5 fascinating things you didn't know about the late Stan Lee

1. STAN LEE ISN'T HIS REAL NAME

His real name is Stanley Martin Lieber. The comic legend originally reserved the pen name Stan Lee for what he assumed would be his lesser work in comic-book writing. He intended using his full name for the novels he planned on writing.

2. CAPTAIN AMERICA WAS HIS FIRST BIG BREAK

Lee’s career started in 1939, when the then 17-year-old became an errand boy at Timely Comics, the company that would evolve into Marvel. Mental Floss reports that it was here he was given his first big break: the opportunity to pen a two-page Captain America comic.

This first full-length comic that he authored, Captain America Issue 5, was published in 1941.

3. HE INVENTED THE THOUGHT BALLOON

Besides his many, many iconic characters, one of Lee's major contributions to the comic world was the invention of the thought balloon. 

According to The Telegraph, Lee believed that showing his superheroes' inner thoughts and troubles would make the characters more three-dimensional.

4. HE DIDN'T ONLY DO CAMEO APPEARANCES ON SCREEN 

It's become something of a game to spot Lee making a cameo appearance in each and every Marvel movie, something he started doing from 2000's X-Men. But did you know he's been making cameos in comic books since the 1960s?

Business Insider reports that it was an inside joke for artists at Marvel to occasionally pop a drawing of Lee into the comics they were working on.

WATCH | Every Stan Lee Marvel movie cameo

5. HE CREATED A CHARACTER BASED ON PAMELA ANDERSON  

In 2003, Lee debuted a racy animated series called Stripperella. Actress Pamela Anderson voiced the title character who was “a stripper by night and a superhero by late night”. 

While Lee said Stripperella was inspired by real-life sex symbol Anderson, a former Florida stripper took him to court claiming the character was all her idea.

Either way, the show was cancelled after only 13 episodes. 

WATCH | A clip from an episode of Stripperella