Lee scripted most of Marvel’s superhero comics himself during the ’60s, including the Avengers and the X-Men, two of the most enduring. But I don’t think you ever outgrow your love for those kind of things, things that are bigger than life and magical and very imaginative.” Well, you get a little bit older and you’re too old to read fairy tales. “We all grew up with giants and ogres and witches. “I think of them as fairy tales for grown-ups,” he told The AP in 2006. Some of Lee’s creations became symbols of social change - the inner turmoil of Spider-Man represented ’60s America, for example, while The Black Panther and The Savage She-Hulk mirrored the travails of minorities and women. “The beauty of Stan Lee’s characters is that they were characters first and superheroes next,” Jeff Kline, executive producer of the “Men in Black” animated television series, told The Blade of Toledo, Ohio, in 1998. Daredevil was blind and Iron Man had a weak heart. The Silver Surfer, an alien doomed to wander Earth’s atmosphere, waxed about the woeful nature of man. Spider-Man was goaded into superhero work by his alter ego, Peter Parker, who suffered from unrequited crushes, money problems and dandruff. The Fantastic Four fought with each other. His heroes, meanwhile, were a far cry from virtuous do-gooders such as rival DC Comics’ Superman. “It was like there was something in the air. He hit his stride in the 1960s when he brought the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Spider-Man, Iron Man and numerous others to life. I wrote either hundreds or thousands of them,” he told The Associated Press in 2006. Lee considered the comic-book medium an art form and he was prolific: By some accounts, he came up with a new comic book every day for 10 years.
He exuded love and kindness and will leave an indelible mark on so, so, so many lives. For decades he provided both young and old with adventure, escape, comfort, confidence, inspiration, strength, friendship and joy.
“Captain America” actor Chris Evans mourned the loss on Twitter: “There will never be another Stan Lee.