STAN LEE

-Excelsior!

Stanley Martin Lieber, a.k.a. Stan Lee, loved the written word from an early age, and wanted to craft stories like those in his favorite books and films, which he consumed voraciously. From a simple upbringing in the teeming landscape of Manhattan, young Stanley worked his way through a succession of jobs until the day he found himself an assistant at a comic book publishing company — Timely Comics.

In between refilling artists' inkwells, erasing pencil lines from comic pages and fetching an untold number of lunches, Stanley expressed his desire to write and create tales of his own; in the May 1941 issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #3, he got his wish. Readers would find a prose story in that issue, "Captain America Foils the Traitor's Revenge," sporting the byline of "Stan Lee." A star was born.

As Stan's roles and tenure with Timely Comics grew and evolved, so did the company itself. With Stan at its helm, Timely Comics morphed first into Atlas Comics and then into the name that would catapult it into legend and forever be synonymous with Stan Lee: Marvel Comics.

As Marvel's Editor-in-Chief, Stan "The Man" Lee made his voice the voice of the stories themselves. Writing virtually every Marvel title and working with such luminaries as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, Stan began building a universe of interlocking continuity, one where fans felt as if they could turn a street corner and run into a Super Hero. A rich collection of characters grew out of his nonstop plotting sessions with his artists, including the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and more.

In later years, Stan took on new projects of his own outside of Marvel, but always kept one eye on the universe he created, watching with pride as it continued to grow and expand. Stan worked tirelessly to promote Marvel properties and characters to the film industry, and his spunky cameos in Marvel films and television series became an important part of his legacy.

Here is a timeline of Stan Lee's life:

• Dec 28, 1922 - Stan is born
• May 3, 1939 - Took a job at Timely Comics Inc at age 17
• May 1941 - Installed as interim editor at just under age 19
• May 1941 - Made his comic-book debut with the text filler "Captain America Foils the Traitor's Revenge" in Captain America Comics #3
• Jan 11, 1942 - Enlisted in World War 2, but he does not fight with a weapon. He fights with cartoons!
• Dec 5, 1947 - Gets married to Joan Clayton Boocock
• March 1950 - Appears on the cover of Black Rider #8
• Nov 6, 1961 - Creates The Fantastic Four
• May 3, 1962 - Spider-Man is born
• January 1963 - Appears in The Fantastic Four #10 as himself
• 1965 - Revolutionized the industry beyond just the characters and storylines and built a sense of community between fans and creators
• March 1966 - Galactus Trilogy, frequently cited as Lee and Kirby's finest achievement was published
• September 1969 - Created comics' first African-American superhero, the Falcon
• 1972 - Assumed the role of publisher
• The Marvel Age: 1980 - Made heroes like Doctor Strange, The Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Daredevil, The X-men and more over the last 20 years
• 1900s - Stepped away from regular duties at Marvel
• 2001 - Formed POW! (Purveyors of Wonder) Entertainment along with Gill Champion, and Arthur Lieberman to develop film, television and video game properties.
• 2002 - Sued Marvel in 2002, claiming that the company was failing to pay his share of the profits from movies featuring the characters he had co-created
• 2004 - POW! Entertainment went public
• 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
• 2010 - The Stan Lee Foundation was founded. It's aim was to focus on literacy, education, and the arts
• September 2012 - Lee underwent an operation to insert a pacemaker, which required cancelling planned appearances at conventions
• July 6, 2017 - Lee's wife of 69 years, Joan, died of complications from a stroke
• November 12, 2018 - Lee died, at the age of 95