December 28th would have been Stan Lee's 100th birthday. He died just 4 years shy of it, but his legacy will remain long after. Stanley Martin Lieber was born in New York in 1922, to Romanian immigrants. His comic book career began in 1939 at Timely Comics as an assistant. A small amount of creative control on Captain America #3 led to Cap acquiring his shield, and a creative legend was born. In early 1942, Stan Lee was in the Army, where being recognized for his artistic talent, he was given the orders to transfer from Fort Monmouth (New Jersey) working on communication lines, to For Monmouth Film Production Laboratory. There he worked with Academy-Award winner, Frank Capra (It's A Wonderful Life), cartoonist Charles Addams (The Addams Family), and Dr. Seuss himself, Theodor Geisel. In 1945, Lee's service ended and he was back at Timely Comics, where his Army training came and creativity combined to create the "Marvel Method" a comic book creation assembly line with Lee writing captions in the bubbles, then passing it along to a pencil artist, then someone to color it, and another to finalize the lettering.
Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, (August 28, 1917 -February 6, 1994) co-created a pantheon of superheroes such as The Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, the X-Men, and Black Panther. In 1961, the duo came out with Fantastic Four, "Marvel's First Family".
In 1954 the Comics Code Authority was created to tighten the reigns against creative freedoms in comic books. Essentially, the way to get mass-produced nationally, you had to have a literal CCA stamp of approval. In 1970, the Nixon Administration's U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare requested that Lee provide an Anti-drug storyline. Drugs in general were a no-go for the Comics Code, but Stan Lee asked anyhow, and they said "no" but they started reevaluating the Comic Code's terms, just a lot slower than Stan Lee liked. And so, he published the 3 issues of Spiderman comics without the Authority's approval. Afterward, Stan apologized to the Comics Code Authority for his actions. But it was Lee's actions that opened the doors to a more lax Comics Code.
I must admit, I was not a comic book connoisseur and any super-hero knowledge I had was minimal. So truly, what I remember to be my introduction to Stan Lee, was his appearance in Mallrats. The list of Stan Lee's television and Movie cameos is far and wide, and towards the end was a favorite thing to spot in any of the Marvel Movies. It seems impossible for me not to feel Kevin Smith's excitement when things came full circle for him and Stan Lee: “Years later, my man is on a train in Captain Marvel, and he’s reading a Mallrats script and reciting his line out loud. And there’s my name on the script. It was almost as if he returned the favor,” Smith shares. “Winning an Oscar is not really important to me. Having Stan Lee reading a copy of the Mallrats script, which then kind of meta-shouts out the cameo he did … that is far better, to me, than winning the tin. That’s my kind of Oscar right there, man. And the symmetry to it, with him coming full circle from Mallrats, from one cameo to a lifetime of cameos by the end of his run, meant everything, at least for me.”
https://www.cbr.com/spider-man-stan-lee-comics-code-drugs/
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Stan_Lee
https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/stan-lee-comic-book-legend/
Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, and the Avengers all share a common trait -- these hugely popular Marvel Comics superheroes were co-created by the legendary Stan Lee. Now, Lee shows readers everything they'll need to make their own mighty superheroes, just like his classic creations. Lee exposes his secret tools and techniques for bringing strong, inspiring heroes and heroines to life. He even shows aspiring creators how to expand their super-universes with evil villains, trusty sidekicks, brutes and monsters, super-pets, secret hideouts, and more! These invaluable insights from one of the greatest superhero creators of all time are must-haves for all fans of Lee's legendary superhero comic work.
"From Stan Lee, the pop culture legend behind Marvel's The Avengers, Black Panther, X-Men, Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, and Iron Man, comes a major literary event featuring two heroic teenagers-one born with extraordinary gifts, one unwillingly transformed. Together they can change the world . . . or put it in the destructive hands of a danger beyond imagination"-- Provided by publisher.
Burned under the magnifying glass of overwhelming demand, Mighty Marvel has given in to bring you our smallest hero in his first big Masterwork. Lee and Kirby's second hero creation, scientist Hank Pym, invented an amazing growth serum and a cybernetic helmet making him the Astonishing Ant-Man. Teamed up with the winsome Wasp, the tiny twosome battle a sensational array of mini and maxi-sized menaces from the Scarlet Beetle to the Black Knight. Collecting: Tales to Astonish (1959) 27, 35-52