Creator of Black Panther dies at 95

Renowned author and creator of the Marvel comic franchise, Stan lee, passed away on November 12, 2018 at Cedars Sinai Medical centre in Hollywood, California at age 95.

Mr. lee, whose real names were Stanley Martin Lieber begun his journey in 1939 when he joined Timely comics that later went on to become Marvel comics/studios. It was here that he pioneered comic writing creating some of his famous super-heroes including: Black Panther, Spiderman, hulk and the Xmen series that later went on to become Hollywood block buster movies that topped the box office and made him millions.

His work, although highly hyperbolic and entirely fictitious, still followed the traditional ‘good versus evil’ plot and was therefore able to reverberate with the lives of millions across the globe. By writing such stories, Lee gave hope to many through these different hero characters by placing them in modern day scenarios capable of finding solutions to even the most difficult of scenarios, particularly the imminent end of the world a soften depicted. Although his modern day characters gained more popularity and overshadowed their creator, he always kept a close relationship with Marvel comics, religiously appearing in cameos throughout past movie productions.

One quality that made his works a huge success amongst millions of youths was the futuristic overtones with which he told stories such as Iron man and the X-men. For Africans and Blacks living across the globe however, his greatest contribution is and will always be the introduction of first ever action super hero of African descent: Black Panther. The comic was created after Lee discovered a lack of diversity in the comic heroes that had been circulating at that time. Lee sat down with fellow author Jack Kirby and together they produced the Black Panther series that went to be the first black super hero movie to hit a billion dollars at box office.

Known as the ‘superhero of marvel’, Stan lee was the sole reason behind the marvel comic’s success in the 60s after it failed to compete with its rival company, D.C comics and threatened to close.

The news of his death left many bereft including many celebrities such as Ugandan actors Daniel kaluuya and Daina Gurira who starred in the Black Panther movie. Other actors who mourned his death also include Kenyan born star Lupita Nyongo who took to twitter to mourn the fallen legend: “Saddened to learn about the passing of Stan Lee. From watching Marvel films with friends in college to having the privilege to take on one of his characters in BlackPanther, Stan’s creative genius sparked my imagination & left me in awe. His legacy will carry on. #StanLeeForever.” The dead author is survived by two daughters, Joan and Jan lee.