On Display: Stan Lee / Marvel Comics

Mar 28th, 2019

film resources

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In light of the release of the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movie, Smith Library added a display of some of the Spider-Man books and movies that are part of our collection. The character (among many others you will recognize) was created by Stanley Martin Lieber (a.k.a. Stan Lee; a.k.a. that mustachioed guy who keeps popping up in all those bazillion dollar comic book movies). He was born in NYC on December 28, 1992 and passed away on November 12, 2018 at age 95.

Lee began his career in comics at Timely Comics, which was originally part of the Martin Goodman publishing firm but would later become Atlas Comics and finally Marvel Comics. Beginning there as basically the office errand boy, he would eventually become the editor-in-chief and then publisher. He continued to contribute even while serving in the US Army in the early ‘40s. During his long tenure as a writer/editor/art director/publisher in comics, Lee created or co-created some of the most recognizable names and faces in all of comics’ history. Many of these have been immortalized in film and television – grossing billions of dollars worldwide, setting all-time box office return records, and earning widespread critical acclaim across platforms (with some notable exceptions…cough…every Fantastic Four movie ever…cough).

Below are some of his most notable creations and co-creations, many of whom have gone on to become hugely recognizable properties outside of their comic book industry origins. Click on the original art to find a list of graphic novels the library has for that character. Click on the live action image to see a list of DVDs and Blu-Rays featuring them.