Stan “The Man” Lee passed away in early November at the age of 95, shocking fans around the world while leaving behind a universe full of characters that went on to inspire millions for over 75 years.

Most notably known by his pen name, Stan Lee, Stanley Martin Lieber started out small in the comic book industry in 1939 as an editorial assistant at Timely Comics, which was later renamed Atlas Comics in 1951.

According to the Los Angeles Times article, “Jack Kirby, the abandoned hero of Marvel’s grand Hollywood adventure, and his family’s quest,” Lee undertook many menial tasks as an assistant, such as getting the writers and artists their lunches, filling the inkwells with fresh ink, proofreading the newly-written comics, and erasing pencil marks from the fully-drawn pages, among other jobs.

While working as an assistant, Lee made his comic book debut by writing the text filler, “Captain America Foils the Traitor’s Revenge” for the comic book issue Captain America Comics #3, according to the Time article “How Stanley Lieber Wrote His First Comics Story and Became ‘Stan Lee’.” From there, he continued to prove himself as a writer by creating comics for publication.

Impressed by the 19-year-old’s work, Timely Comics publisher Martin Goodman promoted Lee from editorial assistant to interim editor in chief in 1941 after a disagreement between Lee’s predecessor, Joe Simon, and Goodman which caused Simon to leave the company.

Officially becoming editor of the company in 1945, Lee continued to write comic books for the next 16 years under Timely/Atlas Comics. Even though he enjoyed creating comics, Lee was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with his job. By 1961, he considered quitting Atlas Comics and leaving the comic book business altogether.

Goodman never let Lee write a story that he wanted to write because Goodman was more concerned with sales of the company at the time. Lee, on the other hand, wanted to write a story that had dialogue and characterization and that readers could relate to instead of writing a story that merely included fight scenes.

Lee would have quit if it was not for his wife, Joan, who gave him a piece of advice that would change his life forever.

According to the Inc. article “How I Did It: Stan Lee of Marvel Comics,” Lee revealed that she said, “Why not write one book the way you’d like to, instead of the way Martin wants you to? Get it out of your system. The worst thing that will happen is he’ll fire you — but you want to quit, anyway.”

Acting on her advice, Lee wrote the first issue of The Fantastic Four. Once the sales figures for the month came in, Goodman noticed that Lee’s new comic sold more copies than any of Atlas’ other books.

As a result, Goodman encouraged him to write more stories like the Fantastic Four. Before Lee knew it, Marvel Comics was born, along with the creation of new superheroes, such as Spider-Man, the X-Men, Daredevil, Black Panther, and Doctor Strange, just to name a few.

Collaborating with talented artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, Lee continued to write stories and create characters that captured the hearts and minds of young Americans. After serving as editor in chief, editorial director, and publisher of Marvel Comics, Lee then served as the face of Marvel, attracting more “true believers” to his shared universe.

Anyone who had worked with Lee in the past viewed him not only as a colleague, but thought of him as a friend. Although Lee created many characters, perhaps his greatest creation was not any superhero: perhaps it was himself.