Oops! That was the most extended coffee break ever!
I didn’t mean for the break to last this long, but sometimes we just need to sit down with a good cuppa to enjoy the sweet moments and unwind a bit. And of course, while I’ve been jotting down notes and collecting sparks of inspiration, I’ll share a few with you today.
Stan Lee
He said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” In his comics, he signed off with his catchphrase, “Excelsior,” and shouted “Excelsior” at a convention. He doesn’t need an introduction because he created unique but imperfect characters whose flaws, personal struggles, and feelings, like real people, make them very different from the ideal heroes of the past. He showed that even superheroes have flaws, and that anyone, even ordinary folks, can be extraordinary. If you know Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, and the X-Men, to name a few, among the hundreds of characters he created, then you would know that Stan Lee was the creator of these iconic superheroes and one of the most influential figures in the world of popular culture that we all know and love.
Born Stanley Martin Lieber on December 28, 1922, in Manhattan, New York City, Lee was the eldest of two sons of Jack Lieber and Celia Solomon Lieber, Jewish immigrants from Romania. Lee grew up during the Great Depression and faced financial struggles with his family. His father was a tailor working in Manhattan’s Garment District. Lee’s younger brother, Larry Lieber, became a Marvel comic writer and artist.
Stan Lee used a pseudonym to hide his real name. He explained that he wanted to keep his real name for writing serious literature. He loved reading and dreamed of creating stories. However, as we now know, his dream of becoming a novelist never came true; he became a comic book writer, editor, and publisher.
He finished school at DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, and at 16, he got his first job in the comic book industry through his cousin, who was married to Martin Goodman. Stan Lee worked as an errand boy at Timely Comics, a company owned by Martin Goodman, which later became known as Marvel Comics. Initially, he earned just eight dollars a week doing simple tasks like making sure the artists had ink, picking lunches, sharpening pencils, making coffee, proofreading, and erasing pencil marks from finished pages.
In May 1941, his first credited work was the story “Captain America Foils the Traitor’s Revenge,” which appeared in the third issue of the Captain America series. He signed the name “Stan Lee”. He split his first name into two parts (Stan-Lee). It was the first time he used his pen name, and then, in the 1970s, he officially changed his surname from Lieber to Lee, which became his legal name. Here, Stan Lee worked with artist Jack Kirby and writing partner Joe Simon. Then, in August that year, he created his first superhero, The Destroyer.
When the rival DC Comics made Justice League of America popular in the late 1950s, Marvel Comics asked Stan Lee to create a new superhero team. Taking his wife’s advice, Joan Clayton Boocock, whom he married in 1947, he developed heroes with flaws and real-life problems. Alongside artist Jack Kirby, the success of The Fantastic Four encouraged them to create more heroes. He became a co-creator of Marvel Comics’ most famous superheroes, such as the X-Men, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, and Black Panther. After that, he created Daredevil with Bill Everett, Doctor Strange with Steve Ditko, and Marvel’s iconic Spider-Man. Lee, Kirby, and Ditko used a technique that gave artists more input on story outlines to develop new content. The artists handled the drawings, and Lee added dialogue and captions afterwards. Working with artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, Stan Lee revolutionised the comic book industry in the 20th century.
When Jack Kirby and Joe Simon left the company after a dispute with Goodman, Lee was only 19 when he was appointed assistant editor. Soon after, in 1972, Marvel Group appointed Stan Lee as publisher and editorial director.
Pinpointing the exact number of books Stan Lee authored over his lifetime is challenging—mainly because he wrote and co-wrote hundreds across various formats like novels, memoirs, instructional art books, collections, reissues, and even comic adaptations. Fiction DB lists a surprising 436 books under Stan Lee’s name—although this probably includes reprints, anthologies, collections, and graphic novel entries. Given the variation, it’s safe to say that at least 400 titles are attributed to him. Regarding superhero characters, while precise counting is difficult due to co-creation credits and minor character entries, Stan Lee is widely credited with co-creating over 300 Marvel characters—including about 60 major superheroes such as Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk, X-Men, and others.
Stan Lee received numerous awards, but the highest honour for artists in the United States was President George W. Bush’s National Medal of Arts in 2008.
His wife, Joan Boocock, passed away in 2017. They had one daughter, Joan Celia (J.C.) Lee. The following year, on November 12, 2018, Stan Lee died at the age of 95.
With a shout of “Excelsior!” Stan Lee filled comic books with heroes who made readers believe that adventure could be found anywhere—even in everyday life.
References
Kodweis, M. (2020). Excelsior!: Stan Lee’s philosophy for Liberty and Justice for All. History | Senior Theses. 3, 1-38. https://doi.org/10.33015/dominican.edu/2020.HIST.ST.06
“Lee, Stan (1922—) .” St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. (n.d.). Encyclopedia.com | Free Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved September 3, 2025, from https://www.encyclopedia.com/media/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/lee-stan-1922
Malik, E. (2023, November 8). Stan Lee Timeline. Office Timeline. https://www.officetimeline.com/stan-lee-timeline
Murrian, S. R. (2024, November 16). Excelsior! 100 Stan Lee Quotes About Courage, Optimism and Success. Parade. https://parade.com/1113871/samuelmurrian/stan-lee-quotes
Rizzuto, M. (2024, November 10). Thoughts on Stan Lee by Matthew Rizzuto. Comic Book Historians. https://comicbookhistorians.com/thoughts-on-stan-lee-by-matthew-rizzuto/
Stan Lee Legacy. (n.d.). confinity.com. https://www.confinity.com/legacies/stan-lee
Stan Lee stock photos, images and backgrounds for free download. (n.d.). Vecteezy. https://www.vecteezy.com/free-photos/stan-lee
Stan Lee. (2009, December 4). Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Stan-Lee
Stan Lee. (n.d.). FictionDB – Your Guide to Fiction Books and Series. https://www.fictiondb.com/author/author.php?authorid=21283<yp=3&sort=da
Universe, S. L. (2022, July 8). Stan Lee’s San Diego comic con. The Real Stan Lee. https://therealstanlee.com/life-of-an-icon/stan-lees-san-diego-comic-con/
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