 "Stan Lee gave birth to memorable superhero characters, from Black Panther to Spider-Man")
Marvel legend Stan Lee , the comic book creator behind many iconic characters, died Monday at age 95. 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.
In memory of the creative genius, here are some of his best characters in comics that also graced the silver screen.
Black Panther
[caption id=“attachment_4329279” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Chadwick Boseman in a still from Black Panther. Marvel[/caption]
The film with the first black superhero in the lead, played by Chadwick Boseman, broke barriers for black representation in cinema and went on to become one of the biggest box office successes in the superhero genre. Black Panther sees T’Challa come back to his kingdom, the African nation of Wakanda and assume the throne following the death of his father. However, when an old enemy returns, it puts Black Panther to test. The film also stars Michael B Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o and Martin Freeman.
Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby created this character, which first appeared in Fantastic Four #52 (1966). One of the best comic books featuring Black Panther include Panther’s Rage in Jungle Action #5, Black Panther (vol. 3) #6-12 ‘Enemy of State’ and Marvel Comics Presents (vol. 1) #13-37 ‘Panther’s Quest’, according to Comicbook.com.
Magneto
[caption id=“attachment_5541441” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Michael Fassbender as Magneto. Image from Twitter[/caption]
Counted as one of the greatest comic book supervillains, a powerful mutant with the ability to control magnetic fields to help mutants take over human civilisation. On screen, the character has been portrayed by Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender as his younger version in the newest films.
Magento’s first appearance was in The X-Men #1 (1963). Other comics to follow were Uncanny X-Men #150, New X-Men #146-150 ‘Planet X’ and X-Men #1-3 ‘Mutant Genesis’, writes CBR.com.
Spider-Man
[caption id=“attachment_3788327” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Tom Holland as Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Image from AP.[/caption]
Created by Lee along with Steven Ditko and John Romitas, Spider-Man has been seen in a number television series, films and video games over the years. The story follows Peter Parker, an orphan who lives with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May in New York City. He acquires superhero abilities after a radioactive spider bites him and takes on the role of a vigilante. Spider-Man has been played by Toby Macguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland in the latest versions.
His character first made an appearance in the anthology comic Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962). According to IGN, some of the greatest Spider-Man stories include The Amazing Spider-Man #39-40 ‘How Green Was My Goblin/Spidey Saves the Day’, The Amazing Spider-Man #121-122 ‘The Night Gwen Stacy Died’, The Amazing Spider-Man #248 ‘The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man’ and Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110 ‘The Death of Jean DeWolff’.
The Thing
[caption id=“attachment_5541661” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Michael Chiklis as Thing. Image from Twitter[/caption]
The ever lovin’ blue-eyed Thing aka Ben Grimm with his rocky appearance and famous catchphrase, “It’s clobberin’ time”, is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. He appeared in The Fantastic Four #1 (1961), in which the group of superheroes assemble for the first time. Michael Bailey Smith, Michael Chiklis and Jamie Bell have played this role in film adaptations.
Fantastic Four #159 - ‘Havoc in the Hidden Land!’, Fantastic Four #51 ‘This Man, This Monster’, Marvel Two-in-One Annual #7 ‘And They Shall Call Him Champion’ and Marvel Two-in-One #53-58 ‘The Project Pegasus Saga’ are some of other storylines with the Thing.
The Hulk
[caption id=“attachment_3428238” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Image courtesy: @Hulk/Facebook[/caption]
The jade giant possessing superhuman strength and driven by rage is the alter ego of Dr Bruce Banner, who is a meek, socially withdrawn scientist. Following exposure to gamma rays, Banner transforms into The Incredible Hulk, triggered by an emotionally stressful situation and usually leads to rage driven destruction. In the comics, his popular catchphrase is, “Hulk smash!” In the feature films, Hulk has been played by Eric Bana, Edward Norton and most recently, Mark Ruffalo.
Hulk’s first comic appearance was in The Incredible Hulk #1 ‘The Coming of the Hulk’, published in 1962. More comics to discover the superhero’s origin story are Incredible Hulk #102 and Incredible Hulk #181 (also marked the debut of Wolverine).
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