Welcome to KCU and CCPL's Virtual Summer Reading 2025 - Color Our World!
We here at Kentucky Christian University are honored to once again collaborate in this year's summer reading efforts. We will present 9 artists who best represent important artistic movements throughout modern history - artists whose cultural impact still resonates with us today. You have the opportunity to learn about these 9 figures at your own pace through various media, and you will be provided opportunities to make your own art based on their styles.
Without further ado, we present to you:
Stan Lee - American Comic Book Author, Artist, and More: 1922-2018
Image from Wikipedia
Stan Lee, born Stanley Martin Lieber on December 28, 1922, in New York City, grew up during the Great Depression in a working-class family of Romanian-Jewish immigrants. As a child, he loved reading adventure stories and watching heroic movies, which sparked his interest in storytelling. He dreamed of writing the “Great American Novel,” but instead got his start in comics when he joined Timely Comics (later Marvel Comics) in 1939 at just 17 years old. His early jobs were humble—filling inkwells and proofreading pages—but by the age of 20, he was promoted to interim editor. Despite early struggles with low pay and comics being considered a lesser form of literature, Lee remained dedicated to writing stories that thrilled readers.
In the 1960s, Stan Lee, along with legendary artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, co-created many of the most iconic superheroes in comic book history. These included Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, and Black Panther. Lee’s characters were groundbreaking because they had real-life problems and emotions—Peter Parker dealt with school and money issues, while the X-Men faced discrimination. As Marvel’s editor-in-chief and later publisher, Lee played a major role in transforming the company into a pop culture powerhouse. Even in his later years, Lee remained an energetic ambassador for comics, making cameo appearances in nearly every Marvel movie and attending fan conventions around the world.
Image from Wikipedia
Stan Lee passed away in 2018 at the age of 95, but his legacy continues to shape storytelling and entertainment. He helped turn comic books into a respected art form and inspired generations of readers and creators to embrace imagination and empathy. Through the Marvel Universe, Lee introduced the idea that anyone—even a shy teenager or a misunderstood outsider—could be a hero. His work has had a lasting impact on literature, film, and popular culture, making him one of the most influential figures in modern entertainment.
*This introduction was created in collaboration with ChatGPT
