Popularity of Superhero Comics

Superhero comics have been popular and on the market for decades; dating back to 1934 when Mandrake the Magician was created; few years later the well known Superman. These heroes were perfect; they had no flaws to what they could do and always won. But there was someone who was unsatisfied with that; someone who thought even superheroes should have flaws. That man, was Stan Lee. Bob Iger... said in a statement, "Stan Lee was as extraordinary as the characters he created. A superhero in his own right to Marvel fans around the world..."(D'Zurilla). Stan Lee lived the American dream as a hero;starting from his background,his hardships, and the achievements he earned.

Starting with the beginning;his childhood and his hardships. Stan Lee, original name being Stan Martin Lieber, was born to first generation jewish immigrants, Celia and Jack Lieber on December 28th, 1922, New York, Ny.(Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica) Growing up, Lee had many interests;as said by LA Review of Books,Lee was interested in reading, writing, and drawing he was enthralled by the action films of Errol Flynn...(Yogerst). Stan would start getting inspiration from these thing and would write and create drawings to capture the ideas he had in his head. The Great depression hit in the 1930's and it was hard for his family to get income because the job percentage was so low. His dad struggled for years to find a job which made a big impact on Stan.(Yogerst) 

Lee graduated highschool at 16 and became an editorial assistant for Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, who would later create the infamous Captain America, at Timely Comics.Lee started to make a name for himself when he wrote a part for Captain America Comics #3 in May 1941. Later in 1942, he moved up to editor. He started writing scripts for the company as Stan Lee;which he later changed his name to and what we would all know him as today. As said by LA Review of books, His luck continued ...with Simon and Kirby's ... and Lee's promotion to head of Goodman's comics division(Yogerst).

Later on Stan Lee served in World War II in the United States Army Signal Corps and remained stationed in The United States(Yogerst). He wanted to continue working on his writing skills so Marvel hired a temporary replacement and made it easier for him to write without restrictions. Lee was able to draw promotional artwork for his comics and wanted to entertain audiences through a bunch of media and not just comics.

Marvel started to go down in sales  and Stan frantically was reaching out to creators to get new ideas. Lee and Jack Kirby decided on creating The Fantastic Four and released the first comic in November 1961. Later other memorable characters would be created; such as, Spiderman (1962), Iron Man (1963), Thor (also 1962), and many more fantastic, game changing characters that will inspire other Artists for centuries. Stan lee has won The Life Career Award,Bill Finger Award, PGA Vanguard Award, Harvey Award, and a National Media of arts in 2008. Lee has went into the hall of fame for Jack Kirby and Will Eisner.  (Britannica)

Stan lee has changed the lives of many, went through troubling times, and has many achievements to show he has lived the American Dream. Lee has created idols for generations young and old, but have made them more human by giving them flaws and imperfections. Even after passing, from children to adults, people will remember this man who changed the Media industry forever.

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