Here’s a look at the life of American comic book author Stan Lee.
Personal:
Birth date: December 28, 1922
Birth place: New York, New York
Birth name: Stanley Martin Lieber
Father: Jack Lieber, tailor
Mother: Celia (Solomon) Lieber
Marriage: Joan (Boocock) Lee (December 1947-July 6, 2017, her death)
Children: Jan (deceased) and Joan
Military service: US Army, 1942-1945, Sergeant
Other Facts:
During the 1960s, Lee worked closely with writer-artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko.
Lee championed close collaboration between comic book writers and artists. The collaborative approach was known as the “Marvel Method.” In 2010, he told CNN, “All of my life in comics I have worked with artists, so I’ve collaborated with them. I would write down the original story, they would draw it and then I would edit it and do the art direction. So everything I’ve done has always been a collaboration.”
Has had cameos in many of the films based on his comics.
Timeline:
1939 – Through family connections, Lee gets a job as an assistant at Timely Comics, which later evolves into Marvel Comics.
1941 – Becomes editor at Timely Comics.
1942-1945 – Serves in the Army during WWII, writing manuals and scripts for training films as part of the Signal Corps. He is one of only nine people in the Army listed as a “playwright.”
1961 – Lee and his Marvel collaborators unveil a group of heroes called the Fantastic Four. The group is introduced as Marvel’s answer to the Justice League from rival publisher, DC Comics.
1961-1968 – Co-writes comic books that introduce such characters as Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and a group of mutants called the X-Men.
1972 – Lee becomes Marvel’s publisher.
2001 – Starts POW! Entertainment, a company that develops movies and television shows centered on new superheroes.
2002 – After receiving no royalties from the first “Spider-Man” movie, Lee files a lawsuit against Marvel.
2005 – Reaches a $10 million settlement with Marvel.
2008 – President George W. Bush presents Lee with the American National Medal of the Arts.
December 31, 2009 – The Walt Disney Company purchases a 10% stake of POW! Entertainment for $2.5 million.
2010 – The History Channel launches the series “Stan Lee’s Superhumans,” which documents people with extraordinary skills and abilities.
2011 – Partners with the National Hockey League to form Guardian Media Entertainment. The company creates superhero characters for each NHL hockey team.
January 2011 – At the age of 88, Lee gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. During an interview with CNN, he says that he devotes much of his time to his educational charity, the Stan Lee Foundation.