Al" parodies Lee and his allegedly unfair treatment of artists.[citation needed]

The "Young Dan Pussey" stories by Daniel Clowes, collected in Pussey!, feature an exploitative publisher who relies on Lee's gung-ho style and "Bullpen" mythology to motivate his stable of naive and underpaid creators; the stories mainly satirize the state of mainstream comics in the 1990s, but also the subculture of young superhero fans that Lee helped to create.

In Marvel's 1991 comic book adaptation of game Double Dragon, a character modeled after Stan Lee was specifically created for the comic and is introduced as the father of the protagonists, Billy and Jimmy Lee. The character is only referred by his first name, Stan, although the play on his name is obvious when one considers the Lee brothers' surname.

In X-Play on the cable network G4, the character "Roger, the Stan Lee Experience" - dubbed "the fifth-best-thing next to Stan Lee" - is a foul-mouthed, perverted stand-up comic parody of Lee. Roger's segments normally consist of him describing details of numerous unspeakable adult encounters, usually involving the wife of another Marvel veteran, Jack Kirby, with each encounter somehow leading to the creation of a well-known Marvel character.

In Marvel's July 1997 "Flashback" event, a top-hatted caricature of Lee as a ringmaster introduced stories which detailed events in Marvel characters' lives before they became superheroes, in special "-1" editions of many Marvel titles. The "ringmaster" depiction of Lee was originally from Generation X #17 (July 1996), where the character narrated a story set primarily in an abandoned circus. Though the story itself was written by Scott Lobdell, the narration by "Ringmaster Stan" was written by Lee himself, and the character was drawn in that issue by Chris Bachalo. Bachalo's depiction of "Ringmaster Stan" was later used in the heading of a short-lived revival of the "Stan's Soapbox" column, which evolved into a question & answer format.

In his given name of Stanley Lieber, Stan Lee appears briefly in Paul Malmont's 2006 novel "The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril".

Lee and other comics creators are mentioned in Michael Chabon's 2000 novel about the comics industry The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.

On one of the last pages of "Truth: Red, White, and Black", Lee appears in a real photograph among other celebrities on a wall of the Bradley home.

In Ultimate X-Men #20, a caricature of Lee appears as a photograph next to the letter Xavier leaves for his students.

In Stan Lee Meets Superheroes, Stan Lee comes in to contact with some of his favorite creations. The series was written by Lee himself.

In Karakuridoji Ultimo a caricature of Lee in 12th century Japan as the creator of both Ultimo and Vice, named Dr. Dunstan.

Film and television appearances

Marvel film properties

File:Fantastic1.jpg
Lee as Willie Lumpkin in Fantastic Four, 2005

Stan Lee appeared in cameos as one-scene characters in many (but not all) movies based on Marvel Comic characters he helped create.

  • In the TV-movie The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (1989), Lee's first appearance in a Marvel movie or TV project is as jury foreman in the trial of Dr. Bruce Banner.
  • In X-Men (2000), Lee appears as a vendor of a hotdog stand on the beach when Senator Kelly emerges naked onshore after escaping from Magneto.
  • In Spider-Man (2002), he appeared during Spider-Man's first battle with the Green Goblin, pulling a little girl away from falling debris. He was intended to have a longer cameo as a sunglasses vendor, but this scene was cut from the film.[citation needed]
  • In Daredevil (2003), as a child, Matt Murdock stops Lee from crossing the street and getting hit by a car.
  • In Hulk (2003), he appears walking alongside former TV-series Hulk Lou Ferrigno in an early scene, both as security guards at Bruce Banner's lab. It was his first speaking role in a film based on one of his characters.
  • In Spider-Man 2 (2004), Lee again pulls an innocent person away from danger during Spider-Man's first battle with Doctor Octopus.
  • In Fantastic Four (2005), Lee appears for the first time as a character from the comics, in a role credited as Willie Lumpkin, the mail carrier who greets the Fantastic Four as they enter the Baxter Building.
  • In X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Lee and Chris Claremont appear as two of Jean Grey's neighbors in the opening scenes set 20 years ago. Lee, credited as "Waterhose man," is watering the lawn when Jean telekinetically redirects the water from the hose into the air.
  • In Spider-Man 3 (2007), Lee appears in a credited role as "Man in Times Square". He stands next to Peter Parker, both of them reading a news bulletin, and commenting to Peter that, "You know, I guess one person can make a difference". He then says his catch phrase, "'Nuff said."
  • In Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), Lee appears as himself at Reed Richards' and Susan Storm's first wedding, being turned away by a security guard for not being on the guest list. In Fantastic Four Annual #3 (1965), in which the couple married, Lee and Jack Kirby are similarly turned away.
  • In Iron Man (2008), Lee (credited as "Himself") appears at a gala cavorting with three blond women, where Tony Stark mistakes him for Hugh Hefner.[64] In the theatrical release of the film, Stark simply greets Lee as "Hef" and moves on without seeing Lee's face; another version of the scene was filmed where Stark realizes his mistake, but Lee graciously responds, "That's okay, I get this all the time."[65]
  • In The Incredible Hulk (2008), Lee appears as a hapless citizen who accidentally ingests a soft drink mixed with Bruce Banner's blood, leading to the discovery of Dr. Banner's location in a bottling plant in Brazil. The director of the movie has stated that Lee's death was meant to symbolize the death of comics in the modern age.
  • One report, citing an anonymous source, says Lee will appear in the 2010 film Iron Man 2 as CNN interviewer Larry King, interviewing Tony Stark (Iron Man) about Stark's new "modified 'black' Iron Man suit".[66]
  • Lee said he has met with Kenneth Branagh, director of the planned Thor film, about his cameo in that movie.[67]

Warner/DC properties

File:Stan lee on stas apokolips now part2.jpg
Stan Lee mourning on Dan Turpin's funeral. Above TV capture from original episode and below storyboard art by Bruce Timm and text comments by Paul Dini.

Other film, TV, and video

  • Lee appears with director Kevin Smith and 2000s Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada in the DVD program "Marvel Then & Now: An Evening with Stan Lee and Joe Quesada, hosted by Kevin Smith".
  • One of Lee's earliest contributions to animation based on Marvel properties was narrating the 1980s Incredible Hulk animated series, always beginning his narration with a self-introduction and ending with "This is Stan Lee saying, Excelsior!" Lee had previously narrated the "Seven Little Superheroes" episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, which the Hulk series was paired with for broadcast.
  • Lee was interviewed on the History Channel Show Superhuman by Daniel Browning Smith, who held several Guiness Records for extreme flexibility[69] due to having Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a genetic condition affecting collagen formation. Smith had created his own comic book to display his own struggles as an outcast for his flexibility, and legitimately surprised Lee with a quick demonstration of his talent.
  • Lee was an executive producer of the 1990s animated TV series Spider-Man. He appeared as himself in animated form in the series finale episode titled "Farewell, Spider-Man". Spider-Man is transported by Madame Web into the "real" world where he is a fictional character. He meets Lee and the two swing around until Spider-Man drops him off on top of a building; Madame Web appears and brings Spider-Man back to his homeworld. Realizing he is stuck on a roof, Lee muses, hoping the Fantastic Four will show up and lend a hand.
  • He also voices the character "Frank Elson" in an episode of Spider-Man: The New Animated Series series broadcast by MTV in 2003, and titled "Mind Games" (Parts 1 & 2, originally aired in August 15 & 22, 2003).
  • Lee has an extensive cameo in the Kevin Smith film Mallrats. He once again plays himself, this time visiting "the" mall to sign books at a comic store. Later, he takes on the role of a sage-like character, giving Jason Lee's character, Brodie Bruce (a longtime fan of Lee's), advice on his love life. He also recorded interviews with Smith for the non-fiction video Stan Lee's Mutants, Monsters, and Marvels (2002).
  • In The Simpsons episode "I Am Furious Yellow" (April 28, 2002), Lee voices the animated Stan Lee, who is a prolonged visitor to Comic Book Guy's store ("Stan Lee came back?" "Stan Lee never left. I am starting to think his mind is no longer in mint condition.") He asks if Comic Book Guy is the stalker of Lynda Carter - the star of the 1970s show Wonder Woman - and shows signs of dementia, such as breaking a customer's toy Batmobile by trying to cram a Thing action figure into it (claiming that he "made it better"), hiding DC comics behind Marvel comics, and believing that he is the Hulk (and fails trying to become the Hulk, while Comic Book Guy comments he couldn't even change into Bill Bixby). In a later episode, Lee's picture is seen next to several others on the wall behind the register, under the heading "Banned for life".
  • Lee also made an appearance on December 21, 2006, on the NBC game show Identity.
  • Lee voices characters in POW! Entertainment's direct-to-DVD "Stan Lee Presents" line of animated features. In Mosaic he voices the security guard Stanley at Interpol, and in The Condor he voices a candy-store owner whose granddaughter the Condor saves.[citation needed]
  • In the summer of 2008, Lee worked on a children's version of Who Wants To Be A Superhero?, for CBBC, which began broadcasting in the United Kingdom on January 3, 2009. He again appears via TV as a godfather figure to the aspiring superheroes.[citation needed]

Video games

  • Stan Lee makes his first onscreen video game cameo in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, lending his likeness and voice to New York senator Stanley M. Lieber (a reference to Lee's birth name), who is taken hostage late in the game's first act by Titanium Man. Lieber has unique dialogue with each of the characters upon rescue, and both his dialogue and in-game dossier make various references to both Lee and Marvel Comics (such as referring to his constituents as "True Believers" and claiming "Excelsior!" to be New York's state motto).[70]

Radio

  • Lee recorded a public service announcement for Deejay Ra's "Hip-Hop Literacy" campaign.
  • He narrated the Fantastic Four Radio show.

Action figure

At the 2007 Comic-Con International, Marvel Legends introduced a Stan Lee action figure. The body beneath the figure's removable cloth wardrobe is a re-used mold of a previously released Spider-Man action figure, with only minor changes.[71]

Selected bibliography

Comics that Stan Lee has written or co-written include:

Non comic material:

  • How to draw comics the Marvel way (co-written with John Buscema - ISBN 0907610668)

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d Lee, Stan, and Mair, George. Excelsior!: The Amazing Life of Stan Lee (Fireside, 2002), p.5. ISBN 0-684-87305-2
  2. ^ Wright, Bradford W. Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003), ISBN 0801874505, ISBN 978-0801874505, p. 207
  3. ^ Wright, p. 218
  4. ^ Wright, p. 239
  5. ^ FilmReference.com: Stan Lee
  6. ^ Lewine, Edward, "Sketching Out His Past", The New York Times Key Magazine Slide Show (September 4, 2007), Image 1
  7. ^ Lewine, The New York Times, Image 2
  8. ^ StanLeeWeb.com: Biography
  9. ^ Per Timely Comics' wartime editor Vincent Fago in interview, Alter Ego vol. 3, #11 (November 2001)
  10. ^ a b Lee's account of how he began working for Marvel's predecessor, Timely, has varied. He has said in lectures and elsewhere that he simply answered a newspaper ad seeking a publishing assistant, not knowing it involved comics, let alone his cousin's husband:

    "I applied for a job in a publishing company ... I didn't even know they published comics. I was fresh out of high school, and I wanted to get into the publishing business, if I could. There was an ad in the paper that said, "Assistant Wanted in a Publishing House." When I found out that they wanted me to assist in comics, I figured, 'Well, I'll stay here for a little while and get some experience, and then I'll get out into the real world'. ... I just wanted to know, 'What do you do in a publishing company?' How do you write? ... How do you publish? I was an assistant. There were two people there named Joe Simon and Jack Kirby – Joe was sort-of the editor/artist/writer, and Jack was the artist/writer. Joe was the senior member. They were turning out most of the artwork. Then there was the publisher, Martin Goodman.... And that was about the only staff that I was involved with. After a while, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby left. I was about 17 years old [sic], and Martin Goodman said to me, 'Do you think you can hold down the job of editor until I can find a real person?' When you're 17, what do you know? I said, 'Sure! I can do it!' I think he forgot about me, because I stayed there ever since".IGN FilmForce (June 26, 2000): Stan Lee interview part 1 of 5

    However, in his above-cited, 2002 autobiography, Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee, he says:

    "My uncle, Robbie Solomon, told me they might be able to use someone at a publishing company where he worked. The idea of being involved in publishing definitely appealed to me. ... So I contacted the man Robbie said did the hiring, Joe Simon, and applied for a job. He took me on and I began working as a gofer for eight dollars a week...."

    Joe Simon, in his 1990 autobiography The Comic Book Makers (cited under References, below), gives the account slightly differently:

    "One day [Goodman's relative known as] Uncle Robbie came to work with a lanky 17-year-old in tow. 'This is Stanley Lieber, Martin's wife's cousin', Uncle Robbie said. 'Martin wants you to keep him busy'".

    In an appendix, however, Simon appears to reconcile the two accounts. He relates a 1989 conversation with Lee:

    Lee: I've been saying this [classified-ad] story for years, but apparently it isn't so. And I can't remember because I['ve] said it so long now that I believe it".
    ...
    Simon: "Your Uncle Robbie brought you into the office one day and he said, 'This is Martin Goodman's wife's nephew'. [sic] ... You were seventeen years old".
    Lee: "Sixteen and a half!"
    Simon: "Well, Stan, you told me seventeen. You were probably trying to be older.... I did hire you".

  11. ^ Lee and Mair, Excelsior, p.22
  12. ^ Boucher, Geoff, "Hero Complex" (column): "Jack Kirby, the abandoned hero of Marvel's grand Hollywood adventure, and his family's quest", Los Angeles Tiimes, September 25, 2009 (online; scheduled for print edition September 27, 2009)
  13. ^ Thomas, Roy, Stan Lee's Amazing Marvel Universe (Sterling Publishing, New York, 2006), p. 11. ISBN 1-4027-4225-8; ISBN 978-1-4027-4225-5 The line reads: "With the speed of thought, he sent his shield spinning through the air to the other end of the tent, where it smacked the knife out of Haines' hand!" It became a convention starting the following issue, in a Simon & Kirby's comics story depict the following: "Captain America's speed of thought and action save Bucky's life — as he hurls his shield across the room".
  14. ^ Thomas, Stan Lee's Amazing Marvel Universe, pp. 12-13
  15. ^ Thomas, Roy (2006). Stan Lee's Amazing Marvel Universe. Sterling Publishing. p. 14. ISBN 1402742258. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ Kupperberg, Paul (2006). The Creation of Spider-Man. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 12. ISBN 1404207635.
  17. ^ Brooks, Brad coauthors=Tim Pilcher (2005). The Essential Guide to World Comics. London: Collins & Brown. p. 13. ISBN 1-84340-300-5.
  18. ^ McLaughlin, Jeff (2007). Stan Lee: Conversations. University Press of Mississippi. p. 59. ISBN 1578069858. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ Lewine, The New York Times, Image 3
  20. ^ Lewine, The New York Times, Images 4-5
  21. ^ Lewine, The New York Times, Images 6-7
  22. ^ a b Kaplan, Arie (2006). Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed!. Chicago Review Press. p. 50. ISBN 1556526334.
  23. ^ a b McLaughlin, Jeff (2007). Stan Lee: Conversations. University Press of Mississippi. p. 138. ISBN 1578069858. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ Noted comic-book writer Alan Moore described the significance of this new approach in Comic Book Resources (January 27, 2005): "Chain Reaction": "The DC comics were ... one dimensional characters whose only characteristic was they dressed up in costumes and did good. Whereas Stan Lee had this huge breakthrough of two-dimensional characters. So, they dress up in costumes and do good, but they've got a bad heart. Or a bad leg. I actually did think for a long while that having a bad leg was an actual character trait".
  25. ^ Sanderson, Peter. IGN.com (October 10, 2003): Comics in Context #14: "Continuity/Discontinuity"
  26. ^ http://costa.lunarpages.com/bp/bp6512.html
  27. ^ http://costa.lunarpages.com/bp/bullpen.html
  28. ^ http://www.marvelmasterworks.com/marvel/mm/spidey/asm_mm10.html
  29. ^ http://www.worldcollectorsnet.com/comics/marvel-comics.html
  30. ^ http://www.marvel-comics.co.uk/index.html
  31. ^ http://moshez.wordpress.com/2009/02/25/history-of-comic-book-rating-systems/
  32. ^ http://www.supermegamonkey.net/chronocomic/entries/amazing_spiderman_9698.shtml
  33. ^ http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/e/content/oh/story/entertainment/movies/2007/05/03/ddn050407gospidermanAtoZ.html
  34. ^ http://www.pulpsecret.com/post/1019/the-five-most-controversial-moments-in-comic-book-history
  35. ^ a b http://www.solcomhouse.com/stanlee.htm
  36. ^ http://arts.endow.gov/news/news08/medals/Lee.html
  37. ^ http://www.samcci.comics.org/reviews/review011p.htm
  38. ^ Lewine, The New York Times, Image 8
  39. ^ Lewine, The New York Times, Image 10
  40. ^ Lewine, The New York Times, Image 11
  41. ^ SEC Litigation Release No. LR-18828, August 11, 2004.
  42. ^ "Stan Lee Holder Peter Paul Flees to South America, According to Cohort's Affidavit", Inside.com, March 5, 2001
  43. ^ "Accusations Against Peter Paul Retracted and Corrected in Court Filing", MarketWatch.com, May 7, 2001
  44. ^ United States Attorney's Office, "Peter Paul, co-founder of Stan Lee Media, Inc., pleads guilty to securities fraud; Fraud scheme caused $25 million in losses to investors and financial institutions", press release, March 8, 2005.
  45. ^ Witt, April. "House Of Cards: What do Cher, a Hollywood con man, a political rising star and an audacious felon have in common? Together they gave Bill and Hillary Clinton a night they'll never forget – no matter how hard they may try", The Washington Post, October 9, 2005, p. W10
  46. ^ "Ringo Starr to become superhero". BBC. 2004-08-06.
  47. ^ "Stan Lee Launches New Online Comic Venture". CBC. 2004-08-06.
  48. ^ The Hollywood Reporter (March 1, 2005): "Lee, Evans' POW! fields 'Foreverman'", by Liza Foreman
  49. ^ "Disney Studios Signs Exclusive Deal With Stan Lee". Magical Mountain. Retrieved 2007-06-15. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  50. ^ "Stan Lee Media Sues Marvel". Archived from the original on 2007-09-22. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |accessdaymonth=, |accessyear=, |month=, |accessmonthday=, and |coauthors= (help)
  51. ^ "June 9: Stan Lee Media, Inc. Files Expected Lawsuit Against Stan Lee". Daily Blog. The Comic Reporter. Retrieved 2007-09-22. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |accessdaymonth=, |accessyear=, |month=, |accessmonthday=, and |coauthors= (help)
  52. ^ (Filsinger Publishing, ISBN 0970263155; ISBN 978-0970263155)
  53. ^ "NYCC 08: Stan Lee Dives Into Manga". IGN. Retrieved 2008-04-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |accessdaymonth=, |accessyear=, |month=, |accessmonthday=, and |coauthors= (help)
  54. ^ "Stan Lee Launching Legion of 5". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  55. ^ Stan Lee to oversee Virgin Comics' superheroes, LA Times, April 19, 2008
  56. ^ Stan Lee 'to create world's first gay superhero. The Daily Telegraph, January 14, 2009
  57. ^ Stan's Soapbox, Bullpen Bulletins, October 1998
  58. ^ "Harrison and Lee on Walk of Fame". BBC News. BBC. 2007-06-22. Retrieved 07-12-2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  59. ^ Garreau, Joel. "Arts, Humanities Medals Awarded; Bush Awardees Include Stan Lee, Olivia de Havilland", The Washington Post, November 18, 2008; Page C02
  60. ^ Boucher, Geoff. Hero Complex (section): "Thor's cartoon, Stan Lee's medal and Dick Tracy's fate all in Everyday Hero headlines", Los Angeles Times online, November 17, 2008
  61. ^ a b "L.B. Comic Con: It's Stan Lee Day!"
  62. ^ TV: Video Highlights from the 2009 Spike TV Scream Awards
  63. ^ Stan Lee (as a character) at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
  64. ^ Eric Goldman (2007-05-04). "Stan Lee's Further Superhero Adventures". IGN. Retrieved 2007-05-14.
  65. ^ Iron Man Ultimate 2-Disc Edition DVD, disc 2, "I Am Iron Man" documentary
  66. ^ Nicholl, Jason. "Exclusive: Stan Lee's Role in 'Iron Man 2' Revealed", NukeThe Fridge.com, 27 June 2009
  67. ^ Weintraub, Steve"Exclusive: Stan Lee Talks About His Cameo in Iron Man 2", Collider.com, October 17, 2009
  68. ^ The original sketches created by Bruce Timm and commented by Paul Dini appears in the book The Krypton Companion (TwoMorrows Publishing)
  69. ^ http://www.therubberboy.com/
  70. ^ http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0907/22/index.htm
  71. ^ OAFE.net: "Stan Lee: Marvel Legends"

See also

References

Wikiquote has quotations related to Stan Lee.
  • Lee, Stan, Origins of Marvel Comics (Simon and Schuster, 1974; Marvel Entertainment Group, 1997 reissue, ISBN 0-7851-0551-4)
  • Lee, Stan, and Mair, George. Excelsior!: The Amazing Life of Stan Lee (Fireside, 2002) ISBN 0-684-87305-2
  • Ro, Ronin. Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and the American Comic Book Revolution (Bloomsbury USA, 2005 reissue) ISBN 1-58234-566-X
  • Raphael, Jordan, and Spurgeon, Tom. Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book (Chicago Review Press, 2003) ISBN 1-55652-506-0
  • Stan Lee at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
  • Stan Lee at the Grand Comics Database
  • Stan Lee at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
  • Stan Lee at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

External links

Audio/video

Preceded by Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief
1941–1942 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief
1945–1972 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
None
 Fantastic Four writer
1961–1971 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Fantastic Four writer
1972 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
None
 The Amazing Spider-Man writer
1962–1971 		Succeeded by
Preceded by The Amazing Spider-Man writer
1972–1973 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
None
 The Incredible Hulk writer
(including Tales to Astonish stories)
1962–1968 		Succeeded by
Preceded by The Incredible Hulk writer
1968–1969 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
None
 Thor writer
(including Journey into Mystery stories)
1962–1971
(with Larry Lieber in 1962)
(with Robert Bernstein in 1963) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
None
 The Avengers writer
1963–1966 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
None
 (Uncanny) X-Men writer
1963–1966 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
?
 Captain America writer
(including Tales of Suspense stories)
1964–1971 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
None
 Daredevil writer
1964–1969 		Succeeded by
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