Marvel Comics co-creator Stan Lee dies aged 95

Stan Lee, the iconic comic book creator who dreamed up Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Hulk and a cavalcade of other Marvel Comics superheroes, has died at the age of 95, his daughter said on Monday.

As a writer and editor, Lee was key to the ascension of Marvel into a comic book titan in the 1960s when in collaboration with others he created superheroes who would enthral generations of young readers.

Those iconic characters became mythic figures in pop culture with soaring success at the movie box office.

Lee also became known for his cameos in Marvel Comics movies, television shows, and video games, making on-screen appearances as recent as this year’s Venom film release.

He was declared dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to Kirk Schenck, an attorney for Lee’s daughter, J.C. Lee.

Revival of the comic book industry

As the top writer at Marvel Comics and later as its publisher, Lee was widely considered the architect of the contemporary comic book. He revived the industry in the 1960s by offering the costumes and action craved by younger readers while insisting on sophisticated plots, college-level dialogue, satire, science fiction, even philosophy.

Millions responded to the unlikely mix of realistic fantasy, and many of his characters, including Spider-Man, the Hulk and X-Men went on to become stars of blockbuster films. Recent projects he helped make possible range from the films Black Panther and Doctor Strange to such TV series as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and Guardians of the Galaxy.

“I think everybody loves things that are bigger than life … I think of them as fairy tales for grown-ups,” he told The Associated Press in a 2006 interview.

“We all grew up with giants and ogres and witches. Well, you get a little bit older and you’re too old to read fairy tales. 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.”

Stan Lee leaves a superhero legacy

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.

“I wrote so many I don’t even know. I wrote either hundreds or thousands of them,” he said in 2006.

He hit his stride in the 1960s when he bought the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Spider-Man, Iron Man and numerous others to life.

“It was like there was something in the air. I couldn’t do anything wrong,” he recalled.

Lee’s death comes one year after his long-time wife Joan died at the age of 95.