LEE, STAN 363
also played a crucial role in the history of the industry as an extremely visible public
promoter of comics, becoming the industry’s best-known fi gure. After getting a job
at Timely Comics (which would change its name to Atlas and then Marvel Comics)
through his relative Martin Goodman (who was publisher), he wrote his fi rst text fi ller
piece in Captain America Comics #3 1941 and adopted the name “Stan Lee.” Classi-
fi ed as a playwright in the U.S. Army, he wrote training fi lms and training manuals in
the comic book format during the war. A talented editor, Lee quickly rose to the posi-
tion of chief editor at Timely, holding that position at Timely and Marvel for decades.
An exceptionally prodigious writer, he easily moved among diff erent genres. Lee also
dabbled in non-comic publications
such as photo-gag books. In 1961,
Lee made his breakthrough as a
writer by producing, along with
artist Jack Kirby, the fi rst issue of
Fantastic Four. Although super-
hero teams such as DC’s Justice
League of America had appeared
before, the Fantastic Four repre-
sented a strikingly new direction
in superhero comics. For exam-
ple, the four superheroes didn’t
wear masks or have secret identi-
ties, and they spent as much time
squabbling among themselves as
they did fi ghting villains. Fantas-
tic Four was informed by a sense
of everyday realism that altered
comic books and people’s percep-
tions of them for the better.
Lee went on to create or co-
create some of the best-known
and loved characters in American
pop culture including Th e Hulk ,
Doctor Strange, Iron Man, Dare-
devil, the X-Men, and hundreds
more. His most famous character
Spider-Man (aka teenager Peter
Parker) not only fought super-
villains but also worried about
homework, girls, and clear skin—
problems that millions of readers
readily identifi ed with. Lee also
Stan Lee poses at the premiere of the new action-adventure
film Spider-Man, April 29, 2002 in Los Angeles. Reuters/
Corbis
