Quote Of The Day By Stan Lee: 'I Used To Be Embarrassed Because I Was Just A Comic Book Writer'

Stan Lee is and always will be a cultural legend. He was the face of Marvel Comics for decades (and in some ways still is), even before the Marvel Cinematic Universe made the publisher's characters mainstream success stories across the globe. As the co-creator of most of Marvel's biggest heroes, including the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and Black Panther, among many others, his icon status has long been cemented.

Sadly, we lost the pop culture legend at the age of 95 in 2018. Nobody gets out of this world alive, but few can say they accomplished as much as Lee did in his nine and a half decades on this planet. But for the vast majority of those 95 years, Lee was known as a writer and proprietor of comic books, rather than the man who provided the source material for more than a few multi-billion-dollar franchises.

Even though Lee was very proud to see movies like "X-Men," Marvel's most important box office hit ever, bring his creations to life faithfully on screen, he was a champion of comic books until his dying day. Without Lee, it's entirely possible that superheroes, broadly speaking, might never have achieved mainstream respect in the way they have it now. Be that as it may, there was a time when even Marvel's Stan Lee was embarrassed to be a comic book writer.

That may be difficult to fathom, but when Lee started working in the medium as a young man, mainstream comics weren't what they are today. Not by a long shot.

"I used to be embarrassed because I was just a comic book writer while other people were building bridges or going on to medical careers. And then I began to realize: Entertainment is one of the most important things in people's lives. Without it, they might go off the deep end." – Stan Lee

Stan Lee said this in a 2010 interview with The Washington Post's Comic Riffs (via Business Insider). This was at a time when all of his wildest dreams were coming true. The "Spider-Man" and "X-Men" movies had already become huge blockbusters, with the Marvel Cinematic Universe up and running. This was the year that "Iron Man 2," arguably the MCU's first major creative misfire, hit theaters. But it was another box office success, further giving Lee, then in his 80s, the chance to see his creations hit it big on the big screen.

"I feel that if you're able to entertain people, you're doing a good thing," Lee added. "When you're seeing how happy the fans are — as they [see up-close] the people who tell the stories, who illustrated them, the TV personalities — I realize: It's a great thing to entertain people."

Prior to his career writing comics, Lee had hoped to write the great American novel. Comic books were seen as childish and lesser-than when he first started, but he helped make them into meaningful entertainment. In his later years, those characters became globe-spanning entertainment for the masses and very important to people's lives. Lee's work was undeniably important.

In a world where superhero movies have made tens of billions of dollars at the global box office since the dawn of the new millennium, it's difficult to imagine a time when work from the likes of Marvel or DC was dismissed. But that's the world Stan Lee walked into all those many years ago, and the world that he helped change.

Not only did Lee help change that world with his many popular co-creations, but he was one of the world's greatest pitchmen, a true ambassador for Marvel and comics in general. It wasn't always easy, even when it was working. "The Incredible Hulk" TV series tried to ditch Lee's comic book style. Early attempts at bringing Marvel characters to the screen were largely cheap, low-rent disasters. That made it all look like lesser entertainment to non-comic readers.

Comics, however, aren't a lesser form of entertainment. I adore comics and have since I was very young. It's a wonderful medium for storytelling, and it's no coincidence that movies like "Spider-Man," which are very faithful to the source material, resonate far and wide. Much of that goes back to Lee and his dedication to making those stories more than just disposable entertainment.

Sadly, the world still largely doesn't value comics. Comic creators have had to demand more money as their creations make billions for the likes of Disney and Warner Bros. It's shameful. Comic writers shouldn't be embarrassed; they should be applauded and rightfully rewarded.

Stan Lee leaves behind a complicated legacy, which was documented in "True Believer." Artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, among many others, certainly deserve more credit. But there's no denying that Lee is an enormous reason why nobody should ever have to be embarrassed by entertaining someone through the medium of comics.

• "I don't have inspiration. I only have ideas. Ideas and deadlines."
• "Let's lay it right on the line. Bigotry and racism are among the deadliest social ills plaguing the world today. But, unlike a team of costumed super-villains, they can't be halted with a punch in the snoot, or a zap from a ray gun. The only way to destroy them is to expose them — to reveal them for the insidious evils they really are."
• "The only advice anybody can give is if you want to be a writer, keep writing. And read all you can, read everything."
• "If I'm half as good as everybody said I am, I'm far too good to be wasting time with ordinary people. But I seem to be spending my life with ordinary people, who are the best people in the world."
• "All I thought about when I wrote my stories was, 'I hope that these comic books would sell so I can keep my job and continue to pay the rent.' Never in a million years could I have imagined that it would turn into what it has evolved into nowadays."
• "When you work with people whom you like and you admire because they're so good at what they do, it doesn't feel like work. It's like you're playing."
• "Excelsior!"