Stan Lee

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Stan Lee (2014)
Signature of Stan Lee.svg

Stan Lee (* 28 December 1922 as Stanley Martin Lieber in New York ; † 12. November 2018 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American comic book writer and -redakteur, actor and film producer . Together with illustrators like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko , he created a series of superheroes for Marvel Comics . Lee and his co-workers were the first to bring complex characters and a well-thought-out shared universe to the world of superhero comics. He turned the small publisher Marvel Comics into a large media company. From 2000 until his death, he was regularly represented with cameos in film adaptations of the Marvel Comics.

Stan Lee was married to Joan Lee from 1947 until her death in 2017, with whom he had two children, the second of whom died a few days after birth.

Early career

Stan Lee was the son of Jack Lee and Celia Lieber geb. Solomon, Romanian Jews who emigrated to the United States, where Lee was born in 1922. As a teenager, Lee began working for publisher Martin Goodman as a copy assistant at Timely Publications, also known as Timely Comics. Timely later became Marvel Comics. Soon Lee began writing comics as well, becoming the youngest editor in the comics space at the age of 17. In 1941 his first published work appeared, a page of text in a Captain America comic, which he signed with the pseudonym "Stan Lee".

During World War II , Lee served in the United States Army where he wrote guides, training films, slogans, and sometimes cartoons. His military classification was "Playwright" (German: "Dramaturg, playwright"); only nine men in the army were designated for this activity. After the Second World War, he returned to Timely.

In the early 1950s, it was argued that comics had a bad impact on young people; the popular horror comics were particularly affected. In order to be able to continue publishing, comic book publishers carried out a self-censorship and as a result created the strict Comics Code . At the same time, the decline in superhero comics began. In 1952, the DC Comics Superman , Batman and Wonder Woman were the only regular titles. Because of these circumstances, Lee wrote comics for various genres during this period. At the end of the decade, he considered giving up comic book writing.

The Marvel Revolution

In the late 1950s, DC Comics revived the superhero genre. The restarted series The Flash and Justice League of America were hugely successful, and Martin Goodman commissioned Lee to create a new team of superheroes. Lee then created the superhero group Fantastic Four with Jack Kirby in 1961 , which became known in German-speaking countries as "Die Fantastischen Vier".

Stan Lee (1975)

After a successful start to the series, Lee and Kirby soon created The Incredible Hulk , Iron Man , Thor and X-Men . Lee created Daredevil with Bill Everett and Doctor Strange and Spider-Man with Steve Ditko . These characters helped reinvent the superhero genre. Lee gave his protagonist mistakes and problems. His heroes had outbursts of anger, were melancholy, vain or greedy. They fought with each other, had problems paying rent, and some had health problems. Lee wrote characters the reader could identify with, rather than the infallible idols superheroes had been before.

In the 1960s, Lee wrote and edited most of the Marvel series, replying to fan mail, and writing the monthly column, Stan's Soapbox . To meet the editorial deadline , Lee invented his own style of comic writing (known as the Marvel-style of comic scripting ). Instead of a full script, he made a summary of the story. An experienced draftsman expanded the abstract to the required number of pages, and Lee added texts and dialogues to the finished drawings. The cartoonists became co-authors of the comics. Due to this system, however, it is controversial how many comics that bear Lee's name actually come from his pen. This particularly affects comics written with Kirby and Ditko. Claims that Lee wanted to reap the laurels himself and took advantage of the illustrators, Lee always rejected.

Later career

In later years, Lee became a figurehead for Marvel Comics. He has appeared at comic conventions across the country, given readings, and participated in panel discussions . In 1981 he moved to California to sponsor Marvel's TV and film projects. He has been the executive producer of many films based on Marvel characters and has made brief cameos and guest appearances in many films (see below).

Stan Lee (2007)

During the dot-com boom, Lee released his name for StanLee.Net, an online multimedia company that he was not involved in running. The company tried to fuse Internet animation with traditional comic strips, but failed due to mismanagement. Lee first worked for DC Comics in 2001. He created the series "Just Imagine Stan Lee creating ..." , a reinterpretation of various DC characters, just as Lee would have created. For Spike TV, Lee created the animated superhero series Stripperella . In 2004 plans were announced for a collaboration with Hugh Hefner , which involved a superhero cartoon with Playboy playmates. In August 2004, Lee announced the creation of Stan Lee's Sunday Comics , a website where subscribers can read new Lee comics every Sunday. In 2005, Lee worked with Ringo Starr on the development of the animated series "Super-Ringo" for television. Lee sued the comic book publisher Marvel Enterprises ( Marvel Comics ) for 10% of the profit made from the film adaptations of his cartoon characters. In the first instance, Lee won; Before the appeal process, Lee and Marvel Enterprises reached an out-of-court settlement in April 2005 on compensation in the millions.

In 2008 Lee received the National Medal of Arts . Since 2010 he has worked as a presenter on the television series Stan Lee's Superhumans , which is broadcast in Germany under the title Superhuman on RTL II . In January 2011, Lee was honored with a star in the film category on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . On behalf of Arnold Schwarzenegger , he designed The Governator , which was presented in the run-up to the Cannes International Film Festival . In 2012, Lee worked with the founders of 1821 Comics , Paris Kasidokostas Latsis and Terry Dougas, the graphic novel Romeo and Juliet: The War . He moved the work with Gill Champion for POW! Entertainment. In 2016, the Stan Lee's Lucky Man series started with James Nesbitt in the lead role. The crime series is about a police officer who can control his luck with a bracelet. In 2018, Lee was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame .

His attorney Tom Lallas rejected allegations that Lee had sexually harassed employees as defamatory.

Stan Lee died of heart failure on November 12, 2018, at the age of 95 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Cameo appearances

Lee has made many cameo appearances in Marvel's film and series projects, as well as guest appearances in other productions.

Marvel productions (sorted by year of release):

Guest appearances in non-Marvel productions:

Audio books

  • ( Audible ) 2015: Amazing Fantastic Incredible (together with Peter Riegert ), Simon & Schuster Audio

literature

  • Stan Lee, George Mair: Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee. Fireside, New York NY 2002, ISBN 0-684-87305-2 .
  • Jordan Raphael, Tom Spurgeon: Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book. Chicago Review Press, Chicago IL 2003, ISBN 1-55652-506-0 .
  • Bob Batchelor: Stan Lee: The Man behind Marvel , Rowman & Littlefield 2017, ISBN 978-1-4422-7781-6 .
  • Roy Thomas: The Stan Lee Story. Taschen, Cologne 2018, ISBN 978-3-8365-3677-6 . (English original edition with numerous photos and facsimiles)
  • Stan Lee. Heroes, gods and mutants. The Stan Lee Anthology. Panini Comics, Stuttgart 2018, ISBN 978-3-7416-1033-2 . (With 17 comics and explanatory articles about life and work)

Web links

Commons : Stan Lee  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Comic legend Stan Lee mourns his wife. Retrieved July 27, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Vicor Arvunescu: 15 actori de la Hollywood cu origini româneşti. In: Adevărul . April 6, 2017, accessed November 13, 2018 (Romanian). The Celebrity Who's Who - World Almanac . 1986, p. 213.
  3. ↑ Captain America Comics # 3 (May 1941) .
  4. ↑ Tim Rassbach: Stan Lee Biography. In: ironmanarmory.com. August 3, 2008, accessed November 14, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Magnetmann - Iceman - Lightning Guy - Episode 1. In: RTL II . Archived from the original on July 3, 2013 ; accessed on November 14, 2018 . Stan Lee's superhumans. In: fernsehserien.de . Retrieved November 14, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Star for father of Spider-Man. In: tlz.de . January 6, 2011, archived from the original on February 12, 2013 ; accessed on November 14, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Teresa Schaur-Wünsch: "The Governator": Schwarzenegger as a comic hero. In: diePresse.com . April 4, 2011, accessed November 14, 2018 .
  8. ^ Steve Barton, Stan Lee's Romeo and Juliet: The War Graphic Novel Now Available. In: DreadCentral. March 12, 2014, accessed November 14, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Stan Lee. In: Science Fiction Awards Database. June 16, 2018, accessed November 14, 2018 .
  10. ↑ Alison Flood: Stan Lee: Marvel creator denies sexual harassment of care nurses . In: The Guardian . January 10, 2018, ISSN  0261-3077 ( theguardian.com [accessed August 1, 2019]).
  11. ^ The Washington Times: Stan Lee accused by home-care nurses of sexual harassment. Retrieved August 1, 2019 (American English).
  12. ↑ Stan Lee accused of masturbating in front of hotel masseuse. January 11, 2018, accessed August 1, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Marvel legend Stan Lee, 95, groped nurses and demanded sex - claim. January 9, 2018, accessed August 1, 2019 .
  14. ↑ Jonathan Kandell, Andy Webster: Stan Lee Is Dead at 95; Superhero of Marvel Comics. In: NYtimes.com . November 12, 2018, accessed November 12, 2018 .
  15. ↑ James Whitbrook: Stan Lee's Spider-Man PS4 Cameo Is So Quintessentially Stan Lee. In: Gizmodo. November 13, 2018, accessed September 9, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Lee, Stan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dear, Stanley Martin (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American comic book writer and editor, actor, and film producer
DATE OF BIRTH December 28, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH new York
DATE OF DEATH November 12, 2018
Place of death Los Angeles , California