8 Incredible Creators That Changed Comics Forever

6. Stan Lee

Where would we be without Stan the Man?

As a writer and editor, Stan Lee is responsible for creating Marvel as it is today. Together with other visionaries like Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and John Romita, Lee birthed a literal modern Marvel. He revamped what it meant to be a superhero and turned weakness into strength - flaws into powers - thereby creating the modern template for the modern hero.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a superhero wasn't someone you simply aspired to be, but one you could be.

Spider-Man - created by Lee and Ditko - exemplified that ethos, as did other heroes, like the X-Men, Daredevil and Black Panther. And while the writer's contributions to the House of Ideas have been debated by scholars for some time now, there's no denying that, without Lee, Marvel wouldn't be the same.