Stan "The Man" Lee

Stan “The Man” Lee Gary Gendaszek Honors U.S. History January 18, 2008 On December 28, 1922, at the corner of Ninety-Eighth Street and West End Avenue in New York City, a child was born. This child, the son of two Romanian immigrants, would indeed grow up to be one of the most well known names in the comic book business. His name was Stanley Martin Lieber. Who is Stanley Lieber, you ask? None other than Stan “The Man” Lee, creator of most of the most popular comics books in the world. Being immigrants and working during the depression, Stan’s parents, Jack and Celia Lieber, struggled financially. Not helping the matter, Stan’s only brother, Larry Lieber, was born when Stan was nine years old. It was at this time, while Stan’s parents were busy with their infant son, that Stan discovered the magical world of films. By the time he was a teenager, Lee and his family had moved to a small apartment in the Bronx, where Stan and his brother shared a room, and his parent’s slept on a fold out couch. Although Stan grew up poor, he seemed to live in his own world. His bike, for example, was never a bike to him; it was more of a space ship, or a horse. With the help of his mother and Leon Ginsberg, Stan’s favorite teacher who taught him that learning can be fun, Stan became a devoted reader. Stan was a very intelligent student, as he graduated early, at sixteen and a half, in 1939. During and after his high school career, Stan had worked many jobs. It was with the help of his uncle, Rob Solomon, that he landed the job of his dreams from a distant cousin. Martin Goodman, Stan’s cousin’s husband, had hired him as an assistant in his new division, Timely Comics. The comic book department at that time consisted of Joe Simon, the editor, and Jack Kirby, the staff artist. Being extremely under staff, the workload began to become more work than they could handle. It was at that time that Stan had his first break. He wrote and had published his first text short story