Those who end up changing the world don't often seem to start out with that goal in mind.
Stanley Martin Lieber was born on December 28, 1922. His father was a dress cutter and worked through the Depression to provide for the family.
Lee's mother encouraged the children to read and develop their creative side even with the work it took to survive during the time. At age 17 Lee took a job at Timely Comics at age 17. The publication would soon become Marvel. Lee took the pen name Stan Lee to save his real name for more serious work.
He didn't seem to think he would be working in the comic book industry his whole life.
"All I thought about when I wrote my stories was, 'I hope that these comic books would sell so I can keep my job and continue to pay the rent.'" Lee told Comic Riffs in 2010. "Never in a million years could I have imagined that it would turn into what it has evolved into nowadays. Never."
Lee almost quit after working a whole decade at a time when the comic industry was heavily censored, it seemed the government only saw comics as something children should read. Around that time Lee was asked to create a team of hero's to compete with DC's Justice League of America.
At the urging of his wife he took on the project and decided to create characters he would find interesting himself. Those characters turned out to be the Fantastic Four.
Lee went on from there to create a whole universe of hero's, who despite their powers retain their humanity and even have a sense of humor. Readers can see themselves in them.
Every character deals with pain and suffering, but they face the day with determination and humor. Seems like every person on the planet today is in a similar boat.
In the end Lee didn't just create a comic book, or even a whole universe of characters. He created a super hero in every person who laid eyes on a Marvel comic or movie.
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