Feature Photo By: Bao Nguyen – Senior Christopher Lehman reads X-Men: Days of Future Past. It was written by Christopher Claremont and John Byrne.
On November 12th, 2018, American comic book writer Stan Lee died. Lee was 95 years old at the time of his death.
Lee was born in New York on December 28th, 1922. His full name was Stanley Lieber, and he grew up in the Great Depression. Growing up, Lee read books and enjoyed writing. Books influenced him to become a writer, and he was eventually hired by Timely Comics, which later became known as Marvel Comics.
“The Marvel Universe is awesome and he’s part of the reason I started reading books,” said senior Denzil Bilson. “He made interesting stories that could take you away from here about amazing human beings who do amazing things.”
Lee strongly impacted the creation of the Marvel Universe. As many mourn his death, they also continue to remember the legacy he left.
After Lee’s death, many students discussed his impact on their lives and the stories he wrote. They were sad that Lee passed away and questioned the future of Marvel without Lee.
“I grew up watching comic book movies and it’s probably one of the greatest things in my life,” said senior Andrew Coleman. “I’m a huge comic book nerd frankly, and he has impacted my life by giving me a childhood that I’ve enjoyed.”
(Kirby and Ditko)
The first comic Lee wrote was Captain America Foils the Traitor’s Revenge. Lee worked with Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. Both were writers and artists. They wrote many stories and created numerous characters. Some of their most popular comic books included Amazing Fantasy 15 (Spider-Man’s first issue), Uncanny X-Men, Fantastic Four, and so forth.
“His creativity is a way of getting social issues into comic books with X-Men and Civil Rights,” said science teacher Mr. Bird. “I read his stories and it was just really cool stuff. It wasn’t your typical Roadrunner and Coyote cartoon.”
As time went on, Lee’s characters evolved and were adapted into pop culture and movies. Movies such as The Avengers, Black Panther, and Spider-Man: Homecoming were derived from their original comics.
Lee has even made cameos in each of these movies starting with The Trial of the Incredible Hulk and ending with Avengers: Infinity War. Future cameos have been planned for Captain Marvel and Avengers 4.
Students said that they love the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They said Lee always made memorable cameos, and they loved seeing his characters on the big screen.
Throughout Lee’s career, his characters and stories have entertained many. His passion for writing stories created a fantastic universe. Although he’s dead, his legacy lives on.
