Leadership & Legacy
Throughout his extraordinary multi-decade career, Stan Lee became known as the “Father of Marvel” due to his awe-inspiring leadership, which continues to influence the comic industry - and pop culture as a whole - to this day. He started as a humble assistant and Timely comics and has now become the public face of Marvel. Lee’s leadership began when he became interim editor in 1941 with the absence of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, just a few years after Lee was initially hired. From there, he went on to create characters that would change the face of comics. His first superhero team, The Fantastic Four, jumpstarted the Marvel Revolution and introduced characters with flaws; his later superheroes reflected the diversity and humanity seen in everyday life. He introduced three-dimensional characters to the world of comics and therefore created characters that every reader could relate to and see themselves in. His superheroes had downfalls and his villains had redeemable characteristics. His idea paved the way for the creation of superheroes that completely changed the game, including Spiderman (who became the world’s most popular superhero), Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and others. Furthermore, Lee consistently challenged the acceptable standards for the industry at the time - his comics addressed diversity, gender equality, and current events. He created both the first African superhero and the first African American superhero. His female characters were strong individuals. His comics followed current events such as the war against communism and the Cold War. He also successfully challenged the Comic Code Authority and brought about a loosening in their policies, which allowed future comics to safely address issues like discrimination more freely. He went on to invent and use the Marvel Method of writing comics, which both revolutionized the industry and produced some of the most successful and famous comic books of all time. Lee even took the time to connect with his fans on a whole new level, using projects such as “Stan’s Soapbox”, the “Merry Marvel Marching Society”, and by attending conventions and giving lectures. Because of Lee’s many achievements, Lee was an editor, chairman, president, and public figurehead of Marvel Comics at various times in his career.
Stan Lee has left an astounding legacy. His legacy can be seen most clearly in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has produced some of the most successful movies of our time, like The Avengers, which is the third highest grossing movie of all time, worldwide. His characters have been able to reach even more people and address wider audiences than before through their highly successful movies. Lee is even reserved a cameo in each Marvel film; his role, however small, is almost the stamp of a true Marvel film. Furthermore, Lee’s many characters and techniques continue to be used in comics today and helped make the industry the force that it is now. He helped lift the popularity of superhero comics after World War II, when it was at an all time low, sparking the Marvel Revolution and making the most recent wave of superhero obsession possible. Simply put, comics and superheroes would not be what they are today had it not been for Stan Lee.