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He did not invent comic book heroes, but Marvel's late mastermind brought them down to earth, creating a universe of ultra-lucrative superhumans whose humanity altered the face of entertainment.
<! -[CDATA[[CDATA[ There were superheroes before Stan Lee. DC Comics' Superman and Marvel's Captain America had been around since the 1930s. But it was Lee – who died Nov. 12 at age 95 – who brought a sense of humanity to the superhuman. The heroes he created for Marvel Comics, starting with the Fantastic Four in 1961, were first and foremost people dealing with the world. Bruce Banner wanted nothing more than to shed the Hulk from his life entirely. The X-Men were walking around the world (my body is changing in ways I do not understand) and racism (people hate me for what I am, not what I've done). And Spider-Man – Lee's grandest creation, in 1962 in collaboration with artist Steve Ditko – was just a teenager, struggling with guilt over not stopping the thug who killed his uncle. While DC's heroes lived in fictional places like Metropolis, Gotham City and Atlantis, Lee built his Marvel Universe in the same New York where he grew up. And he gave his characters the same kind of flaws as the people around him. Dr. Stephen Strange was a surgeon cocksure whose ego robs him of the use of his hands. Millionaire Tony Stark wrestled with alcohol dependence. Matt Murdock would not only have the crime of Hell's Kitchen as Daredevil but the drug addiction would be more important. The decade, from 1961 to 1971, in which Marvel Comics' editor in chief and art director – was perhaps the most sustained burst of creative innovation in pop culture history. Not that it was without controversy. His collaborators often found themselves in Lee's shadow, never sharing in the credit or profits. When Lee wanted to "go Hollywood" with Marvel, he moved to LA in 1981 and proceeded to sell off Marvel IP to anyone who would buy, a catastrophically shortsighted move that the Marvel Universe to the winds – Spider-Man to Columbia (later Sony), the X-Men to Fox, the Fantastic Four to Roger Corman (later Fox) and Blade to New Line Cinema, among others. When Lee retired from Marvel, he launched a few businesses – like POW! Entertainment – which never truly took off. But he remains the face of comics for decades. And when Kevin Feige wrapped his arms around the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with 2008's Iron Man, Lee was right there: doing cameos in every flick, giving interviews on every red carpet. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is now a $ 17 trillion machine that shows no signs of slowing – and is still reckoning with the world Lee created. The secret of Marvel's success? The same as Lee 's: Tell human stories with superhuman characters on a large canvas and tie them all together so that fans hunger for the next one. Lee turned on all comic book true believers. This story first appeared in the Nov. 14 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
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