Stan Lee - A Man Who Made A Difference

The word "Visionary" is used a lot these days. But only a handful of people in history were truly worthy of that word.

Pablo Picasso. Leonardo DaVinci. Walt Disney. Jim Henson. Chuck Jones. Steve Jobs. George Lucas. Steven Spielberg.

And Stan Lee, who passed away at the age of 95 years old on November 12th, 2018.

As the co-creator of countless iconic Superheros such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, Doctor Strange, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Black Panther, and so many more, it can be argued that Stan Lee is the grandfather of pop culture as we know it today.

So much has been written about the man and his endearing influence that I feel as though I cannot possibly do him justice. But it's worth a shot.

Stanley Martin Leiber ("Stan Lee") was born in Manhattan, New York in 1922, just seven years before the Great Depression would hit. Lee often said that as a child he was heavily influenced by books and movies about heroism and adventure, especially the movies of Errol Flynn. Throughout High School, Stan Lee enjoyed writing and hoped to one day write the "Great American Novel."


At age 15 in 1939, thanks to connections with his Uncle Robbie Solomon, Stan Lee became an assistant at the Timely Comics division of Pulp Magazine and comic publisher Martin Goodman's company.Lee's first job was not particularly exciting, as his duties included making sure the inkwells were filled. He made his comic debut with Captain America Comics #3 under the pen name, "Stan Lee". Lee said he used a pen name because comics in those days had a low social status, and Stan Lee wanted to be taken seriously as an American novelist when he grew up.

Stan Lee would keep working his way up as a comic book writer. When he turned 19 years old in 1941, he began working with comic book artist Jack Kirby as his interim editior. The 19 year old showed a knack for the field of comic book writing, and eventually became the editor-in-cheif of the company until 1972, when he succeeded Martin Goodman as publihser.

As World War II broke out, Stan Lee entered the United States Army in 1942 and served as a member of the Signal Corps, repairing poles and other communications equipment. He was later inducted into the Signal Corps Regimental Association and was given honrorary membership of the 2nd Battalion of 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment out of JOint Base Lewis-McChord at the 2017 Emerald City Comic Con for his prior service.

After the War, Stan Lee went back to work at Timely Comics, which was now called Atlas Comics. He wrote stories in a variety of genres including western, romance, science fiction, and horror. By the end of the 50s, Lee became dissatisfied with how his career was going and considered quitting.

By the 1960s, Atlas Comics would change its name to Marvel Comics, as we call it to this day. By this point, DC Comics had revived the superhero archetype and experienced much success with the Justice League of America. In response, Marvel publiher Martin Goodman tasked Stan Lee with creating a new superhero team to help them compete with the Justice League. Stan Lee was reluctant at first, but his wife, Joan Lee, convinced him to experiment with the stories he wanted to tell, since he was about to quit and had nothing to lose.

Stan Lee took his wife's advice, and would go on to publish new comics and co-create many iconic characters along with the help of Jack Kirby and comic book artist Steve Ditko.


These new comics Ditko, Kirby, and Lee published included the introdution of the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Iron-Man, the Hulk, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, and of course, Spider-Man.



Unless you live under a rock, chances are we all know who Spider-Man is, what his origin story is, what his powers are, and the villains he fights. Spider-Man is without question Marvel's most iconic character. He is their Mickey Mouse. He is Marvel's answer to DC's Superman.

Before Spider-Man, superheroes were godlike beings with extraordinary powers and a clear moral character. They were characters kids wished they could be. Even though Batman had no powers, he was still a multi-millionaire with enough resources and gadgets to do the things he could do.

What made Spider-Man such a breath of fresh air was that he felt like the first superhero kids could identify with. Even though he could shoot webs from his wrists, climb tall buildings and leap in the air to extreme heights, at his core he was still Peter Parker, a nerdy kid from Queens. After he gains spider powers from being bitten by a radioactive spider, Parker originally wants to use these powers for self gain. After his uncle Ben is shot by a robber he fails to stop, Peter feels crushing guilt. He realizes that he must use these powers to help others, and not just himself. The words of his dear Uncle Ben were tattooed in his memory, as well as the memory of all young comic book readers: "With great power, must also come great respopnsibility."

This is another thing that set Spider-Man apart from other superheroes pior. Where characters like Superman were perfect and incapable of error, Spider-Man was this kid who made mistakes and had to learn from them. Superman felt like our teacher teaching us a lesson, while Spider-Man felt like a student learning the lesson. This made Spider-Man feel more real.

This is an example of how impactful Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were to comic books and superheroes. Their superheroes has a sense of depth and realism to them. They had these amazing powers, but still went through the same struggles everyday people go through. And sometimes, the problems are so complicated, that their powers are not enough to over come them.

The comics Stan Lee co-created with Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko not only had colorful characters and exciting action, they also tackled deep philosophical and political issuses, including racism and prejudice.

Many of the characters Stan Lee co-created had made their debut in the 1960s, a time of great civil unrest. It was the decade of the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, and even the assasinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., two of America's biggest heroes.

The 60s were a time when young people began speaking up and demanding change, equality, and civil rights. Lee tackled these issues with X-Men, a comic book series that follows a group of mutants who are treated as outcasts by society. These mutants attend Professor Charles Xavier's Shool for Gifted Youngsters, a school that recruits mutants from around the world. The X-Men vow to fight for equality and peace in an intolerant world.

At the end of each issue, Stan Lee would write a letter to his readers in a column called "Stan's Soapbox". In 1968, Stan Lee wrote this message to his readers shortly after the assasination of Martin Luther King Jr.:

The deeper themes and meanings of the stories of these characters may be a huge factor into why they continue to be a huge part of popular culture to this day. Especially in the movies.

This year was the tenth anniversary of Iron Man (2008), the movie that began the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As I am writing this, there have been twenty films released in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and all have grossed a total of $6 Billion worldwide, and counting!

In 2018 alone, Marvel released Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity Wars, and Ant-Man and the Wasp. Two of those movies have each grossed nearly $700 Million DOMESTICALLY, and nearly $2 Billion WORLDWIDE!!! Avenegrs: Infinity Wars alone has broken the record for biggest opening weekend box office at over $250 Million domestically!

It is so rare for brilliant artists to live to see their work be so widely renouned. Stan Lee not only got to live to see his characters become icons of pop culture, but he also got to see them star in record-breaking box office smash hits. He not only to witness them, he even got to cameo in them!

Everyone knows Stan Lee loves to make a cameo in movies featuring his creations. As I am writing this, he has still filmed at least five more cameos to be released in the near future.

Everytime I go to an opening night showing of the new Marvel movie, the audience always lights up whenever Stan Lee pops up. He has had so many cameos, and they are all memorable and hilarious.

Everyone has their favorite Stan Lee cameo. It's so hard to choose just one.

But honestly, after giving it much thought, I've decided what my favorite Stan Lee cameo is. And it happens to be from one of the most hated Marvel movies: Spider-Man 3 (2007).

It's a very short scene that lasts less than a minute, and it might be the best scene in the entire movie.

It's when Peter Parker is walking down New York City. And he hears on the News that Spider-Man (Parker) will receive the key to the city. Parker, of course, has a lot of thoughts running through his head. One of them is most likely "Really? I'm getting the key to the city? Me? A nerdy kid from Queens?"

And up comes Stan Lee.



















The reason this is my favorite Stan Lee cameo is not just because it's a great line in an otherwise mediocre film. This cameo of Stan Lee embodies everything Stan Lee represented, and what hsi legacy means to us.

With his creations, Stan Lee taught us that we all have the power to make a difference. We can make a difference in the world, or a difference in our own communities. No matter what, we all have the power. And we must be repsonsible with it.

Stan Lee taught us that being a hero is not all about having cool superpowers, or colorful costumes. Being a hero is about doing what is right, even when it's hard. It's about believing in yourself, and accepting yourself for who you are. It's about setting aside our own personal desires, and helping those in need.

In dark times, it is natural for us to ask for a hero to come save us. Stan Lee taught us we don't need a hero. We can be the hero.

Stan Lee. Thank you. Thank you for everything. You created a universe. You opened our minds. You unlocked our imaginations. You inspired us to dream. You made us all want to be superheroes.

But above all...

... You made a difference. 'nuff said.

Rest In Peace, Stan Lee. Exelsior.