Stan Lee, creator of Marvel superheroes, dies at age 95

Stan Lee, the legendary creator of Marvel’s superheroes, passed away yesterday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 95.

Born Stanley Martin Lieber in 1922, he grew up in a poor family in Washington Heights. He made his first venture into the business in 1939 as an assistant for Timely Comics. In November 1961, he collaborated with Jack Kirby to release The Fantastic Four for Marvel Comics. Other superheroes like Hulk, Spider-Man and X-Men soon follow. The Avengers received their own release in September 1963.

The first The Fantastic Four cover. Source: Marvel

In 1972, Stan Lee was named publisher for Marvel Comics and spent most of his time promoting the company. Before any of his creations made it to the movies, they appeared on television. The animated Spider-Man series played from 1967 to 1970 while The Incredible Hulk drama starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno ran from 1977 to 1982.

The 2002 Spider-Man movie became the first movie featuring a Marvel superhero to achieve worldwide success. The turning point came when Disney acquired Marvel Entertainment in 2009. Since then, most of the top grossing films of all time featured Marvel superheroes. The most notable film is Avengers: Infinity War which grossed $2.05 billion worldwide earlier this year.

Fans and celebrities paid their respects through social media since the news hit the media.

There will never be another Stan Lee. For decades he provided both young and old with adventure, escape, comfort, confidence, inspiration, strength, friendship and joy. He exuded love and kindness and will leave an indelible mark on so, so, so many lives. Excelsior!!

— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) November 12, 2018

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I owe it all to you,,, Rest In Peace Stan… #MCU #Excelsior #legend #rip #stanlee #TeamStark

A post shared by Robert Downey Jr. (@robertdowneyjr) on Nov 12, 2018 at 11:26am PST