Joan Lee — key force in husband’s career as Marvel cartoonist
LOS ANGELES — The wife of Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee died Thursday at age 93.
Lee and his family released a statement saying Joan Lee died peacefully Thursday morning. The couple had been married 69 years.
Dawn Miller, Lee’s longtime publicist, confirmed the statement’s authenticity.
No additional details were provided, and the statement requested privacy.
Stan Lee co-created numerous Marvel Comics superheroes including Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men.
The Hollywood Reporter, which first reported Mrs. Lee’s death, recounted the couple’s first meeting in a story last year. It said Lee met his future wife while trying to meet another woman for a date in New York. The couple were married in December 1947 and had two daughters, one of whom died days after being born.
The 94-year-old Lee has credited his wife with supporting him early in his career, when he was trying to create superheroes that he and others could care about.
“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,” Marvel wrote in a statement.