Last month I covered one of the pioneers in the world of comic books from an art perspective; as I mentioned from the get-go, I also consider writers to be artists, in their own right, at their own craft. This month I tackle a pioneer in world of comic books from a writing perspective.
Born in New York City, New York, December 28, 1921 to his Romanian-born, Jewish immigrant parents, Stanley Martin Lieber would not only go on to become a established writer and character creating machine, but also one of the most prolific writer/creators the comic book medium has ever seen.
Under the pseudonym of ‘Stan Lee,’ which would later be adopted as his legal name, Leiber saw his first published word in Captain America Comics #3 in May 1941 with “Captain America Foils the Traitor’s Revenge.” Lee’s initial impact on the character can still be seen today, as this was marked as the first time Captain America used his now trademark ricocheting shield toss.
Following the departure of Simon & Kirby in 1941, Lee found himself promoted to interim editor at just under 19 years of age. He would remain on as writer, art director and editor-in-chief before his final promotion to that of publisher in 1972.
Stan Lee had a knack for writing; he found his own little niche within the comic world; he found popularity in doing what other publishers didn’t seem capable of; Lee made his fictional characters seem human. It was on the advice of Stan’s wife and artist guru, Jack Kirby, that Lee began experimenting by giving his characters flaws, real life problems, emotions; his characters would argue about money issues, the perils of impressing girls or the worries of trying to adjust to the superhero life. Lee and Kirby would create a family based on these new concepts; they created the Fantastic Four.
1961 saw the release of the Fantastic Four as what was initially dubbed competition for DC’s new super-team, the Justice League of America. Lee gave these characters the human traits that readers could relate to. Following the FF, Lee would go on to create staples in the Marvel world utilizing the same character formula with the X-Men, the Avengers, the Hulk, Thor, Daredevil and possibly the most relatable character of them all, Peter Parker, Spider-man.
Among his other accomplishments, Stan was credited with the inclusion of not only naming the writer and creator of his stories, but also the inker and the letterer on the splash page of every one of his books. Lee also made waves in his approach to writing his stories; he would brainstorm a specific story with the artist and from that, make a short synopsis rather than a full script. The artist would be left to create the panel-by-panel pages of the story based on Lee’s synopsis, and once the penciled pages were submitted, Stan would add the captions and word balloons, as well as oversee the lettering and coloring. Lee established himself as an “everything man” in the comics world, by overseeing and being involved with as many aspects of creation as he could.
There are a plethora of writers within the pop culture genre, creating everything from comic strips and comic books to television and movie scripts; of all the writers out there, few have been able to accomplish what Lee was able to. Stan Lee left his mark on Marvel Comics, and on the comics world in general, for his contributions to the medium by using the simple formula of making his stories believable, and his characters seem human, and all by putting it on paper.
Excelsior!
Jeff Graham was a graduate of a Graphic Design program where he learned the basics of both traditional and digital art. He worked in the field designing advertisements for a few years before moving on in life. Having been a fan of comics, art and movies since childhood, Jeff translated his love into actual work by becoming a grunt worker at a local comic shop and then transforming that role into that of Store Manager. Again, after a few years, Jeff decided to move on. Jeff now works as a Paramedic in southwestern Ontario. While his dedication to pre-hospital medicine is solid in nature, he still considers comics, art and movies his first loves. 
Merin on 
Captain Z on 
Benton Sartore on 
