Recently, the world lost one of the most influential people in pop culture today: Stan Lee. Throughout his 95 years on Earth, Lee was responsible for the creation of countless memorable characters and was the driving force behind Marvel’s takeover of the entertainment industry. His creations were unique because although they were superheros, they nonetheless struggled with the same problems that us mere mortals face everyday. As Hollywood Reporter wrote, beginning in the 1960s, the irrepressible and feisty Lee punched up his Marvel superheroes with personality, not just power. Until then, comic book headliners like those of DC Comics were square and well-adjusted, but his heroes had human foibles and hang-ups; Peter Parker/Spider-Man, for example, fretted about his dandruff and was confused about dating. The evildoers were a mess of psychological complexity.
Lee’s legacy can be traced back to his commitment to push the boundaries on censorship in comics, delving into serious and topical subject matter in a medium that had become mindless, kid-friendly entertainment. As a result, he successfully created characters that everyday Americans could relate to, and today his superheros are household names and have spawned a billion dollar movie franchise that has captured the hearts of everyone from comic book geeks and grandparents to housewives and millennials.
Here are a few of my favorite Stan Lee creations and the reasons why his unique creativity has made them so iconic.
- Professor X. As founder of the X-Men, Charles Xavier/Professor X created and runs a school to teach young mutants how to understand and control their powers so they can live among humans without being a threat. Lee was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. to make a superhero who tries to broker peace between mutants and humans.
- Fantastic Four. The most influential part about the Fantastic Four is that they began a new superhero trend in which the heroes are more realistic, more humane, and more relatable. Despite having superhero-vibe, the Fantastic Four is not exactly a superhero team. In fact, they are still mostly explorers and thus, they are still human. They are not some perfect entities, they do quarrel with each other, and they do make mistakes.
- Black Panther. Not only is T’Challa is an honorable king who also possesses an incredible power, he is also among the most intelligent humans. With all that said, probably the most significant aspect about Black Panther is that he was the very first African superhero in American comics. Even today, Black Panther still has a significant influence in American entertainment especially after specifically the 2016 Black Panther movie (my personal favorite of the Marvel series).
- Iron Man. Iron Man is an extremely interesting superhero and this is mostly thanks to how “human” he is. Just like the Fantastic Four, Iron Man/Tony Stark is originally a human with human problems. In fact, Tony Stark would not have been a superhero if not for a certain event happened to his life. Despite being a genius, Tony Stark was quite arrogant at first and also, he has a serious issue of alcoholism, especially under stress. But thanks to such flaws, they created opportunity for Tony Stark to grow as a character and nowadays, we can’t help but to fall in love with this fictional character.
- Spider Man. Spider Man is a quirky teenager named Peter Parker who has quite a tragic life. And for the first time, people got to see a superhero who paid more attention to… how to pay his aunt’s bill rather than fighting cosmic threats. Since Peter Parker is a teenager, he is so relatable to young audience. He has real-life problem, a relatable struggle of how to be a better man while maintaining balance between his career and daily life. Even today, no one can deny the influence of Spider Man throughout the world’s entertainment and pop culture.
