Sad news this morning as THR is reporting that 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, X-Men, The Mighty Thor, Iron Man, The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, Daredevil, Ant-Man, as well as Abomination, Doctor Doom, Elektro, Man-Thing, Kraven, Groot, Doctor Octopus, Galactus, Nick Fury, and even Captain Marvel, died early Monday morning in Los Angeles, a source told the magazine. His list of creations is unapparelled.
On his own and through his work with frequent artist-writer collaborators Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and others, Lee catapulted Marvel from a tiny venture into the world’s No. 1 publisher of comic books and later a multimedia giant.
In 2009, the Walt Disney Co. bought Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion, and most of the top-grossing superhero films of all time — led by The Avengers‘ $1.52 billion worldwide take in 2012 — featured Marvel characters.
Whether you’re a fan of Marvel or not, Stan Lee has, in one way or another, touched all of us through entertainment. He has become the face of comic book and geek fandom. Lee is the king on the throne and an untouchable icon that forever be remembered. No amount of words can do this man’s career justice as we send our thoughts and prayers to his surviving friends and family. This is a huge loss for all of us.