Stan Lee's revolution, a before and after

Stan Lee has been one of the essential figures in comics worldwide. In November 2018, he passed away, leaving an irreplaceable generation of superheroes orphaned. His death was a great loss in the world of animation since creations like Spiderman (one of his most beloved characters) or the Incredible Hulk came from his hand.

Why was Stan Lee so important to the world of comics?

Stan Lee was the father of the most well-known comic characters, the creator of Ironman, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men among other superheroes. His contribution and revolution in this art form were consolidated with the birth of Marvel.

Stan Lee began in the world of graphic art very young, at only 17 years old he was already working for Timely Comics, a very important company in the 1940s. After two years there, he earned an executive position as editor, art director, and writer.

A few years later, Stan Lee renewed the company's image and decided to refound it with a new name and a new way of understanding comics and its entire universe. It was from the year 1961 that his most important projects began to take shape and when Marvel started to be recognized worldwide.

The Fantastic Four

Stan Lee always knew how to surround himself with the best creative team such as Jim Steranko, Jack Kirby, John Romita, and Steve Ditko. Each had a specific task. Stan Lee himself was in charge of writing the stories, and his colleagues drew them.

The Fantastic Four was one of the first creations of this team developed at Marvel that saw the light in 1961. They were born to counter the success of their main competitor, DC, which had characters like the Justice League, Wonder Woman, Superman, or Batman.

But their characters were more than just superheroes; Stan Lee’s great revolution in the comic world was marked by his way of understanding this art, full of humor and very humanized heroes. This and his prolific imagination made the most legendary comic characters begin to emerge from Lee’s mind and Marvel’s creatives, making it the most important company in the sector in the 1960s.

Marvel in film

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Marvel’s characters are some of the most beloved by fans, so it was not long before they moved to the big screen and starred in many films about their adventures and the universe created by the company.

He was a great fan of the adaptations made of his characters in film, so besides overseeing the work, whenever he could he liked to make cameos in these movies of which he was executive producer.

Stan Lee himself promoted the adaptation of his characters to the big screen and was very close in supervising their cinematic versions.

The next big project for the publisher was the jump to television with animated series in the 1980s, those that have led to the sagas that exist today. And of course, he also appeared as an animated character in The Simpsons.

Why are his heroes different?

One of his main features and revolutions in the comic world was the creation of characters who were a mix between gods and humans that made him stand out from his competitors. His heroes were different from the rest, and here is why.

Very human

His characters are very human; until then, superheroes could always handle everything and had great virtues. Besides spectacular powers to defeat evil, they had no weaknesses. On the other hand, the characters created by Stan Lee changed the way heroes were understood, making them more human and relatable for readers.

Among these characters, one of the most important for Marvel is Spiderman. The story of the spider man, with his virtues and flaws, has marked different generations of comic lovers, of his films and series; which are a guarantee of success worldwide.

Socially critical and united

The X-Men were one of the most important creations of Marvel Comics and were first published in 1963. At that time, the United States was undergoing a strong wave of racism, and Stan Lee wanted to create an analogy with the social problem his country was facing and this race of mutants.

Like the X-Men, Stan Lee created many individual characters with an important group role. Another of his best-known groups is The Avengers, which also appeared the same year as the X-Men and were originally made up of 5 characters: Wasp, Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man, and Hulk. Although in the latest films of the saga characters have been added and removed, the creator’s intention remains, which is to show that heroes cannot face their enemies if they work alone.

And you, which character do you feel most identified with?