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95-542: LMDs have been used in numerous Marvel Comics storylines since their first appearance, and have also been adapted into other media based on Marvel, including films, television series, animation and video games. Life Model Decoys first appeared in "The Man For the Job!", a short story by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby that ran in the anthology book Strange Tales #135 (August 1965). The spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. created LMDs of agent Nick Fury to use as decoys for an attack by

190-457: A Doombot . Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber / ˈ l iː b ər / ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer , editor , publisher and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later became Marvel Comics . He was Marvel's primary creative leader for two decades, expanding it from

285-570: A "zuvembie". DC comics published their own zombie story in Swamp Thing #16 (May 1975), where the deceased rise from their graves, while a soul-devouring demon appears in Swamp Thing #15 (April 1975). Around this time, the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare approached Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Stan Lee to do a story about drug abuse. Lee agreed and wrote

380-514: A 1982 one-shot drawn by John Byrne , the Judgment Day graphic novel illustrated by John Buscema, the Parable limited series drawn by French artist Mœbius , and The Enslavers graphic novel with Keith Pollard . Lee was briefly president of the entire company, but soon stepped down to become publisher instead, finding that being president was too much about numbers and finance and not enough about

475-481: A Life-Model Decoy possesses all of the various superhuman attributes: A number of Life Model Decoys with simple numerical designations have appeared in storylines. The following are listed in numerical order: A number of Life Model Decoys have also been depicted impersonating specific characters. The following are listed in alphabetical order: In the alternate timeline of the " Heroes Reborn " storyline, Captain America

570-521: A child he was influenced by books and movies, particularly those with Errol Flynn playing heroic roles. Reading The Scarlet Pimpernel , he called the title character "the first superhero I had read about, the first character who could be called a superhero." By the time Lee was in his teens, the family was living in an apartment at 1720 University Avenue in The Bronx . Lee described it as "a third-floor apartment facing out back". Lee and his brother shared

665-550: A figurehead and public face for Marvel Comics. He made appearances at comic book conventions around America, lecturing at colleges and participating in panel discussions. Lee and John Romita Sr. launched the Spider-Man newspaper comic strip on January 3, 1977. Lee's final collaboration with Jack Kirby, The Silver Surfer: The Ultimate Cosmic Experience , was published in 1978 as part of the Marvel Fireside Books series and

760-446: A friendly, chatty style. Lee remarked that his goal was for fans to think of the comics creators as friends, and considered it a mark of his success on this front that, at a time when letters to other comics publishers were typically addressed "Dear Editor", letters to Marvel addressed the creators by first name (e.g., "Dear Stan and Jack"). Lee recorded messages to the newly formed Merry Marvel Marching Society fan club in 1965. By 1967,

855-632: A half, in 1939 and joined the WPA Federal Theatre Project . From 1945 to 1947, Lee lived in the rented top floor of a brownstone in the East 90s in Manhattan. He married Joan Clayton Boocock , originally from Newcastle , England, on December 5, 1947, and in 1949, the couple bought a house in Woodmere, New York , on Long Island , living there through 1952. Their daughter Joan Celia "J. C." Lee

950-517: A home in West Hollywood, California , previously owned by comedian Jack Benny 's radio announcer Don Wilson . The Stan Lee Foundation was founded in 2010 to focus on literacy, education, and the arts. Its stated goals include supporting programs and ideas that improve access to literacy resources, as well as promoting diversity, national literacy, culture and the arts. Lee regularly donated papers, photographs, recordings and personal effects to

1045-478: A kid has to go to a dictionary, that’s not the worst thing that could happen.” Following Ditko's departure from Marvel in 1966, John Romita Sr. became Lee's collaborator on The Amazing Spider-Man . Within a year, it overtook Fantastic Four to become the company's top seller. Lee and Romita's stories focused as much on the social and college lives of the characters as they did on Spider-Man's adventures. The stories became more topical, addressing issues such as

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1140-583: A medical emergency earlier in the day. Lee had previously been hospitalized for pneumonia in February of that year. The immediate cause of death listed on his death certificate was cardiac arrest with respiratory failure and congestive heart failure as underlying causes. It also indicated that he suffered from aspiration pneumonia . His body was cremated and his ashes were given to his daughter. Roy Thomas , who succeeded Lee as editor-in-chief at Marvel, had visited Lee two days prior to his death to discuss

1235-665: A memorabilia collector, had been isolating Lee from his trusted friends and associates following his wife's death in order to obtain access to Lee's wealth, estimated to amount to US$ 50 million . In August 2018, a restraining order was issued against Morgan to stay away from Lee, his daughter, and his associates for three years. The Los Angeles Superior Court confirmed that Morgan was charged in May 2019 with five counts of abuse for events that had occurred in mid-2018. The charges were false imprisonment , grand theft of an elder or dependent adult, fraud, forgery, and elder abuse. Another figure in

1330-460: A period between 2001 and 2017 during which Lee's partners Gill Champion and Arthur Lieberman were said to have misled Lee about various intellectual property rights deals. In June 2020, Judge Otis D. Wright II dismissed J.C. Lee's lawsuit against POW! Entertainment, declaring it "frivolous" and "improper", sanctioning J.C. Lee for $ 1,000,000, and sanctioning her lawyers for $ 250,000 individually and severally . The court also gave POW! Entertainment

1425-486: A reverse merger structured by investment banker Stan Medley in 1999, but, near the end of 2000, investigators discovered illegal stock manipulation by Paul and corporate officer Stephan Gordon. Stan Lee Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2001. Paul was extradited to the U.S. from Brazil and pleaded guilty to violating SEC Rule 10b-5 in connection with trading his stock in Stan Lee Media. Lee

1520-800: A self-policing "code of ethics and standards" for the industry. He established the Comics Code Authority (CCA), basing its code upon the largely unenforced code drafted by the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers in 1948, which in turn had been modeled loosely after the 1940 Hollywood Production Code , also known as the "Hays Code". Before the CCA was adopted, some cities already had organized public burnings and bans on comic books. The city councils of Oklahoma City , Oklahoma , and Houston , Texas , passed ordinances banning crime and horror comics, although an attempt by Los Angeles County , California ,

1615-468: A sense of community between fans and creators. He introduced the practice of regularly including a credit panel on the splash page of each story, naming not just the writer and penciller but also the inker and letterer. Regular news about Marvel staff members and upcoming storylines was presented on the Bullpen Bulletins page, which (like the letter columns that appeared in each title) was written in

1710-574: A sequential art story in 2014 by Lee and Bruce Timm in Marvel's 75th Anniversary Celebration . Lee graduated from writing filler to actual comics with a backup feature, "'Headline' Hunter, Foreign Correspondent", two issues later, using the pseudonym "Reel Nats". His first superhero co-creation was the Destroyer , in Mystic Comics #6 (August 1941). Other characters he co-created during this period, called

1805-642: A small publishing house division to a multimedia corporation that dominated the comics and film industries. In collaboration with others at Marvel – particularly co-writers and artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko  – he co-created iconic characters, including Spider-Man , the X-Men , Iron Man , Thor , the Hulk , Ant-Man , the Wasp , the Fantastic Four , Black Panther , Daredevil , Doctor Strange ,

1900-526: A story arc involving Green Arrow's teen sidekick Speedy as a heroin addict. A cover line read, "DC attacks youth's greatest problem... Drugs!" Through the 80s and 90s there was a break away from the Comics Code Authority. In 1984 the Comics Code Authority denied Swamp Thing issue #29 the seal of approval, DC decided to continue publishing the title without it. Some subsequent DC series including Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns , both of which premiered in 1986, would launch without ever having had

1995-470: A three-part Spider-Man story, portraying drug use as dangerous and unglamorous. While the Code did not specifically forbid depictions of drugs, a general clause prohibited "All elements or techniques not specifically mentioned herein, but which are contrary to the spirit and intent of the code, and are considered violations of good taste or decency". The CCA had approved at least one previous story involving drugs,

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2090-410: A writer's credit on the first page of the story; that led to DC beginning to credit creators in its supernatural-mystery anthologies. The Code was revised a number of times during 1971, initially on January 28, to allow for, among other things, the sometimes "sympathetic depiction of criminal behavior... [and] corruption among public officials" ("as long as it is portrayed as exceptional and the culprit

2185-495: Is also the New York state motto ). To maintain his workload and meet deadlines, he used a system that was used previously by various comic-book studios, but due to Lee's success with it, became known as the " Marvel Method ". Typically, Lee would brainstorm a story with the artist and then prepare a brief synopsis rather than a full script. Based on the synopsis, the artist would fill the allotted number of pages by determining and drawing

2280-528: Is brainwashed into believing that he is a civilian living in the suburbs. As part of this ruse, his wife and son are LMDs assigned to protect him. Nick Fury also used a Captain America LMD during secret missions. The android protagonists from the 2005 miniseries Livewires are built using LMD technology and Mannite technology. The main antagonists of the series are revealed to be rogue Nick Fury LMDs as well. Doctor Doom uses his own version of an LMD known as

2375-596: Is considered to be Marvel's first graphic novel . Lee and John Buscema produced the first issue of The Savage She-Hulk (February 1980), which introduced the female cousin of the Hulk, and crafted a Silver Surfer story for Epic Illustrated #1 (Spring 1980). He moved to California in 1981 to develop Marvel's TV and movie properties. He was an executive producer for, and made cameo appearances in, Marvel film adaptations and other movies. He occasionally returned to comic book writing with various Silver Surfer projects including

2470-498: Is punished") as well as permitting some criminal activities to kill law-enforcement officers and the "suggestion but not portrayal of seduction." The clause "suggestive posture is unacceptable" was removed. Also newly allowed were "vampires, ghouls and werewolves... when handled in the classic tradition such as Frankenstein , Dracula , and other high calibre literary works written by Edgar Allan Poe , Saki , Conan Doyle and other respected authors whose works are read in schools around

2565-417: Is such that they mimic the subject's outer appearance (i.e., fingerprints , hair , all details of the skin ), speech patterns, scent , iris and retina patterns, body language , thought patterns (to fool telepaths ), and any other biological indicators. Aside from any invasive procedure and vulnerability to strong electromagnetic pulse , they are indistinguishable from the original. As an android,

2660-462: The Mail Online alleged that Lee was accused by a small number of nurses of sexually harassing them at his home in early 2017. Lee denied the allegations and claimed that the nurses were attempting to extort him. In April 2018, The Hollywood Reporter published a report that claimed Lee was a victim of elder abuse ; the report asserted that, among others, Keya Morgan, Lee's business manager and

2755-582: The American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming between 1981 and 2011. They cover the period from 1926 to 2011. Lee engaged in several legal actions in his later years. In 2017, POW! was acquired by Camsing International, a Chinese company, during the period Lee was caring for his terminally ill wife and dealing with his own failing eyesight. Lee filed a US$ 1 billion lawsuit against POW! in May 2018, asserting that POW! had not disclosed

2850-534: The Comics Code . The U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare had asked Lee to write a comic-book story about the dangers of drugs and Lee conceived a three-issue subplot in The Amazing Spider-Man #96–98 ( cover-dated May–July 1971), in which Peter Parker's best friend becomes addicted to prescription drugs. The Comics Code Authority refused to grant its seal because the stories depicted drug use;

2945-493: The Fantastic Four in 1961. The team's immediate popularity led Lee and Marvel's illustrators to produce a cavalcade of new titles. Again working with Kirby, Lee co-created the Hulk , Thor , Iron Man , and the X-Men ; with Bill Everett , Daredevil ; and with Steve Ditko , Doctor Strange and Marvel's most successful character, Spider-Man , all of whom lived in a thoroughly shared universe . Lee and Kirby gathered several of their newly created characters together into

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3040-1019: The Flash , and later in 1960 with the Justice League of America super-team. In response, publisher Martin Goodman assigned Lee to come up with a new superhero team. Lee's wife suggested that he experiment with stories he preferred, since he was planning on changing careers and had nothing to lose. Lee acted on the advice, giving his superheroes a flawed humanity, a change from the ideal archetypes typically written for preteens. Before this, most superheroes had been idealistically perfect people with no serious, lasting problems. Lee introduced complex, naturalistic characters who could have bad tempers, fits of melancholy, and vanity; they bickered amongst themselves, worried about paying their bills and impressing girlfriends, got bored or sometimes even physically ill. The first superheroes Lee and artist Jack Kirby created together were

3135-518: The Golden Age of Comic Books , include Jack Frost , debuting in U.S.A. Comics #1 (August 1941), and Father Time , debuting in Captain America Comics #6 (August 1941). When Simon and his creative partner Jack Kirby left in late 1941 following a dispute with Goodman, the 30-year-old publisher installed Lee, just under 19 years old, as interim editor. The youngster showed a knack for

3230-578: The Inhumans and the Black Panther , an African king who would be mainstream comics' first black superhero. The story frequently cited as Lee and Kirby's finest achievement is the three-part " Galactus Trilogy " that began in Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966), chronicling the arrival of Galactus , a cosmic giant who wanted to devour the planet, and his herald, the Silver Surfer . Fantastic Four #48

3325-873: The Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1995. He received the NEA 's National Medal of Arts in 2008. Stanley Martin Lieber was born on December 28, 1922, in Manhattan , New York City, in the apartment of his Romanian-born Jewish immigrant parents, Celia ( née Solomon) and Jack Lieber, at the corner of West 98th Street and West End Avenue . Lee was raised in a Jewish household. In a 2002 interview, he stated when asked if he believed in God, "Well, let me put it this way... [Pauses.] No, I'm not going to try to be clever. I really don't know. I just don't know. " On another interview from 2011, when asked about his Romanian origins and his relationship with

3420-540: The Scarlet Witch , and Black Widow . These and other characters' introductions in the 1960s pioneered a more naturalistic approach in superhero comics . In the 1970s, Lee challenged the restrictions of the Comics Code Authority , indirectly leading to changes in its policies. In the 1980s, he pursued the development of Marvel properties in other media, with mixed results. Following his retirement from Marvel in

3515-459: The Vietnam War , political elections, and student activism . Robbie Robertson , introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man #51 (August 1967) was one of the first African-American characters in comics to play a serious supporting role. In the Fantastic Four series, the lengthy run by Lee and Kirby produced many acclaimed storylines as well as characters that have become central to Marvel, including

3610-434: The 1950s, Lee teamed up with his comic book colleague Dan DeCarlo to produce the syndicated newspaper strip My Friend Irma , based on the radio comedy starring Marie Wilson . By the end of the decade, Lee had become dissatisfied with his career and considered quitting the field. In 1956, DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz revived the superhero archetype and experienced significant success with an updated version of

3705-465: The 1990s, Lee remained a public figurehead for the company. He frequently made cameo appearances in films and television shows based on Marvel properties , on which he received an executive producer credit, which allowed him to become the person with the highest-grossing film total ever . He continued independent creative ventures until his death, aged 95, in 2018. Lee was inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1994 and

3800-566: The CCA Seal of approval, and the DC Vertigo imprint in 1993 covered areas including horror and did not launch with CCA approval. A late adopter of the code was Now Comics , which began displaying the Code seal on titles released in early 1989. The CCA rejected an issue of the Marvel Comics series X-Force , requiring changes to be made in 2001. Instead, Marvel stopped submitting its comics to

3895-513: The CCA in 2010. DC and Archie followed in January 2011, rendering the code defunct . The Comics Magazine Association of America (CMAA) was formed in September 1954 in response to a widespread public concern over graphic violence and horror imagery in comic books. It named New York magistrate Charles F. Murphy (1920–1992), a specialist in juvenile delinquency , to head the organization and devise

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3990-432: The CCA's argument for denying approval was deemed counterproductive. "That was the only big issue that we had" with the Code, Lee recalled in a 1998 interview: I could understand them; they were like lawyers, people who take things literally and technically. The Code mentioned that you mustn't mention drugs and, according to their rules, they were right. So I didn't even get mad at them then. I said, 'Screw it' and just took

4085-534: The CCA. Bongo Comics discontinued using the Code without any announcements regarding its abandonment in 2010. The CMAA, at some point in the 2000s, was managed by the trade-organization management firm the Kellen Company, which ceased its involvement in 2009. In 2010, some publishers, including Archie, placed the seal on their comics without submitting them to the CMAA. Archie Comics President Mike Pellerito said that

4180-461: The Code seal off for those three issues. Then we went back to the Code again. I never thought about the Code when I was writing a story, because basically I never wanted to do anything that was to my mind too violent or too sexy. I was aware that young people were reading these books, and had there not been a Code, I don't think that I would have done the stories any differently. Lee and Marvel drew criticism from DC head Carmine Infantino "for defying

4275-479: The Crypt . Wertham dismissed the code as an inadequate half-measure. Comics analyst Scott McCloud , on the other hand, later commented that it was as if, in drawing up the code, "the list of requirements a film needs to receive a G rating was doubled, and there were no other acceptable ratings!" In one early confrontation between a comic-book publisher and the code authorities, EC Comics ' William Gaines reprinted

4370-575: The DC superheroes Superman , Batman , Wonder Woman , Green Lantern , and the Flash . Comics Code Authority The Comics Code Authority ( CCA ) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA enabled comic publishers to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States . The code was voluntary, as there

4465-620: The Innocent . Members submitted comics to the CCA, which screened them for adherence to its code, then authorized the use of their seal on the cover if the book was found to be in compliance. At the height of its influence, it was a de facto censor for the entire U.S. comic book industry, with most comics requiring a seal to be published. By the early 2000s, publishers bypassed the CCA and Marvel Comics abandoned it in 2001. By 2010, only three major publishers still adhered to it: DC Comics , Archie Comics , and Bongo Comics . Bongo broke with

4560-690: The Jack May pharmacy to offices in Rockefeller 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. At fifteen, Lee entered a high school essay competition sponsored by the New York Herald Tribune , called "The Biggest News of the Week Contest." Lee claimed to have won

4655-563: The alleged abuse was Lee's former business manager Jerardo Olivarez, who was introduced to Lee by J.C. after his wife's death. Lee filed suit against Olivarez in April 2018, calling him one of several "unscrupulous businessmen, sycophants and opportunists" that approached him during this period. According to Lee's complaint, after gaining Lee's power of attorney, Olivarez fired Lee's personal banker, changed Lee's will, convinced him to allow transfers of millions of dollars from his accounts and used some of

4750-477: The anti-drug context was considered irrelevant. With Goodman's cooperation and confident that the original government request would give him credibility, Lee had the story published without the seal. The comics sold well and Marvel won praise for its socially conscious efforts. The CCA subsequently loosened the Code to permit negative depictions of drugs, among other new freedoms. Lee also supported using comic books to provide some measure of social commentary about

4845-510: The base captain, who did not like Lee. He faced tampering charges and could have been sent to Leavenworth Prison . The colonel in charge of the Finance Department intervened and saved Lee from disciplinary action. In the mid-1950s, by which time the company was now generally known as Atlas Comics , Lee wrote stories in a variety of genres including romance , Westerns , humor, science fiction, medieval adventure, horror and suspense. In

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4940-534: The bedroom, while their parents slept on a foldout couch. Lee attended DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx. In his youth, Lee enjoyed writing, and entertained dreams of writing the " Great American Novel " one day. He said that in his youth he worked such part-time jobs as writing obituaries for a news service and press releases for the National Tuberculosis Center; delivering sandwiches for

5035-471: The best–almost cost him his job. When his pencilled stories came in, the characters were dressed on one page only. A woman who was an inker, a woman, Terry Szenics, later had to draw clothes on the characters on the remaining pages." Although the CCA had no official control over the comics publishers, most distributors refused to carry comics which did not carry the seal. However, two major publishers of comics– Dell Comics and Gold Key Comics –did not display

5130-527: The book's host introduces the story "The Stuff that Dreams are Made of" as one told to him by "a wandering wolfman". (All-capitals comics lettering made no distinction between "wolfman" and "Wolfman".) The CCA rejected the story and flagged the "wolfman" reference as a violation. Fellow writer Gerry Conway explained to the CCA that the story's author was in fact named Wolfman; he asked whether it would still be in violation if that were clearly expressed. The CCA agreed that it would not be, as long as Wolfman received

5225-437: The brand was well-enough ensconced in popular culture that a March 3 WBAI radio program with Lee and Kirby as guests was titled "Will Success Spoil Spiderman [sic]". Throughout the 1960s, Lee scripted, art-directed and edited most of Marvel's series, moderated the letters pages, wrote a monthly column called " Stan's Soapbox ", and wrote endless promotional copy, often signing off with his trademark motto, " Excelsior !" (which

5320-662: The business that led him to remain as the comic-book division's editor-in-chief, as well as art director for much of that time, until 1972, when he would succeed Goodman as publisher. Lee entered the U.S. Army in early 1942 and served within the U.S. 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 said,

5415-416: The code did not affect his company the way that it did others as "we aren't about to start stuffing bodies into refrigerators ." DC Comics announced on January 20, 2011, that it would discontinue participation adopting a rating system similar to Marvel's. The company noted that it submitted comics for approval through December 2010, but would not say to whom they were submitted. A day later, Archie Comics ,

5510-618: The code", stating that DC will not "do any drug stories unless the code is changed". As a result of publicity surrounding the Department of Health, Education and Welfare's sanctioning of the storyline, however, the CCA revised the Code to permit the depiction of "narcotics or drug addiction" if presented "as a vicious habit". DC itself then broached the topic in the Code-approved Green Lantern / Green Arrow #85 (Sept. 1971), with writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams beginning

5605-427: The comic book wholesalers, who, as one historian observed, "served as the enforcement arm of the Comics Code Authority by agreeing to handle only those comics with the seal." Publisher William Gaines believed that clauses forbidding the words "crime", "horror", and "terror" in comic book titles had been deliberately aimed at his own best-selling titles Crime SuspenStories , The Vault of Horror , and Tales from

5700-484: The company settled in 2005 for an undisclosed seven-figure amount. In 2001, Lee, Gill Champion, and Arthur Lieberman formed POW! (Purveyors of Wonder) Entertainment to develop film, television, and video game properties. Lee created the risqué animated superhero series Stripperella for Spike TV . That same year, DC Comics released its first work written by Lee, the Just Imagine... series, in which Lee reimagined

5795-520: The country, he said that he had never visited it and that he did not know Romanian because his parents never taught it to him. Lee's father, trained as a dress cutter , worked only sporadically after the Great Depression . The family moved further uptown to Fort Washington Avenue , in Washington Heights, Manhattan . Lee had one younger brother named Larry Lieber . He said in 2006 that as

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5890-520: The creative process he enjoyed. In 1976, Stan Lee was one of the cartoonists who illustrated the Costello's wall. He drawn Spider-Man. Lee stepped away from regular duties at Marvel in the 1990s, though he continued to receive an annual salary of $ 1 million as chairman emeritus. In 1998 he and Peter Paul began a new Internet-based superhero creation, production, and marketing studio, Stan Lee Media . It grew to 165 people and went public through

5985-525: The depiction of narcotics being used, regardless of the context, whereas the Deadman story had depicted only a wholesale business transaction. Confident that the original government request would give him credibility, and with the approval of his publisher Martin Goodman , Lee ran the story in The Amazing Spider-Man #96–98 (May–July 1971), without CCA approval. The storyline was well received, and

6080-515: The funds to purchase a condominium. In September 2012, Lee underwent an operation to insert a pacemaker , which required cancelling planned appearances at conventions. Lee eventually retired from convention appearances by 2017. On July 6, 2017, Joan Boocock, his wife of 69 years, died of complications from a stroke. She was 95 years old. Lee died on November 12, 2018, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, after being rushed there for

6175-446: The help of his uncle Robbie Solomon, Lee became an assistant in 1939 at the new Timely Comics division belonging to pulp magazine and comic-book publisher Martin Goodman . Timely, by the 1960s, would evolve into Marvel Comics. Lee, whose cousin Jean was Goodman's wife, was formally hired by Timely editor Joe Simon . His duties were prosaic at first. "In those days [the artists] dipped

6270-464: The late 1950s and early 1960s, it had run into a creative drought by the decade's end. There was a new audience for comics now, and it wasn't just the little kids that traditionally had read the books. The Marvel of the 1960s was in its own way the counterpart of the French New Wave ... Marvel was pioneering new methods of comics storytelling and characterization, addressing more serious themes, and in

6365-532: The mail clerk overlooked his letter, explaining that nothing was in Lee's mailbox. The next day, Lee went by the closed mailroom and saw an envelope with the return address of Timely Comics in his mailbox. Not willing to miss a deadline, Lee asked the officer in charge to open the mailroom, but the latter refused. So Lee took a screwdriver and unscrewed the mailbox hinges, retrieving the envelope containing his assignment. The mailroom officer saw what he did and turned him into

6460-500: The only other publisher still participating in the Code, announced it also was discontinuing it, rendering the Code defunct. The vast majority of advertisers had ceased making decisions on the basis of the CCA stamp over the past few years, according to a January 24, 2011 Newsarama report. Most new publishers to emerge during this time did not join the CCA, regardless of whether their content conformed to its standards. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund announced that it would acquire

6555-431: The panel-to-panel storytelling. After the artist turned in penciled pages, Lee would write the word balloons and captions, and then oversee the lettering and coloring. In effect, the artists were co-plotters, whose collaborative first drafts Lee built upon. For his part, Lee endeavored to use a sophisticated vocabulary in his dialogue and captions to encourage his young readers to learn new words, often playfully noting “If

6650-604: The pen in ink, [so] I had to make sure the inkwells were filled", Lee recalled in 2009. "I went down and got them their lunch, I did proofreading, I erased the pencils from the finished pages for them". Marshaling his childhood ambition to be a writer, young Stanley Lieber made his comic-book debut with the text filler " Captain America Foils the Traitor's Revenge" in Captain America Comics #3 ( cover-dated May 1941), using

6745-498: The premiere of Deadman in Strange Adventures #205 (Oct. 1967), which clearly depicted the title character fighting opium smugglers (as well as the name "Deadman" being classed as a violation that was eventually allowed). However, Code administrator Leonard Darvin "was ill" at the time of the Spider-Man story, and acting administrator John L. Goldwater (publisher of Archie Comics ) refused to grant Code approval because of

6840-470: 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 claimed "probably changed my life." However, Lee's story is apocryphal, and so is his story of a life-changing plea from the editor, because the likelier story is that Lee won a seventh-place prize of $ 2.50 and two honorable mention awards. He graduated from high school early, aged sixteen and

6935-399: The process keeping and attracting readers in their teens and beyond. Moreover, among this new generation of readers were people who wanted to write or draw comics themselves, within the new style that Marvel had pioneered, and push the creative envelope still further. Lee's revolution extended beyond the characters and storylines to the way in which comic books engaged the readership and built

7030-563: The pseudonym Stan Lee (a play on his first name, "Stanley"), which years later he would adopt as his legal name. Lee later explained in his autobiography and numerous other sources that because of the low social status of comic books, he was so embarrassed that he used a pen name so nobody would associate his real name with comics when he wrote the Great American Novel one day. This initial story also introduced Captain America's trademark ricocheting shield-toss. It would be adapted into

7125-413: The real world, often dealing with racism and bigotry . "Stan's Soapbox", besides promoting an upcoming comic book project, also addressed issues of discrimination, intolerance, or prejudice. In 1972, Lee stopped writing monthly comic books to assume the role of publisher. His final issue of The Amazing Spider-Man was #110 (July 1972) and his last Fantastic Four was #125 (August 1972). Lee became

7220-494: The right to make a motion to recover legal fees. "We feel vindicated by the Court's decision today," said POW! in a statement. "Stan purposefully created POW! eighteen years ago with me as a place to safeguard his life's work. Before he passed, Stan was adamant that POW! continue to protect his creations and his identity after he was gone, because he trusted that we would safeguard his legacy for generations to come." On January 10, 2018,

7315-583: The saga were perfectly suited to the tastes of young readers in the 1960s", and Lee soon discovered that the story was a favorite on college campuses. Lee and artist John Buscema launched The Silver Surfer series in August 1968. The following year, Lee and Gene Colan created the Falcon , comics' first African-American superhero, in Captain America #117 (September 1969). In 1971, Lee indirectly helped reform

7410-421: The seal, because their output was subject to a higher authority: their licensors which included Walt Disney and the producers of many TV shows aimed at children. Some publishers thrived under these restrictions, while others adapted by cancelling titles and focusing on code-approved content; still others went out of business. In practice, the negative effect of not having CCA approval was lack of distribution by

7505-605: The story " Judgment Day ", from the pre-code Weird Fantasy #18 (April 1953), in Incredible Science Fiction #33 (February 1956). The reprint was a replacement for the Code-rejected story "An Eye for an Eye", drawn by Angelo Torres , though "Judgment Day" was itself also objected to because of the central character being black , despite there being nothing in the Code which prohibited a black protagonist. The story, by writer Al Feldstein and artist Joe Orlando ,

7600-452: The story to run. Soon after, however, facing the severe restrictions placed upon his comics by the CCA, and with his " New Direction " titles floundering, Gaines quit publishing comic books to concentrate on Mad . The following shows the complete Code as it stood in 1954: Writer Marv Wolfman 's name was briefly a point of contention between DC Comics and the CCA. In the supernatural-mystery anthology House of Secrets #83 (Jan. 1970),

7695-455: The team title The Avengers and would revive characters from the 1940s such as the Sub-Mariner and Captain America. Years later, Kirby and Lee would contest who deserved credit for creating The Fantastic Four . Comics historian Peter Sanderson wrote that in the 1960s: DC was the equivalent of the big Hollywood studios: After the brilliance of DC's reinvention of the superhero ... in

7790-450: The terms of its acquisition by Camsing to him. Lee stated that POW! CEO Shane Duffy and co-founder Gill Champion had presented him with what they said was a non-exclusive license for POW! for him to sign, under Camsing, to use his likeness and other intellectual property. This contract turned out to be an exclusive license, which Lee claimed he would never have entered. Lee's lawsuit contended that POW! took over his social media accounts and

7885-521: The terrorist organization Hydra . A Life Model Decoy is a S.H.I.E.L.D. -designed robot that duplicates all outward aspects of a living person. The owner can see through, speak through, and control everything the Life Model Decoy does. Nick Fury 's Life Model Decoys are probably the most common in the Marvel Universe. It is designed to function as an exact body double for VIPs . Their design

7980-429: The upcoming book The Stan Lee Story and stated "I think he was ready to go. But he was still talking about doing more cameos. As long as he had the energy for it and didn't have to travel, Stan was always up to do some more cameos. He got a kick out of those more than anything else." Lee's last words to Thomas was “God bless. Take care of my boy, Roy,” leading fans to speculate that he was referring to Spider-Man. With

8075-460: The world". Zombies, lacking the requisite "literary" background, remained taboo. To get around this restriction, Marvel in the mid-1970s called the apparently deceased, mind-controlled followers of various Haitian supervillains " zuvembies ". This practice carried over to Marvel's superhero line: in The Avengers , when the reanimated superhero Wonder Man returns from the dead, he is referred to as

8170-624: Was "playwright"; he added that only nine men in the U.S. Army were given that title. In the Army, Lee's division included many famous or soon-to-be famous people, including three-time Academy Award -winning director Frank Capra , New Yorker cartoonist Charles Addams , and children's book writer and illustrator Theodor Geisel , later known to the world as "Dr. Seuss." Vincent Fago , editor of Timely's "animation comics" section, which put out humor and talking animal comics, filled in until Lee returned from his World War II military service in 1945. Lee

8265-513: Was an allegory against racial prejudice , a point which was necessarily nullified if the lead character was not black. After an order by code administrator Judge Charles Murphy to change the final panel, which depicted a black astronaut, Gaines engaged in a heated dispute with Murphy. He threatened to inform the press of Murphy's objection to the story if they did not give the issue the Code Seal, causing Murphy to reverse his initial decision and allow

8360-562: Was born in 1950. Another daughter, Jan Lee, died a few days after her birth in 1953. The Lees resided in the Long Island community of Hewlett Harbor, New York , from 1952 to 1980. They also owned a condominium on East 63rd Street in Manhattan from 1975 to 1980, and during the 1970s they owned a vacation home in Remsenburg, New York . For their move to the West Coast in 1981, they bought

8455-530: Was chosen as #24 in the 100 Greatest Marvels of All Time poll of Marvel's readers in 2001. Editor Robert Greenberger wrote in his introduction to the story that "As the fourth year of the Fantastic Four came to a close, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby seemed to be only warming up. In retrospect, it was perhaps the most fertile period of any monthly title during the Marvel Age." Comics historian Les Daniels noted that "[t]he mystical and metaphysical elements that took over

8550-453: Was deemed unconstitutional by the courts. In his introduction to Archie Americana Series Best of the Fifties , editor Victor Gorelick reminisced about the code, writing, "My first assignment, as a new art assistant, was to remove cleavages and lift up low cut blouses on Katy Keene ." He also wrote of Archie artist Harry Lucey that, "His sometimes suggestive storytelling–and he was one of

8645-638: Was happy to be working with POW! again. Following Lee's death, his daughter J.C. gathered a legal team to review the legal situation relating to Lee's intellectual property from his later years. In September 2019, J.C. filed a new lawsuit against POW! in the United States District Court for the Central District of California not only related to recent events but also to regain the intellectual property rights that Lee had set up when founding Stan Lee Entertainment in 1998. The complaint identified

8740-446: Was impersonating him inappropriately. POW! considered these complaints without merit and claimed that both Lee and his daughter J.C. were aware of the terms. The lawsuit was dropped in July 2018, with Lee issuing the statement: "The whole thing has been confusing to everyone, including myself and the fans, but I am now happy to be surrounded by those who want the best for me" and saying that he

8835-522: Was inducted into the Signal Corps Regimental Association and was given honorary membership of the 2nd Battalion of 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord at the 2017 Emerald City Comic Con for his prior service. While in the Army, Lee received letters every week on Friday from the editors at Timely, detailing what they needed written and by when. Lee would write stories, then send them back on Monday. One week,

8930-499: Was never implicated in the scheme. Following the success of Fox's 2000 X-Men film and Sony's then-current Spider-Man film, Lee sued Marvel in 2002, claiming that the company was failing to pay his share of the profits from movies featuring the characters he had co-created. Because he had done so as an employee, Lee did not own them, but in the 1990s, after decades of making little money licensing them for television and film, Marvel had promised him 10% of any future profits. Lee and

9025-485: Was no law requiring its use, although some advertisers and retailers looked to it for reassurance. Some publishers including Dell , Western , and Classics Illustrated , never used it. Its code, commonly called "the Comics Code", lasted until the early 21st century. The CC formation followed a moral panic centered around a series of Senate hearings and the publication of psychiatrist Fredric Wertham 's book Seduction of

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