When Stan Lee was just a kid, he used to draw a picture of a woman that he'd dreamed about at night, over and over again. When he was a young man his cousin tried to set Stan up with a girl named Betty, who was a hat-model working in New York. When Stan went to meet her, Joan, who was also a model, answered the door and Stan Lee fell in love with Joan immediately, because she was the girl that he had dreamed about and drew all of those years ago...
Sounds like the start of a movie, right? This all actually happened.
Stan took Joan out for lunch that same day, and fell in love with her Newcastle-accent. She was the most incredible woman that he had ever met. There was a problem, though. Joan was married to a U.S. serviceman whom she married off an impulse after finding out that her childhood sweetheart had married another. She didn't even know him, really. They got married and she flew to New York to live with his parents while he was serving over seas, until he got back. She was finally granted a divorce in Las Vegas, and on that same day, Stan and Joan got married.
They had two children together. The oldest, J.C. ("Joan" is her birth name), was born in 1950. Their second child, Jan, was born three years later, but sadly died after only being three days old.
Joan helped convince Stan to not give up on his dream. Stan was frustrated with his work in the comic book industry and was ready to quit. Joan told him that before he quit, write a comic book that he could be proud of, for him, not for everyone else. This led to Stan and Jack Kirby creating the Fantastic Four, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Joan and Stan have been married the past 69 years, and sadly, Joan passed away yesterday at the age of 93. After the news of her death was reported, Marvel paid their respects with the following statement:
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to her husband and daughter. We are so saddened to hear about the loss of Joan Lee. We lost a member of the Marvel family today and our thoughts and prayers go out to Stan and his daughter Joan in this difficult time.”
Kevin Smith also released a statement, having been a long time friend of the comic creator and his wife.
“He told us tales of heroes but Joan was Stan’s personal superhero – and without her, we never get our modern mythology. They say behind every great man is a great woman. In this case, the great woman was always standing right beside him. Joan and Stan were best friends for 70 years. My heart goes out to my hero Stan, his daughter JC, their right hand Max and anyone who ever met Joanie. Thank you, Marvel Muse. We’ll miss you, Madame Web.”
Smith and Stan Lee became friends after Stan made one of his most favorite and memorable cameos in Smith's movie Mallrats back in 1995. The news of her death hit Smith, and the world of comics, pretty hard. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Joan's family and friends.
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