Hi ,with the recent teleportation i performed recently that shook the whole world(am touched by the way that i was missed) I decided to write down my life hoping that my struggles and accomplishment will be a beacon of hope to someone out there to fulfill their dreams and carry out the legacy of being yourself.
I was born in the year 1922 December 28 in the city that never sleeps Manhattan New York City(back then it slept a lot). My full birth name was Stanley Martin Lieber. My father, Jack Lieber was a Romanian-born Jewish who trained as a dress cutter and worked sporadically after the Great Depression. I remember leaving the corner of west 98th Street and West End Avenue in Manhattan for Fort Washington Avenue, just further uptown,with my younger brother Larry by my side. As a child, i was influenced by books and movies, mostly those with Errol Flynn(pretty sure no one know that name by now) playing heroic roles. I didn't know it then but i was slowly birthing a new idea that would end up changing everything. We moved again sooner than i expected but this time, we were living in an apartment at 1720 University Avenue in The Bronx. It was the third-floor apartment facing out back. Me and my brother Larry shared the bedroom, while my parents slept on a foldout couch. Back then in school, which was DeWitt Clinton High School right here in The Bronx, i had always enjoyed writing, and sometimes daydream about one day writing the Great American Novel. I had not gotten to the big league yet, so i had to make ends meet with my passion as a teenager, this involved me writing obituaries for a news service and press release for the National Tuberculosis Center; working as an office boy for a trouser manufacturer; ushering at the Rivoli Theater on Broadway and selling subscriptions to the New York Herald Tribune newspaper. I graduated from high school, i think when i was 16 , the year might be foggy (been a while)
Soon after that and with the help of my uncle Robbie Solomon, i became an assistant for the new Timely Comics division of pulp magazine and also for Martin Goodman, this was in 1939. I guess i had always been part of Marvel Comics even before i knew what Marvel Comics was all about. My duties back then as the assistant was to ensure that the inkwells were filled to enable the artists draw. I got their lunch for, did proofreading and erased the pencils from the finished pages for them. Just being in the midst of writers gave me joy, this was my field of passion and i wanted to contribute to it anyway i could. My childhood ambition of being a writer became a reality when i made my first comic-book debut "Captain America Foils the Traitor's Revenge" in Captain America Comics #3 which was in May 1941 using a pseudonym that i came up with:Stan Lee. To be honest, i did not use my real name because i was ashamed,embarrassed due to the low social status of comic books back then. I mean my friends were being doctors, lawyers, engineers and i was writing. But it was something i love doing and am glad i never gave up on it or succumb to society norm. I went on to create more characters, my first Superhero co-creation was the Destroyer, in Mystic Comics #6, August 1941 if i remember correctly. This was the Golden Age of Comic Books and comic book status was gaining more positive vibes than before, i enjoyed my work and my creativity peeked. I was 19 by this time, i remember because i was just appointed interim editor by Goodman himself after a dispute he had with Jack Kirby and Simon. I was out of words and was happy; not happy about the dispute obviously , i was happy about the promotion. With great power comes great responsibility and i knew i had to be responsible for a lot of things at the company, which meant i had to work harder than before. I remained as the comic-book division's editor-in-chief, as well as art director for a long time, until 1972, when i succeeded Martin as publisher.
I won't lie, even with the success of the comic book (though not that much compare to other field) i was not happy. There were sometimes i considered calling it quits, and dropping my pen. I was saved by DC Comics not in the conventional sense that you would think. See in the 50's DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz revived the superhero genre that was almost dying out and got huge success with its updated version of the Flash, and later Justice League of America. In response, Martin told me to come up with a new superhero team to compete with DC. My lovely wife suggested that i use stories i preferred and was working on during my spare time and since i was considering changing careers at that moment i had nothing to lose if it went downhill. Thank God i took her advice, i gave my superheroes a flawed humanity, a change from the usual types of superheroes. I thought of being my own hero, instead of waiting for a superman ,you could be your own superman and i wanted to connect with my readers by letting them see how their heroes too have problem like they do, such as worrying about paying the bills, impressing girlfriends ,having bad tempers, fits of melancholy and getting bored or sick in some cases, instead of the ideally perfect people with no lasting problem. This was when i created Fantastic Four with artist Jack Kirby, based on Jack Challengers of the Unknown. The Fantastic Four became successful and popular, this led to me and some other Marvel illustrators(That was what we were called now ) to bring about a cavalcade of new titles. While working with Jack, we created the Hulk, Thor,Iron Man and the X-Men; with Steve Ditko, Doctor Strange and with Bill Everett, we created Daredevil and i created my and Marvel's most successful character Spider-Man, all of whom live in a shared universe. Kirby and i had an idea to gather several of our newly created characters and put them into a team title The Avengers and we also decided to revive characters from the 1940s such as Sub-Mariner and my very first work Captain America. Jack and I collaboration on some of the characters brought huge limelight to Marvel Comics, we were constantly being guest of TV and radio shows. It was my Golden Age of Comics.
Marvel saw great success and popularity after this; but that wasn't enough for me. You see i wanted the fans to think of the comic creators as friends and not just some editor in charge, i wanted to engage the readers and build a sense of community between fans and creators. So i decided to introduce credit panel on the splash page of each story, naming everyone that was involved in the creation of a story. Regular news about Marvel staff members and upcoming storylines was presented on the Bullpen Bulletins page. I also wanted to comment about the real world, often dealing with racism and bigotry, addressing issues of discrimination, intolerance and prejudice. This made me run a three issue subplot of The Amazing Spiderman #96-98, it was the one in which Peter's best friend becomes addicted to drugs.I remember clearly because we were not supposed to publish it due to the drugs being part of the storyline but we and by we I mean me and Martin didn't agree and we went on to publish it, luckily we got positive reviews even from the people that were against us in the beginning. I wanted to throw some light on what society had cast into darkness and i used my talent to do so (and so should you)
I later became the figurehead and public face for Marvel Comics. Making appearances at comic book conventions around America,lecturing at colleges and participating in panel discussions. I moved to California with my wife and kids in 1981. I am happy with the life i have lived, with my beautiful wife and wonderful children. I remember marrying her on December 5, 1947 and two years later we bought our first home in Woodmere, New York. I really do miss her, she died last year of stroke and since then life without her is gray and colorless. I couldn't wait to see her ,she has been there for me ,she gave me advice that helped my career, i recall being the president of the entire company, she told me to step down so that i could concentrate on my creative process which i enjoyed very much.
I give you my brief history of my career from being a simple Jewish kid to what I am today, from living in apartment to having houses , from being an assistant to being a president to tell you never to give up on your dreams. The world is in constant need of dreamers, so keeping dreaming and soon enough you will make cameos that will bring smile and joy to people all over the world.
Till next time Excelsior
I was born in the year 1922 December 28 in the city that never sleeps Manhattan New York City(back then it slept a lot). My full birth name was Stanley Martin Lieber. My father, Jack Lieber was a Romanian-born Jewish who trained as a dress cutter and worked sporadically after the Great Depression. I remember leaving the corner of west 98th Street and West End Avenue in Manhattan for Fort Washington Avenue, just further uptown,with my younger brother Larry by my side. As a child, i was influenced by books and movies, mostly those with Errol Flynn(pretty sure no one know that name by now) playing heroic roles. I didn't know it then but i was slowly birthing a new idea that would end up changing everything. We moved again sooner than i expected but this time, we were living in an apartment at 1720 University Avenue in The Bronx. It was the third-floor apartment facing out back. Me and my brother Larry shared the bedroom, while my parents slept on a foldout couch. Back then in school, which was DeWitt Clinton High School right here in The Bronx, i had always enjoyed writing, and sometimes daydream about one day writing the Great American Novel. I had not gotten to the big league yet, so i had to make ends meet with my passion as a teenager, this involved me writing obituaries for a news service and press release for the National Tuberculosis Center; working as an office boy for a trouser manufacturer; ushering at the Rivoli Theater on Broadway and selling subscriptions to the New York Herald Tribune newspaper. I graduated from high school, i think when i was 16 , the year might be foggy (been a while)
Soon after that and with the help of my uncle Robbie Solomon, i became an assistant for the new Timely Comics division of pulp magazine and also for Martin Goodman, this was in 1939. I guess i had always been part of Marvel Comics even before i knew what Marvel Comics was all about. My duties back then as the assistant was to ensure that the inkwells were filled to enable the artists draw. I got their lunch for, did proofreading and erased the pencils from the finished pages for them. Just being in the midst of writers gave me joy, this was my field of passion and i wanted to contribute to it anyway i could. My childhood ambition of being a writer became a reality when i made my first comic-book debut "Captain America Foils the Traitor's Revenge" in Captain America Comics #3 which was in May 1941 using a pseudonym that i came up with:Stan Lee. To be honest, i did not use my real name because i was ashamed,embarrassed due to the low social status of comic books back then. I mean my friends were being doctors, lawyers, engineers and i was writing. But it was something i love doing and am glad i never gave up on it or succumb to society norm. I went on to create more characters, my first Superhero co-creation was the Destroyer, in Mystic Comics #6, August 1941 if i remember correctly. This was the Golden Age of Comic Books and comic book status was gaining more positive vibes than before, i enjoyed my work and my creativity peeked. I was 19 by this time, i remember because i was just appointed interim editor by Goodman himself after a dispute he had with Jack Kirby and Simon. I was out of words and was happy; not happy about the dispute obviously , i was happy about the promotion. With great power comes great responsibility and i knew i had to be responsible for a lot of things at the company, which meant i had to work harder than before. I remained as the comic-book division's editor-in-chief, as well as art director for a long time, until 1972, when i succeeded Martin as publisher.
Marvel saw great success and popularity after this; but that wasn't enough for me. You see i wanted the fans to think of the comic creators as friends and not just some editor in charge, i wanted to engage the readers and build a sense of community between fans and creators. So i decided to introduce credit panel on the splash page of each story, naming everyone that was involved in the creation of a story. Regular news about Marvel staff members and upcoming storylines was presented on the Bullpen Bulletins page. I also wanted to comment about the real world, often dealing with racism and bigotry, addressing issues of discrimination, intolerance and prejudice. This made me run a three issue subplot of The Amazing Spiderman #96-98, it was the one in which Peter's best friend becomes addicted to drugs.I remember clearly because we were not supposed to publish it due to the drugs being part of the storyline but we and by we I mean me and Martin didn't agree and we went on to publish it, luckily we got positive reviews even from the people that were against us in the beginning. I wanted to throw some light on what society had cast into darkness and i used my talent to do so (and so should you)
I later became the figurehead and public face for Marvel Comics. Making appearances at comic book conventions around America,lecturing at colleges and participating in panel discussions. I moved to California with my wife and kids in 1981. I am happy with the life i have lived, with my beautiful wife and wonderful children. I remember marrying her on December 5, 1947 and two years later we bought our first home in Woodmere, New York. I really do miss her, she died last year of stroke and since then life without her is gray and colorless. I couldn't wait to see her ,she has been there for me ,she gave me advice that helped my career, i recall being the president of the entire company, she told me to step down so that i could concentrate on my creative process which i enjoyed very much.
I give you my brief history of my career from being a simple Jewish kid to what I am today, from living in apartment to having houses , from being an assistant to being a president to tell you never to give up on your dreams. The world is in constant need of dreamers, so keeping dreaming and soon enough you will make cameos that will bring smile and joy to people all over the world.
Till next time Excelsior
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