This week, comic book fans mourned the death of Joan Lee, wife of comic book legend Stan Lee, after she passed away after suffering a stroke. Joan and Stan Lee had been married for 70 years, after Stan Lee proposed to her on their first date when he was actually supposed to meet with her friend. Figures in comics and friends of the Lee's have shared their condolences and although Marvel already issued a statement, they've decided to post a touching video in remembrance of Joan. In the video, Stan Lee recalls how they met and how Joan inspired the entire Marvel Universe.
In a statement that came attached with the clip, Marvel writes that the above video is from an April 14, 2017, interview where Marvel's Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada sat down with Stan Lee at Paley Center. Marvel had originally planned to release the series of videos from the event later this year, but felt that now was an appropriate time to pay tribute to Joan Lee. This portion of the interview was all about Joan Lee and her influence on Stan while he co-created some of the most iconic characters in pop culture.
The video is essentially divided into two segments. The first one is about how Joan and Stan Lee first met, an adorable real-life meet cute. Shortly after Stan Lee arrived back in the States after World War II, he was set up by a friend to meet with a woman who worked at a modeling agency. When the marriage-hungry Lee arrived he was greeted by Joan, who was essentially everything Lee was looking for in a woman. She was not, however, the person he was supposed to meet. But Lee ended up taking Joan to lunch where he proposed to her. At this time, Joan was already unhappily married to another man, and after getting a divorce in Las Vegas, she married Lee that same day.
The second segment covers Stan Lee's early days working for Timely Comics, which would one day become Marvel Comics. In the 60's, Lee felt that his career had stalled and wanted to quit, but Joan urged him to write one book the way that he wanted to. Then if he was fired, at least he got that creativity out of his system. The book that Lee wrote was The Fantastic Four in 1961, which would go on to spark Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, Iron Man, and dozens more. So, we have Joan Lee to thank for over 70 years of comics.
Joan and Stan Lee's romance is a great story, one worthy of 70 years of marriage. We hear at CinemaBlend send our condolences to the Lee's in their time of mourning.
