At age 95, Marvel comics former Editor-in-Chief and creator of Captain America, Spider-man, The Hulk, Thor, the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, the Avengers, Ant-Man, and Black Panther — has passed on from this mortal coil to the next.
Stan Lee, the legendary writer, editor and publisher of Marvel Comics whose fantabulous but flawed creations made him a real-life superhero to comic book lovers everywhere, has died. He was 95.
Lee, who began in the business in 1939 and created or co-created Black Panther, Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Mighty Thor, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, the Incredible Hulk, Daredevil and Ant-Man, among countless other characters, died early Monday morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, a family representative told The Hollywood Reporter.
Kirk Schenck, an attorney for Lee's daughter, J.C. Lee, also confirmed his death to the Associated Press.
Lee's final few years were tumultuous. After Joan, his wife of 69 years, died in July 2017, he sued executives at POW! Entertainment — a company he founded in 2001 to develop film, TV and video game properties — for $1 billion alleging fraud, then abruptly dropped the suit weeks later. He also sued his ex-business manager and filed for a restraining order against a man who had been handling his affairs. (Lee's estate is estimated to be worth as much as $70 million.) And in June 2018, it was revealed that the Los Angeles Police Department had been investigating reports of elder abuse against him.
I began reading comics in 1978 when I first saw issues of Marvel’s ongoing adaptation and extension of Star Wars at about issue 23. I collected the book until at least issue 100, and also began collecting their adaptations of Battlestar Galactic and Star Trek. Eventually I moved on to other books such as Daredevil as it was being written by Frank Miller, X-Men by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, Iron Man by David Michelinie and Bob Layton which was illustrated by John Romita, Jr., and Avengers as it was being then drawn by George Perez. I actually worked in a comics store for a couple years after graduating from High School, and kept my collection going through Marvel, DC, Epic and Pacific Comics for the next decade and a half.
In the 80’s I met Frank Miller, John Romita Jr., Chris Claremont at San Diego Comic Con. I never had a chance to meet Stan Lee, and unfortunately now I never will, but I’ll never forget how his imagination has literally changed much of the world. Millions of us will never forget and for that we all thank you Stan.
Excelsior.