The Legend of Stan Lee

By David Toronto

Stanley Martin Lieber, better known as Stan Lee, influenced the world’s pop culture for over 50 years. The famous comic book writer passed away on November 12, 2018. ​

Stanley Martin Lieber, better known as Stan Lee, influenced the world’s pop culture for over 50 years. The famous comic book writer passed away on November 12, 2018. Lee helped create the Marvel universe, including Spider-Man, the Hulk, and countless other characters. Sophomore Kevin Pak says, “The creator of Iron Man and all of my favorite heros is dead. His death has really affected me because I know he won’t be able to create anything new.” Lee also co-founded Black Panther, The X-Men, Thor, Doctor Strange and many heros that are more well known in modern pop culture.

Lee began writing comics at at the age of 17. He started working at Timely Comics in 1939, which soon evolved into the iconic Marvel Comic Book Company. In 1961, The first official Marvel comic and one of Stan Lee’s greatest creations was released to the public: The Fantastic Four. However, this was only the beginning. In Stan Lee’s historic career, he wrote and published thousands of comics over his time with Marvel.

In Lee’s later years with Marvel, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) was born. The MCU originated in 2008 with the release of Iron Man, and started a wave of popular Marvel superheroes hitting the big screen all across the world. Lee has made a small cameo in every MCU film thus far, putting a smile on every Marvel fans face. His inclusion in the MCU will unfortunately not continue, but over the past 10 years he has been apart of 20 distinct films.
Lee was a truly humble human being. Through his success, he frequently gave back to charities and organizations that needed financial support.  Sophomore Jeffrey Winkler says, “ I started reading Stan Lee when I was a little kid, it hurts to see him go because he will no longer be apart of our community or be able to help others.”
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It is hard to realize that Stan Lee is truly gone, and the world is mourning because of the legendary man’s passing. Marvel will never be the same without him, but thankfully, fans all across the world will never forget his significance.