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115-456: The Valkyrior, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby , first appeared in Thor #133 (October 1966). The team, led by Valkyrie and Misty Knight is the subject of the 2013 series, The Fearless Defenders by Cullen Bunn and Will Sliney . Bun said about his book: "The basic idea of the book is that Valkyrie is choosing a new team of Valkyrior, and she's been asked to choose all these women from

230-588: A US$ 1 billion lawsuit against POW! in May 2018, asserting that POW! had not disclosed the terms of its acquisition by Camsing to him. Lee stated that POW! CEO Shane Duffy and co-founder Gill Champion had presented him with what they said was a non-exclusive license for POW! for him to sign, under Camsing, to use his likeness and other intellectual property. This contract turned out to be an exclusive license, which Lee claimed he would never have entered. Lee's lawsuit contended that POW! took over his social media accounts and

345-420: A cybernetic helmet that lets him communicate with and control them. He designs a costume made of unstable molecules to prevent bites or scratches from the ants and reinvents himself as the superhero Ant-Man. After several adventures, Pym is contacted by Dr. Vernon van Dyne, who asks for his help contacting alien life . Pym refuses, but is attracted to Vernon's socialite daughter Janet van Dyne. When Vernon

460-533: A dress cutter , worked only sporadically after the Great Depression . The family moved further uptown to Fort Washington Avenue , in Washington Heights, Manhattan . Lee had one younger brother named Larry Lieber . He said in 2006 that as a child he was influenced by books and movies, particularly those with Errol Flynn playing heroic roles. Reading The Scarlet Pimpernel , he called

575-525: A 1982 one-shot drawn by John Byrne , the Judgment Day graphic novel illustrated by John Buscema, the Parable limited series drawn by French artist Mœbius , and The Enslavers graphic novel with Keith Pollard . Lee was briefly president of the entire company, but soon stepped down to become publisher instead, finding that being president was too much about numbers and finance and not enough about

690-482: A cybernetic helmet he created for achieving rudimentary communication with ants and other higher order insects. As Yellowjacket, then later as Wasp, Pym wears artificial wings and has bio-blasters called "stingers" built into his gloves. He took up the Wasp mantle in memory of Janet, who was believed to be dead at the time. Pym also carries a variety of weaponry, provisions, and scientific instruments, which are shrunken to

805-565: A figurehead and public face for Marvel Comics. He made appearances at comic book conventions around America, lecturing at colleges and participating in panel discussions. Lee and John Romita Sr. launched the Spider-Man newspaper comic strip on January 3, 1977. Lee's final collaboration with Jack Kirby, The Silver Surfer: The Ultimate Cosmic Experience , was published in 1978 as part of the Marvel Fireside Books series and

920-519: A foe from behind once the opponent had ceased fighting. Captain America suspends Yellowjacket from Avengers duty pending the verdict of a court-martial . Pym suffers a mental breakdown and concocts a plan to salvage his credibility. He plans to build a robot and program it to launch an attack on the Avengers; Pym will then counter the false flag attack at a critical moment using his knowledge of

1035-446: A friendly, chatty style. Lee remarked that his goal was for fans to think of the comics creators as friends, and considered it a mark of his success on this front that, at a time when letters to other comics publishers were typically addressed "Dear Editor", letters to Marvel addressed the creators by first name (e.g., "Dear Stan and Jack"). Lee recorded messages to the newly formed Merry Marvel Marching Society fan club in 1965. By 1967,

1150-478: A kid has to go to a dictionary, that’s not the worst thing that could happen.” Following Ditko's departure from Marvel in 1966, John Romita Sr. became Lee's collaborator on The Amazing Spider-Man . Within a year, it overtook Fantastic Four to become the company's top seller. Lee and Romita's stories focused as much on the social and college lives of the characters as they did on Spider-Man's adventures. The stories became more topical, addressing issues such as

1265-588: A medical emergency earlier in the day. Lee had previously been hospitalized for pneumonia in February of that year. The immediate cause of death listed on his death certificate was cardiac arrest with respiratory failure and congestive heart failure as underlying causes. It also indicated that he suffered from aspiration pneumonia . His body was cremated and his ashes were given to his daughter. Roy Thomas , who succeeded Lee as editor-in-chief at Marvel, had visited Lee two days prior to his death to discuss

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1380-619: A memorabilia collector, had been isolating Lee from his trusted friends and associates following his wife's death in order to obtain access to Lee's wealth, estimated to amount to US$ 50 million . In August 2018, a restraining order was issued against Morgan to stay away from Lee, his daughter, and his associates for three years. The Los Angeles Superior Court confirmed that Morgan was charged in May 2019 with five counts of abuse for events that had occurred in mid-2018. The charges were false imprisonment , grand theft of an elder or dependent adult, fraud, forgery, and elder abuse. Another figure in

1495-539: A number of characters in the Marvel universe that have also used the "Pym particles" to effect size changing. These include Janet van Dyne , Clint Barton , Bill Foster , Scott Lang , Erik Josten , Rita DeMara , Cassandra "Cassie" Lang , Eric O'Grady , Tom Foster , Shang-Chi , Raz Malhotra and Nadia Pym . Although they do not use their powers for altering their size, both Wonder Man and Vision derive their powers from Pym particles. The following are

1610-460: A period between 2001 and 2017 during which Lee's partners Gill Champion and Arthur Lieberman were said to have misled Lee about various intellectual property rights deals. In June 2020, Judge Otis D. Wright II dismissed J.C. Lee's lawsuit against POW! Entertainment, declaring it "frivolous" and "improper", sanctioning J.C. Lee for $ 1,000,000, and sanctioning her lawyers for $ 250,000 individually and severally . The court also gave POW! Entertainment

1725-565: A pocket universe for a year before returning to the mainstream Marvel Universe . Hank Pym returns and aids the team as Giant-Man, and makes a significant contribution by defeating criminal mastermind Imus Champion and his flawed creation Ultron, simultaneously overcoming his old issues of guilt over Ultron's crimes. During the Destiny War between Kang the Conqueror and Immortus , two versions of Hank Pym are drawn in: Giant-Man of

1840-493: A reverse merger structured by investment banker Stan Medley in 1999, but, near the end of 2000, investigators discovered illegal stock manipulation by Paul and corporate officer Stephan Gordon. Stan Lee Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2001. Paul was extradited to the U.S. from Brazil and pleaded guilty to violating SEC Rule 10b-5 in connection with trading his stock in Stan Lee Media. Lee

1955-476: A sense of community between fans and creators. He introduced the practice of regularly including a credit panel on the splash page of each story, naming not just the writer and penciller but also the inker and letterer. Regular news about Marvel staff members and upcoming storylines was presented on the Bullpen Bulletins page, which (like the letter columns that appeared in each title) was written in

2070-590: A sequential art story in 2014 by Lee and Bruce Timm in Marvel's 75th Anniversary Celebration . Lee graduated from writing filler to actual comics with a backup feature, "'Headline' Hunter, Foreign Correspondent", two issues later, using the pseudonym "Reel Nats". His first superhero co-creation was the Destroyer , in Mystic Comics #6 (August 1941). Other characters he co-created during this period, called

2185-543: A short relationship with teammate Tigra . After being taunted by old foe Whirlwind , Pym contemplates suicide , but is stopped by Firebird . Pym and Janet eventually resume a romantic relationship. The character returns to the Avengers, joining the East Coast team as Giant-Man. The pair, together with many of the other Avengers, apparently sacrifice themselves to stop the villain Onslaught , but actually exist in

2300-418: A size-altering formula and a reversal formula, testing them on himself. Reduced to the size of an insect, he becomes trapped in an anthill before he eventually escapes and uses the reversal formula to return to normal size. Deciding the serums are too dangerous, he destroys them. He later reconsiders his decision and recreates his serums. Pym's experience in the anthill inspires him to study ants, and he builds

2415-542: A spell cast by Gath temporarily transforms Pym into a swashbuckler-style Yellowjacket, followed by the Yellowjacket persona manifesting a physical presence from the extradimensional bio-mass Pym uses to grow. Yellowjacket's stability deteriorates in a confrontation with Diablo . The two personalities are restored when the Wasp helps the two halves realize they need each other. Pym is eventually able to resolve his problems and adopts his Yellowjacket persona again. After

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2530-467: A tabletop and they would draw a heroic-looking guy. I would say, 'Draw a matchbook cover next to him, so we see the difference in size.' But they kept forgetting. So when you would look at the panels, you thought you were looking at a normal guy wearing an underwear costume like all of them. It didn't have the interest. Pym began a continuous shift of superhero identities in Tales to Astonish , first becoming

2645-500: Is also the New York state motto ). To maintain his workload and meet deadlines, he used a system that was used previously by various comic-book studios, but due to Lee's success with it, became known as the " Marvel Method ". Typically, Lee would brainstorm a story with the artist and then prepare a brief synopsis rather than a full script. Based on the synopsis, the artist would fill the allotted number of pages by determining and drawing

2760-706: Is apocryphal, and so is his story of a life-changing plea from the editor, because the likelier story is that Lee won a seventh-place prize of $ 2.50 and two honorable mention awards. He graduated from high school early, aged sixteen and a half, in 1939 and joined the WPA Federal Theatre Project . From 1945 to 1947, Lee lived in the rented top floor of a brownstone in the East 90s in Manhattan. He married Joan Clayton Boocock , originally from Newcastle , England, on December 5, 1947, and in 1949,

2875-600: Is considered to be Marvel's first graphic novel . Lee and John Buscema produced the first issue of The Savage She-Hulk (February 1980), which introduced the female cousin of the Hulk, and crafted a Silver Surfer story for Epic Illustrated #1 (Spring 1980). He moved to California in 1981 to develop Marvel's TV and movie properties. He was an executive producer for, and made cameo appearances in, Marvel film adaptations and other movies. He occasionally returned to comic book writing with various Silver Surfer projects including

2990-440: Is eventually able to change size at will, and mentally generate Pym particles to change the sizes of other living beings or inanimate objects. Pym retains his normal strength when "ant" size, and possesses greatly increased strength and stamina when in "giant" form, courtesy of the increased mass. Pym's costume is synthetic stretch fabric composed of unstable molecules and automatically adapts to his shifting sizes. Pym also uses

3105-484: Is exposed and defeated by the hero Crusader . After the final battle between Earth's heroes and the Skrulls, Pym is found with other "replaced" heroes in a Skrull vessel. When Janet is seemingly killed in battle, Pym takes on a new superhero persona, the Wasp, in tribute to her. He rejoins the Avengers and eventually leads the team. The cosmic entity Eternity reveals to Pym that he is Earth's " Scientist Supreme ",

3220-503: Is killed by an alien criminal who teleports to Earth, Janet asks for Pym's help avenging his death. Pym reveals his secret identity to Janet and uses Pym particles to graft wasp wings beneath her shoulders, which appear when Janet shrinks. She assumes the alias of the Wasp , and together they find and defeat Vernon's killer. They become founding members of the superhero team the Avengers. Pym eventually adopts his first alternate identity as

3335-591: Is reversed, Pym rejoins the Avengers as Yellowjacket. Pym is forced to briefly leave the team when the roster is restructured by government liaison Henry Peter Gyrich . Also at this time, he noticed Scott Lang 's theft of the Ant-Man suit. After Darren Cross 's defeat and aware of Lang's use of the stolen goods, Pym let Lang keep the equipment, albeit only to uphold the law. Returning 14 issues later, Hank Pym participates in several missions until, after demonstrating hostile behavior toward Janet van Dyne, he attacks

3450-629: Is waking, and Valkyrie finds that it's really her fault that she's put everything at risk". The Valkyrior are warrior goddesses of Asgard who ride winged horses. Originally, under the leadership of Brunnhilde , they took mortally wounded human heroes from German and Scandinavian battlegrounds and brought them to Valhalla, an area of the Asgardian dimension where the astral forms of the dead Asgardians and human heroes eternally feast and compete in friendly battles. The Valkyries were no longer able to perform this task when Odin , ruler of Asgard, vowed to

3565-468: The Mail Online alleged that Lee was accused by a small number of nurses of sexually harassing them at his home in early 2017. Lee denied the allegations and claimed that the nurses were attempting to extort him. In April 2018, The Hollywood Reporter published a report that claimed Lee was a victim of elder abuse ; the report asserted that, among others, Keya Morgan, Lee's business manager and

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3680-662: The Celestials a millennium ago that he would severely restrict Asgardian contact with Earth. In later years, Brunnhilde became a member of Earth's Defenders . The other Valkyries all died when Odin and Hela went to war over who would rule Valhalla. Odin restored the Valkyries to life after he regained possession of Valhalla, but these Valkyries only have physical form within Valhalla; outside it, they exist only in astral form. Valtrauta has taken Brunnhilde's place as ruler of

3795-568: The Circus of Crime erupts; in the ensuing conflict, the chemicals lose their effect on him and his identity is restored. After several adventures with the Avengers, including another encounter with Ultron, the pair take another leave of absence. The heroes re-encounter Hank Pym at the beginning of the Kree-Skrull War , and once again as the Ant-Man persona and has a series of solo adventures. After aiding fellow superhero team known as

3910-550: The Comics Code . The U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare had asked Lee to write a comic-book story about the dangers of drugs and Lee conceived a three-issue subplot in The Amazing Spider-Man #96–98 ( cover-dated May–July 1971), in which Peter Parker's best friend becomes addicted to prescription drugs. The Comics Code Authority refused to grant its seal because the stories depicted drug use;

4025-485: The Defenders as Yellowjacket, Pym returns to the Avengers. He is eventually captured by an upgraded Ultron that brainwashes his creator, causing the character to regress to his original Ant-Man costume and personality — arriving at Avengers Mansion, thinking it to be the very first meeting of the team. Seeing several unfamiliar members, Pym attacks the team until stopped by the Wasp. After Ultron's brainwashing

4140-657: The Fantastic Four in 1961. The team's immediate popularity led Lee and Marvel's illustrators to produce a cavalcade of new titles. Again working with Kirby, Lee co-created the Hulk , Thor , Iron Man , and the X-Men ; with Bill Everett , Daredevil ; and with Steve Ditko , Doctor Strange and Marvel's most successful character, Spider-Man , all of whom lived in a thoroughly shared universe . Lee and Kirby gathered several of their newly created characters together into

4255-1035: The Flash , and later in 1960 with the Justice League of America super-team. In response, publisher Martin Goodman assigned Lee to come up with a new superhero team. Lee's wife suggested that he experiment with stories he preferred, since he was planning on changing careers and had nothing to lose. Lee acted on the advice, giving his superheroes a flawed humanity, a change from the ideal archetypes typically written for preteens. Before this, most superheroes had been idealistically perfect people with no serious, lasting problems. Lee introduced complex, naturalistic characters who could have bad tempers, fits of melancholy, and vanity; they bickered amongst themselves, worried about paying their bills and impressing girlfriends, got bored or sometimes even physically ill. The first superheroes Lee and artist Jack Kirby created together were

4370-534: The Golden Age of Comic Books , include Jack Frost , debuting in U.S.A. Comics #1 (August 1941), and Father Time , debuting in Captain America Comics #6 (August 1941). When Simon and his creative partner Jack Kirby left in late 1941 following a dispute with Goodman, the 30-year-old publisher installed Lee, just under 19 years old, as interim editor. The youngster showed a knack for

4485-597: The Inhumans and the Black Panther , an African king who would be mainstream comics' first black superhero. The story frequently cited as Lee and Kirby's finest achievement is the three-part " Galactus Trilogy " that began in Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966), chronicling the arrival of Galactus , a cosmic giant who wanted to devour the planet, and his herald, the Silver Surfer . Fantastic Four #48

4600-465: The Vietnam War , political elections, and student activism . Robbie Robertson , introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man #51 (August 1967) was one of the first African-American characters in comics to play a serious supporting role. In the Fantastic Four series, the lengthy run by Lee and Kirby produced many acclaimed storylines as well as characters that have become central to Marvel, including

4715-674: The West Coast Avengers as a scientist and inventor in West Coast Avengers vol. 2, #21 (June 1987). Writer Steve Englehart explained, "I've been using him as he asked to be used. In the Egghead story, where he bombed out as Yellowjacket, he said that he would never be a superhero again, so I took him at his word." Pym returned to the Avengers as Giant-Man in The Avengers vol. 3, #1 (February 1998). When

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4830-466: The West Coast Avengers , Pym constructed a one-man vehicle with artificial intelligence named Rover. Rover is able to communicate with Pym and is capable of flight and discharging energy and acid. Back with the Avengers main team, he built a second Rover, resembling an Avengers Quinjet . After fusing with Ultron, he now contains all of his creation's abilities when he is in control. There are

4945-556: The X-Men , Iron Man , Thor , the Hulk , Ant-Man , the Wasp , the Fantastic Four , Black Panther , Daredevil , Doctor Strange , the Scarlet Witch , and Black Widow . These and other characters' introductions in the 1960s pioneered a more naturalistic approach in superhero comics . In the 1970s, Lee challenged the restrictions of the Comics Code Authority , indirectly leading to changes in its policies. In

5060-411: The robot Ultron that unexpectedly achieves sentience and becomes one of the Avengers's greatest foes. During a botched experiment, Pym inhales chemicals that affect his mind, and he reappears at Avengers Mansion in the cocky new persona of Yellowjacket, claiming to have disposed of Pym. The Wasp secretly realizes he is Pym, however, and accepts his offer of marriage . At their wedding, a battle with

5175-522: The " Secret Empire " storyline, Pym sets up a base in Alaska and is forced to work through some family issues and relationship strife within the Avengers team. Pym later goes on a journey to collect all the Infinity Stones. During this storyline, a piece of Hank's soul gets stuck in an alternate realm and eventually devoured. In another storyline, Hank is portrayed as a villain in a battle against

5290-539: The "good Ultron", Ultron-12 stated to Wasp that he went through a soft reboot to protect Hank as Ultron takes over the Lethal Legion. Hank regained consciousness and reunited with Nadia when Ant-Man, Mayor Luke Cage, Stinger, Valkyrie, and Vision arrived as he claims to Nadia that Ultron's no longer in him. He gives Nadia the code for the nano-tech from the future to use while Ultron is distracted as she's got to think big which Ultron-12 agrees with him on. After Ultron

5405-425: The 12 ft-tall (3.7 m) Giant-Man in issue #49 (November 1963). Pym and van Dyne continued to costar in the title until issue #69 (July 1965), while simultaneously appearing in The Avengers until issue #15 (April 1965), after which they temporarily left the team. Next Pym rejoined the Avengers and adopted the new identity Goliath in Avengers #28 (May 1966). Gradually falling to mental strain, he adopted

5520-505: The 12-foot-tall Giant-Man . (Three decades later, a flashback shows him adopting the identity out of feelings of inadequacy when compared to powerful teammates Iron Man and Thor . ) Pym and the Wasp begin a romantic relationship, and soon take a leave of absence from the Avengers. Returning to the Avengers, Pym adopts a new superhero identity, Goliath . A mishap traps him in giant form for several issues and affects his self-esteem. After recovering his size-shifting powers, he creates

5635-434: The 1950s, Lee teamed up with his comic book colleague Dan DeCarlo to produce the syndicated newspaper strip My Friend Irma , based on the radio comedy starring Marie Wilson . By the end of the decade, Lee had become dissatisfied with his career and considered quitting the field. In 1956, DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz revived the superhero archetype and experienced significant success with an updated version of

5750-669: The 1970s they owned a vacation home in Remsenburg, New York . For their move to the West Coast in 1981, they bought a home in West Hollywood, California , previously owned by comedian Jack Benny 's radio announcer Don Wilson . The Stan Lee Foundation was founded in 2010 to focus on literacy, education, and the arts. Its stated goals include supporting programs and ideas that improve access to literacy resources, as well as promoting diversity, national literacy, culture and

5865-514: The 1980s, he pursued the development of Marvel properties in other media, with mixed results. Following his retirement from Marvel in the 1990s, Lee remained a public figurehead for the company. He frequently made cameo appearances in films and television shows based on Marvel properties , on which he received an executive producer credit, which allowed him to become the person with the highest-grossing film total ever . He continued independent creative ventures until his death, aged 95, in 2018. Lee

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5980-496: The 2017 live-action film Thor: Ragnarok . Odin sent them to Hel to prevent Hela from escaping. However, the attack turned into a massacre, as Hela killed every Valkyrie with the exception of Valkyrie / Scrapper 142 . The trauma of the massacre led Valkyrie to abandon Asgard and settle on Sakaar . Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber / ˈ l iː b ər / ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018)

6095-496: The Ant-Man of the 25th century, Dr. Zayn Asghar . Ultron is ultimately defeated and the other Ant-Men are returned to the past. Sometime later, an old man claiming to be Hank Pym places an artificial personality in Whirlwind's corpse called "Victor Shade". It was later revealed that a fragment of Hank's conscious had separated from All-Father Ultron when he was defeated. The fragment recreated his body which appeared older and he

6210-440: The Avengers and blamed for the theft, as Egghead erases all evidence of his own involvement. Pym, in turn, blames Egghead, a criminal still believed dead by the other Avengers. This is taken by Pym's former teammates as further proof of his madness, and he is incarcerated. During Pym's imprisonment, Janet has a brief relationship with Tony Stark. Egghead later attempts to kill Pym but is himself accidentally killed by Hawkeye . With

6325-690: The Bronx. In his youth, Lee enjoyed writing, and entertained dreams of writing the " Great American Novel " one day. He said that in his youth he worked such part-time jobs as writing obituaries for a news service and press releases for the National Tuberculosis Center; delivering sandwiches for the Jack May pharmacy to offices in Rockefeller Center ; working as an office boy for a trouser manufacturer; ushering at

6440-559: The DC superheroes Superman , Batman , Wonder Woman , Green Lantern , and the Flash . Hank Pym Dr. Henry Jonathan Pym is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Created by penciller Jack Kirby , editor-plotter Stan Lee and writer Larry Lieber , Pym debuted in Tales to Astonish #27 (January 1962). He returned several issues later as

6555-711: The Rivoli Theater on Broadway ; and selling subscriptions to the New York Herald Tribune newspaper. At fifteen, Lee entered a high school essay competition sponsored by the New York Herald Tribune , called "The Biggest News of the Week Contest." Lee claimed to have won the prize for three straight weeks, goading the newspaper to write him and ask him to let someone else win. The paper suggested he look into writing professionally, which Lee claimed "probably changed my life." However, Lee's story

6670-530: The Silver Surfer. In "The Ultron Agenda" storyline, Hank attempts to merge all robots with humans. Iron Man and Machine Man interfere with his plans and Pym attempts to take revenge. At the end of this storyline, we discover that Hank's human side has been dead since he first merged with Ultron. The Ant-Man miniseries released in 2022 depicts an early Hank Pym being pulled into the future, along with Eric O'Grady and Scott Lang, in an attempt to assist

6785-596: The Valkyrior, and Hildegarde 's sister Krista (aka Mist) has filled the role of the ninth Valkyrie, left open since Brunnhilde's departure. During the " War of the Realms " storyline, Valkyrie and the rest of the Valkrior are massacred by Malekith and his forces invading New York. During the battle, Valkyrie is beheaded by Malekith. Afterwards, Jane Foster then takes up the mantle of Valkyrie. The Valkyrior appear in

6900-580: The Wasp in the mini-series Ant-Man & The Wasp (January 2011) and as a regular character in the 2010-2013 Secret Avengers series from issue #22 (April 2012) through its final issue #37 (March 2013). After Secret Avengers , Pym joined the Avengers A.I. after beating his creation Ultron . He then appeared in many comics including Daredevil (Vol. 3 and 4) and the graphic novel Rage of Ultron . Biochemist Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym discovers an unusual set of subatomic particles he labels " Pym particles ". Entrapping them within two separate serums, he creates

7015-579: The Wasp: Quantumania (2023). Douglas also voiced alternate-timeline versions of Pym in the Disney+ animated series What If...? (2021–2023). Hank Pym debuted in a seven-page solo cover story, "The Man in the Ant Hill", about a character who tests shrinking technology on himself, in the science fiction / fantasy anthology Tales to Astonish #27 ( cover date January 1962). The story

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7130-471: The administrators at Camp Hammond , a U.S. military base in Stamford, Connecticut , for the training of registered superheroes in the government program The Initiative. Pym and Janet's relationship fails, and Pym again begins a romantic relationship with teammate Tigra . Following the publication of Civil War , Marvel's Secret Invasion storyline uses flashbacks to present the then-current version of

7245-567: The alleged abuse was Lee's former business manager Jerardo Olivarez, who was introduced to Lee by J.C. after his wife's death. Lee filed suit against Olivarez in April 2018, calling him one of several "unscrupulous businessmen, sycophants and opportunists" that approached him during this period. According to Lee's complaint, after gaining Lee's power of attorney, Olivarez fired Lee's personal banker, changed Lee's will, convinced him to allow transfers of millions of dollars from his accounts and used some of

7360-528: The anti-drug context was considered irrelevant. With Goodman's cooperation and confident that the original government request would give him credibility, Lee had the story published without the seal. The comics sold well and Marvel won praise for its socially conscious efforts. The CCA subsequently loosened the Code to permit negative depictions of drugs, among other new freedoms. Lee also supported using comic books to provide some measure of social commentary about

7475-600: The arts. Lee regularly donated papers, photographs, recordings and personal effects to the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming between 1981 and 2011. They cover the period from 1926 to 2011. Lee engaged in several legal actions in his later years. In 2017, POW! was acquired by Camsing International, a Chinese company, during the period Lee was caring for his terminally ill wife and dealing with his own failing eyesight. Lee filed

7590-518: The base captain, who did not like Lee. He faced tampering charges and could have been sent to Leavenworth Prison . The colonel in charge of the Finance Department intervened and saved Lee from disciplinary action. In the mid-1950s, by which time the company was now generally known as Atlas Comics , Lee wrote stories in a variety of genres including romance , Westerns , humor, science fiction, medieval adventure, horror and suspense. In

7705-437: The brand was well-enough ensconced in popular culture that a March 3 WBAI radio program with Lee and Kirby as guests was titled "Will Success Spoil Spiderman [sic]". Throughout the 1960s, Lee scripted, art-directed and edited most of Marvel's series, moderated the letters pages, wrote a monthly column called " Stan's Soapbox ", and wrote endless promotional copy, often signing off with his trademark motto, " Excelsior !" (which

7820-678: The business that led him to remain as the comic-book division's editor-in-chief, as well as art director for much of that time, until 1972, when he would succeed Goodman as publisher. Lee entered the U.S. Army in early 1942 and served within the U.S. as a member of the Signal Corps , repairing telegraph poles and other communications equipment. He was later transferred to the Training Film Division, where he worked writing manuals, training films , slogans, and occasionally cartooning . His military classification, he said,

7935-470: The character as an impostor who replaced the real Pym at some point in the books' fictional history prior to the events of Civil War . This impostor is an extraterrestrial of the shape-shifting Skrull race participating in a covert invasion of Earth; Pym's experiences throughout the Civil War series and related series are retold in brief from the perspective of the impostor and its allies. The impostor

8050-490: The company settled in 2005 for an undisclosed seven-figure amount. In 2001, Lee, Gill Champion, and Arthur Lieberman formed POW! (Purveyors of Wonder) Entertainment to develop film, television, and video game properties. Lee created the risqué animated superhero series Stripperella for Spike TV . That same year, DC Comics released its first work written by Lee, the Just Imagine... series, in which Lee reimagined

8165-527: The cosmic balance—reflects that both Pyms were necessary so that Yellowjacket's betrayal could bring the team into the right position to attack the Time-Keepers, while Pym's presence as Giant-Man both provided a stable support and irritated Yellowjacket to provoke his own actions. Back in the present, an encounter with Kulan Gath results in Pym being split into his two personas of Pym and Yellowjacket, after

8280-519: The costumed superhero Ant-Man who starred in the 13-page, the three-chapter story "Return of the Ant-Man/An Army of Ants/The Ant-Man's Revenge" in Tales to Astonish #35 (September 1962). His adventures became an ongoing feature in the title. Issue #44 (June 1963) featured the debut of his socialite girlfriend and lab assistant Janet van Dyne , who adopted the costumed identity of the Wasp. She co-starred in Pym's subsequent appearances, and

8395-590: The couple bought a house in Woodmere, New York , on Long Island , living there through 1952. Their daughter Joan Celia "J. C." Lee was born in 1950. Another daughter, Jan Lee, died a few days after her birth in 1953. The Lees resided in the Long Island community of Hewlett Harbor, New York , from 1952 to 1980. They also owned a condominium on East 63rd Street in Manhattan from 1975 to 1980, and during

8510-525: The creative process he enjoyed. In 1976, Stan Lee was one of the cartoonists who illustrated the Costello's wall. He drawn Spider-Man. Lee stepped away from regular duties at Marvel in the 1990s, though he continued to receive an annual salary of $ 1 million as chairman emeritus. In 1998 he and Peter Paul began a new Internet-based superhero creation, production, and marketing studio, Stan Lee Media . It grew to 165 people and went public through

8625-757: The events of the " Avengers Disassembled " storyline, Pym takes a leave of absence, and in the one-shot Avengers: Finale , he and Janet leave for England to rekindle their relationship. As Yellowjacket, Pym is a central character in the Civil War storyline, joining those heroes that support the Superhuman Registration Act . At the conclusion of the Civil War, Pym is named "Man of the Year" by Time magazine for his role in freeing several captive anti-registration heroes. Pym becomes one of

8740-594: The father of Nadia van Dyne , his daughter by his first wife, Maria Pym . Since his earliest appearances in the Silver Age of Comic Books , Pym has been featured in various Marvel-endorsed products including animated films , video games , television series , and feature films . Michael Douglas plays Pym in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Ant-Man (2015), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Ant-Man and

8855-537: The fields of quantum physics , robotics / cybernetics , artificial intelligence , and entomology . Pym discovered the subatomic " Pym particles " that enable mass to be shunted or gained from an alternate dimension, thereby changing the size of himself or other beings or objects. Pym is the creator of the robot Ultron , whom he created as an experiment after examining Dragon Man , showing his knack for AI and cybernetics. After constant experimentation with size-changing via ingested capsules and particle-filled gas, Pym

8970-508: The fourth superhero identity Yellowjacket in issue #59 (December 1968). He reappeared as Ant-Man in Avengers #93 (November 1971); and for issues #4–10 starred in the lead story of the first volume of Marvel Feature (July 1972 – July 1973). During this run, he appeared in a redesigned costume with a nail as a weapon. After appearing occasionally as Yellowjacket in the 1980s and battling mental and emotional issues, he temporarily abandoned costumed personas altogether, joining

9085-521: The funds to purchase a condominium. In September 2012, Lee underwent an operation to insert a pacemaker , which required cancelling planned appearances at conventions. Lee eventually retired from convention appearances by 2017. On July 6, 2017, Joan Boocock, his wife of 69 years, died of complications from a stroke. She was 95 years old. Lee died on November 12, 2018, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, after being rushed there for

9200-450: The help of his uncle Robbie Solomon, Lee became an assistant in 1939 at the new Timely Comics division belonging to pulp magazine and comic-book publisher Martin Goodman . Timely, by the 1960s, would evolve into Marvel Comics. Lee, whose cousin Jean was Goodman's wife, was formally hired by Timely editor Joe Simon . His duties were prosaic at first. "In those days [the artists] dipped

9315-439: The heroes of Midgard, instead of from Asgard. She has completely failed in this task. Valkyrie has been unable to choose anyone that she feels is worthy to be one of the hosts of the shield maidens. So she just hasn't done it. She's dropped the ball. Because she's not done what she said she would do, nature—or supernature, as it is—abhors a vacuum. The absence of the Valkyrior has opened the door to something terrible. Something awful

9430-471: The late 1950s and early 1960s, it had run into a creative drought by the decade's end. There was a new audience for comics now, and it wasn't just the little kids that traditionally had read the books. The Marvel of the 1960s was in its own way the counterpart of the French New Wave ... Marvel was pioneering new methods of comics storytelling and characterization, addressing more serious themes, and in

9545-535: The mail clerk overlooked his letter, explaining that nothing was in Lee's mailbox. The next day, Lee went by the closed mailroom and saw an envelope with the return address of Timely Comics in his mailbox. Not willing to miss a deadline, Lee asked the officer in charge to open the mailroom, but the latter refused. So Lee took a screwdriver and unscrewed the mailbox hinges, retrieving the envelope containing his assignment. The mailroom officer saw what he did and turned him into

9660-468: The original iteration of Ant-Man , a superhero with the power to shrink to the size of an ant . He later assumed other superhero identities, including the size-changing Giant-Man and Goliath ; the insect-themed Yellowjacket ; and briefly, the Wasp . He is a founding member of the Avengers superhero team, and the creator of the robotic villain Ultron . He is also the ex-husband of Janet van Dyne and

9775-431: The panel-to-panel storytelling. After the artist turned in penciled pages, Lee would write the word balloons and captions, and then oversee the lettering and coloring. In effect, the artists were co-plotters, whose collaborative first drafts Lee built upon. For his part, Lee endeavored to use a sophisticated vocabulary in his dialogue and captions to encourage his young readers to learn new words, often playfully noting “If

9890-626: The pen in ink, [so] I had to make sure the inkwells were filled", Lee recalled in 2009. "I went down and got them their lunch, I did proofreading, I erased the pencils from the finished pages for them". Marshaling his childhood ambition to be a writer, young Stanley Lieber made his comic-book debut with the text filler " Captain America Foils the Traitor's Revenge" in Captain America Comics #3 ( cover-dated May 1941), using

10005-433: The perpetrator of the original theft now exposed, Pym is cleared of all charges. After bidding farewell to Janet and his teammates, Pym leaves to devote himself full-time to research. Pym reappears as a member of the West Coast Avengers , first in an advisory role, then as a full member. He answers to "Doctor Pym" in the field, using none of the names or costumes associated with his previous superhero identities. He begins

10120-482: The present and Yellowjacket immediately prior to his marriage to Janet van Dyne. Yellowjacket briefly betrays the team to Immortus and the powerful Time-Keepers try to create a timeline where he will not turn back into Pym, but he rejects this decision in time to help his allies. Observing the final battle, Libra —who brought the team together by using the Destiny Force to tap into his subconscious awareness of

10235-399: The process keeping and attracting readers in their teens and beyond. Moreover, among this new generation of readers were people who wanted to write or draw comics themselves, within the new style that Marvel had pioneered, and push the creative envelope still further. Lee's revolution extended beyond the characters and storylines to the way in which comic books engaged the readership and built

10350-572: The pseudonym Stan Lee (a play on his first name, "Stanley"), which years later he would adopt as his legal name. Lee later explained in his autobiography and numerous other sources that because of the low social status of comic books, he was so embarrassed that he used a pen name so nobody would associate his real name with comics when he wrote the Great American Novel one day. This initial story also introduced Captain America's trademark ricocheting shield-toss. It would be adapted into

10465-413: The real world, often dealing with racism and bigotry . "Stan's Soapbox", besides promoting an upcoming comic book project, also addressed issues of discrimination, intolerance, or prejudice. In 1972, Lee stopped writing monthly comic books to assume the role of publisher. His final issue of The Amazing Spider-Man was #110 (July 1972) and his last Fantastic Four was #125 (August 1972). Lee became

10580-498: The right to make a motion to recover legal fees. "We feel vindicated by the Court's decision today," said POW! in a statement. "Stan purposefully created POW! eighteen years ago with me as a place to safeguard his life's work. Before he passed, Stan was adamant that POW! continue to protect his creations and his identity after he was gone, because he trusted that we would safeguard his legacy for generations to come." On January 10, 2018,

10695-414: The robot's weaknesses, thereby presenting himself as the other Avengers' savior. The Wasp discovers the plan and begs Pym to stop, whereupon he strikes her. Pym is subsequently expelled from the Avengers, and Janet divorces him. Left penniless, Pym is manipulated by an old foe, the presumed-dead Egghead , who tricks Pym into stealing the national reserve of the metal adamantium . Pym is confronted by

10810-598: The saga were perfectly suited to the tastes of young readers in the 1960s", and Lee soon discovered that the story was a favorite on college campuses. Lee and artist John Buscema launched The Silver Surfer series in August 1968. The following year, Lee and Gene Colan created the Falcon , comics' first African-American superhero, in Captain America #117 (September 1969). In 1971, Lee indirectly helped reform

10925-480: The scientific counterpart to Earth's Sorcerer Supreme . The Norse trickster-god Loki later claims to have been posing as Eternity to manipulate Pym. Hank Pym creates Avengers Academy , a program to help train young people with newly acquired superpowers. He returns to his Giant-Man identity, and later joins the superhero team: Secret Avengers . In the " Age of Ultron " storyline, Pym travels through time to destroy his robot, Ultron , who had managed to conquer

11040-408: The size of microchips and stored in the pockets of his uniform. An experienced superhero, Pym is a skilled hand-to-hand fighter. In his first appearance, he claimed to be a master of judo , is skilled in wrestling and karate and has since been seen in combat with opponents of both his own size and radically larger than himself (as a result of his size-changing abilities). During his stay with

11155-593: The team disbanded after a series of tragedies, Pym, as Yellowjacket, took a leave of absence beginning with vol. 3, #85 (September 2004). Following van Dyne's death, a grieving Pym took on yet another identity as a new iteration of Wasp , in tribute to the woman he had married and divorced, in the one-shot publication Secret Invasion: Requiem (January 2009). Giant-Man appeared as a supporting character in Avengers Academy from issue #1 (August 2010) through its final issue #39 (January 2013). Pym returned as

11270-461: The team title The Avengers and would revive characters from the 1940s such as the Sub-Mariner and Captain America. Years later, Kirby and Lee would contest who deserved credit for creating The Fantastic Four . Comics historian Peter Sanderson wrote that in the 1960s: DC was the equivalent of the big Hollywood studios: After the brilliance of DC's reinvention of the superhero ... in

11385-480: The title character "the first superhero I had read about, the first character who could be called a superhero." By the time Lee was in his teens, the family was living in an apartment at 1720 University Avenue in The Bronx . Lee described it as "a third-floor apartment facing out back". Lee and his brother shared the bedroom, while their parents slept on a foldout couch. Lee attended DeWitt Clinton High School in

11500-429: The upcoming book The Stan Lee Story and stated "I think he was ready to go. But he was still talking about doing more cameos. As long as he had the energy for it and didn't have to travel, Stan was always up to do some more cameos. He got a kick out of those more than anything else." Lee's last words to Thomas was “God bless. Take care of my boy, Roy,” leading fans to speculate that he was referring to Spider-Man. With

11615-557: The will. Pym resurfaces in a space adventure before rejoining the Avengers on Earth, though it becomes clear that Ultron is actually controlling Hank's body. The Avengers defeat the hybrid robot, but both Hank and Ultron survive and continue to do battle with one another internally. Later in this period, we get introduce to Hank's daughter, Nadia , from his ex-wife Maria Trovaya. Through Nadia, we discover that Hank has bipolar disorder, which he has been monitoring on his own to predict when and how often his mood swings may occur. During

11730-457: The world. In another adventure, Pym and Monica Chang , A.I. Division Chief of the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D. , assemble a new team called the Avengers A.I. A few months later, Pym, using his Yellowjacket identity, is shown as a member of the Illuminati . At one point, Pym is presumed dead and a funeral service is held in his honor. Scott Lang receives one of Pym's labs according to

11845-628: Was "playwright"; he added that only nine men in the U.S. Army were given that title. In the Army, Lee's division included many famous or soon-to-be famous people, including three-time Academy Award -winning director Frank Capra , New Yorker cartoonist Charles Addams , and children's book writer and illustrator Theodor Geisel , later known to the world as "Dr. Seuss." Vincent Fago , editor of Timely's "animation comics" section, which put out humor and talking animal comics, filled in until Lee returned from his World War II military service in 1945. Lee

11960-692: Was a framing-sequence host for backup stories in the series. In September 1963, Lee and Kirby created the superhero title The Avengers , and Ant-Man and Wasp were established in issue #1 as founding members of the eponymous team. Decades later, Lee theorized as to why "Ant-Man never became one of our top sellers or had his own book": I loved Ant-Man, but the stories were never really successful. In order for Ant-Man to be successful, he had to be drawn this small next to big things and you would be getting pictures that were visually interesting. The artists who drew him, no matter how much I kept reminding them, they kept forgetting that fact. They would draw him standing on

12075-569: Was an American comic book writer , editor , publisher and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later became Marvel Comics . He was Marvel's primary creative leader for two decades, expanding it from a small publishing house division to a multimedia corporation that dominated the comics and film industries. In collaboration with others at Marvel – particularly co-writers and artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko  – he co-created iconic characters, including Spider-Man ,

12190-536: Was chosen as #24 in the 100 Greatest Marvels of All Time poll of Marvel's readers in 2001. Editor Robert Greenberger wrote in his introduction to the story that "As the fourth year of the Fantastic Four came to a close, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby seemed to be only warming up. In retrospect, it was perhaps the most fertile period of any monthly title during the Marvel Age." Comics historian Les Daniels noted that "[t]he mystical and metaphysical elements that took over

12305-401: Was created by editor-plotter Stan Lee , writer Larry Lieber , penciller Jack Kirby , and inker Dick Ayers . In a 2008 interview, Lee said: "I did one comic book called 'The Man in the Ant Hill' about a guy who shrunk down and there were ants or bees chasing him. That sold so well that I thought making him into a superhero might be fun." As a result, Pym was revived eight issues later as

12420-409: Was defeated and the nanos reconstructed themselves into a new body for Ultron-12, Hank states that Ultron is not gone for good as the recovering Lethal Legion agree with him on it. Hank then leaves with the Lethal Legion to Sub-Atomica to regroup and prepare for Ultron's return as part of Protocol S. Hank Pym is a scientific genius with PhDs in biochemistry and nanotechnology and expertise in

12535-658: Was happy to be working with POW! again. Following Lee's death, his daughter J.C. gathered a legal team to review the legal situation relating to Lee's intellectual property from his later years. In September 2019, J.C. filed a new lawsuit against POW! in the United States District Court for the Central District of California not only related to recent events but also to regain the intellectual property rights that Lee had set up when founding Stan Lee Entertainment in 1998. The complaint identified

12650-450: Was impersonating him inappropriately. POW! considered these complaints without merit and claimed that both Lee and his daughter J.C. were aware of the terms. The lawsuit was dropped in July 2018, with Lee issuing the statement: "The whole thing has been confusing to everyone, including myself and the fans, but I am now happy to be surrounded by those who want the best for me" and saying that he

12765-536: Was inducted into the Signal Corps Regimental Association and was given honorary membership of the 2nd Battalion of 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord at the 2017 Emerald City Comic Con for his prior service. While in the Army, Lee received letters every week on Friday from the editors at Timely, detailing what they needed written and by when. Lee would write stories, then send them back on Monday. One week,

12880-554: Was inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1995. He received the NEA 's National Medal of Arts in 2008. Stanley Martin Lieber was born on December 28, 1922, in Manhattan , New York City, in the apartment of his Romanian-born Jewish immigrant parents, Celia ( née Solomon) and Jack Lieber, at the corner of West 98th Street and West End Avenue . Lee

12995-499: Was never implicated in the scheme. Following the success of Fox's 2000 X-Men film and Sony's then-current Spider-Man film, Lee sued Marvel in 2002, claiming that the company was failing to pay his share of the profits from movies featuring the characters he had co-created. Because he had done so as an employee, Lee did not own them, but in the 1990s, after decades of making little money licensing them for television and film, Marvel had promised him 10% of any future profits. Lee and

13110-525: Was raised in a Jewish household. In a 2002 interview, he stated when asked if he believed in God, "Well, let me put it this way... [Pauses.] No, I'm not going to try to be clever. I really don't know. I just don't know. " On another interview from 2011, when asked about his Romanian origins and his relationship with the country, he said that he had never visited it and that he did not know Romanian because his parents never taught it to him. Lee's father, trained as

13225-462: Was still paranoid from being Ultron's "meat puppet". What he did to Whirlwind was part of an experiment involving killing and reviving villains into becoming members of his Lethal Legion with help from Black Ant. To his surprise later by the time Wasp and Moon Knight find him, the "Victor Shade" persona ended up being hijacked by Ultron-12 by the time Wasp learned the truth on what happened to Hank as Ultron-12 knocks him out. As Wasp remembers Ultron-12 as

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