8 Amazing Ways Stan Lee Changed Comics Forever

1. He Co-Created The Most Influential Comic Book Mythos Of All Time

Stan Lee Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics

Say what you will about the Marvel/DC rivalry, or whichever universe you prefer, there's no denying the influence Marvel Comics has exerted since the 1960s, or the role Stan Lee played changing how people thought about funny books.

Today, Marvel's presence can be felt pretty much everywhere. It's a monolithic company, whose creations captivate audiences and readers in a variety of different mediums, and it was all made possible by the group that rocked the company almost 60 years ago, which consisted of Jack Kirby (1917-1994), Steve Ditko (1927-2018), and of course, Stan Lee himself - to say nothing of the dozens of other individuals who would go on to influence Marvel in the years following.

It might be cliché to say to say that Lee's passing 'marks the end of an era', or even that he was 'a larger-than-life' character, but, in this instance, both statements ring true. He affected so much in the industry and remained its biggest champion throughout his entire life.

We are all, in our own ways, his True Believers. 'Nuff said.

If you have any tributes you'd like to leave regarding Stan Lee, please feel free to leave them in the comments below.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.