2019-01-01_SciFiNow

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Stan Lee

Pop culture would be very

different without him.

Characters like Peter

Parker speak to all of us.

THE MARVEL

METHOD

How a legion

of iconic comics

were created

Stan Lee was such

a huge part of the

comics industry that

he even defi ned

a specifi c style of

creating comics that’s

known as ‘the Marvel Method’.

Rather than writing full scripts

then handing them to an artist,

Lee would give his artist a

story synopsis – sometimes

detailed, sometimes little

more than an outline

discussed over the phone

• and then he would
  add dialogue, captions
  and sound effects to the
  artist’s fi nished work.
  This has led to some
  disputes over the years
  as to who created
  characters; the artist or
  the writer. Because of how Marvel
  (and comics in general) worked at
  the time, artists were doing ‘jobs for
  hire’ and so weren’t given the credit
  they deserved. Later in
  life, Lee acknowledged
  the work of his artistic
  co-creators like Jack
  Kirby and Steve Ditko,
  without whom his
  characters would be
  very different, or
  perhaps not exist
  at all.

later returned for occasional one-

shot issues.

In the Nineties he left Marvel

and set up Stan Lee Media,

which resulted in his business

partner going to prison and Lee

going bankrupt. He later set up

POW! (Purveyors Of Wonder),

a company which developed

fi lms and TV shows (Disney

bought a big stake in it when

they bought Marvel). As Lee’s

characters exploded onto the

big screen from 2000 onwards,

he became known to a new

generation of fans, putting in

cameo appearances in practically

all Marvel adaptations and

becoming a sort-of ambassador

for Marvel and for superheroes

in general.

His wife Joan died in 2017, and

he is survived by his daughter,

Joan Celia ‘J.C.’ Lee.

MARK
RUFFALO
“You have made the world a
better place through the power
of modern mythology and your
love of this messy business of being
human... You let us be extra human...
superhuman even. I am deeply
honored to have been a
small part in the Stan
Lee constellation.”

EVANGELINE

LILY

“Stan... more than a master

of stories, you always seemed

like a master of living. I will look

to you for inspiration for the

rest of my life. You live on.

xoxo Your Wasp.”