Words Of Wisdom – Stan Lee

Beloved comic book icon Stan Lee recently passed away leaving us with a legacy of timeless superheroes including Spiderman and the Fantastic Four, adored by generations of fans. In honor of this humble and creative human we dedicate this Words of Wisdom to him.

Stanley Martin Lieber was born on December 28, 1922, in New York City to Romanian immigrants Celia and Jack Lieber. With part of his childhood spent during the Great Depression, Lieber and his younger brother, Larry, watched his parents struggle to make ends meet for the family.

He fell in love with the art of writing young and in his youth he worked such part-time jobs as writing obituaries for a news services and press releases for the National Tuberculosis Centre.  At fifteen, Lee entered a high school essay competition sponsored by the New York Herald Tribune. Lee claims to have won the prize for three straight weeks, goading the newspaper to write him and ask him to let someone else win. The paper suggested he look into writing professionally, which Lee claims “probably changed my life.”

In 1930 after graduating from high school at age 16, Lieber was hired as an editorial assistant for Timely Comics, and in 1942 he was promoted to editor. Lieber, who later shortened his name to “Lee” as a writer. Lee entered the United States Army in early 1942 and served within the US as a member of the Signal Corps, repairing telegraph poles and other communications equipment. He was later transferred to the Training Film Division, where he worked writing manuals, training films, slogans, and occasionally cartooning. His military classification, he says, was “playwright”; he adds that only nine men in the U.S. Army were given that title

In the early ’60s, Lee was called upon by his boss to create a series for Marvel Comics(Timely’s new name) that could compete with rival DC Comics’ hit title Justice League of America. following the encouragement of his wife, Joan, Lee did away with some of the usual superhero conventions. Ge pioneered a more naturalistic approach to writing superhero comics.

With artist and co-creator Jack Kirby, the Fantastic Four was born in 1961. After a massive success, a slew of new characters soon sprung from Lee and fellow Marvel cohorts Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, including superheroes, including the Hulk, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Daredevil and the X-Men. Lee later worked in a number of comic-related business and multimedia ventures.

Lee was particularly known for his dynamism with copy and for imbuing his characters with a sense of humanity, tackling real-world issues like bigotry and drug use, which would influence comics for decades. An outgoing, humorous showman, he also developed a number of slogans as part of his shtick, including a Latin-derived call to rise, “Excelsior!”

Marvel comics became a highly popular franchise, and Stan Lee was promoted to editorial director and publisher in 1972. He later moved to the West Coast to be involved in Marvel’s film ventures and eventually became chairman emeritus.

Lee was involved in a variety of multimedia projects while also serving as an ambassador for Marvel, even though he has filed lawsuits against the company and been the subject of debate over appropriate compensation for comic creators. The writer has seen Marvel develop into an entity that has inspired blockbuster film entertainment like the Iron Man, X-Men, Thor and The Avengers franchises.

In 2001 received a Medal of Arts honour from President George W. Bush and launched the History Channel show Stan Lee’s Superhumans, a series that looked at people with remarkable skills and abilities. In 2008 he was awarded a National Medal of Arts.

2012 saw more new ventures. Lee co-wrote a graphic novel, Romeo and Juliet: The War, which landed on The New York Times‘ best-seller list and launched a YouTube channel, Stan Lee’s World of Heroes, which features comic, comedy and sci-fi content. The world said goodbye to superhero Stan Lee this year, a human who inspired generations of young and old changed the comic world. SOURCE BIOGRAPHY, WIKIPEDIA, BRITTANICA

Enchanted Little World is a daily blog highlighting good news, funny videos, happy people and inspiring stories from around the world.  Give each day a “high-five of happiness” with Enchanted Little World.