Stan Lee, Marvel Comics Co-Creator, Dies at 95: Reports

Stan Lee—the comic book writer and Marvel editor credited with creating superheroes like Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and many more—died at 95. TMZ broke the story of his death on Nov. 12.

“We’re told an ambulance rushed to Lee’s Hollywood Hills home early Monday morning and he was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. We’re told that’s where he died,” the celebrity news website reported.

He’s survived by his daughter, Joan. Joan told TMZ: “My father loved all of his fans. He was the greatest, most decent man.”

His wife of 69 years died in 2017.

Other details about the incident are not clear.

Lee had been suffering from several illnesses over the past year or so. He pneumonia and vision problems, TMZ noted.

Several years ago, Lee explained how he came up with the names of superheroes.

“There was no trick. I would sit and think. It was never easy, though. Spider-Man, I wanted someone with the power of an insect, who could crawl on walls and stick to the ceiling and you wouldn’t know he was there. But Insect Man? Mosquito Man? None sounded right. Then I hit on ’spider,' which sounded dramatic,” he told the Chicago Tribune in 2014.

In another recent interview, he also explained how he nearly walked away from the comic book business in the 1960s.

“He didn’t want too much dialogue; he didn’t want me to worry about characterization or story ... all he wanted was a lot of action,” Lee said of his boss at Timely Comics. “He said to me ‘All these readers care about is action. Do a lot of fight scenes: that’s what they like. Don’t waste time with dialogue and philosophy and characterization. That doesn’t mean anything to the reader. Just give me action!’ So I was not a happy camper in the beginning when I was writing these stories.”