DC Entertainment Releases Comic Book Tribute to Stan Lee

DC Comics is starting off 2019 by remembering one of the biggest icons we lost in 2018: Marvel Comics co-creator Stan Lee. In an act of professional courtesy and class, DC Entertainment has posted a tribute to Stan Lee in the first slate of 2019 comic releases.

You can check out that tribute below:

Stan Lee died on November 12, 2018 after suffering a medical emergency. He had been battling pneumonia earlier in the year, and at age 95 it seems that he just never fully regained his health after that. His official cause of death was listed as "cardiac arrest with respiratory failure," and congestive heart failure and aspiration pneumonia were also referenced as underlying causes. Lee's wife Joan died the year before, in 2017, and he is now survived by his daughter, JC.

By the time Stan Lee was revolutionizing the superhero genre with his Marvel Comics imprint in the 1960s, DC Comics had already been established for decades, with its iconic superheroes Batman and Superman leading the way. However, the unique and imaginative world that Stan Lee created alongside the likes of Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko steadily gained ground in the market, thanks to characters like Spider-Man, the X-Men and The Avengers (to name a few). The two companies became the two rivaling pillars of the comic book industry -- and still remain so today, some 80 years after they each began.

The creative rivalries between DC and Marvel have led to everything from copycat characters to creators hopping the line into both camps -- much like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko (and so many others) did. Even Stan Lee, who remained steadfast on Team Marvel since launching the imprint, had the utmost respect for his competitor and the characters DC Comics spawned, which the current era of "DCEU vs. MCU" movie flame-wars all the more ironic. In reality the world of comics should probably adhere to the kind of rules of etiquette we see above.

As we start 2019, both the DC and Marvel brands are in stronger places than they've ever been. Lee died having witnessed his creation achieve its biggest pop-culture success with Avengers: Infinity War becoming a worldwide phenomenon and box office juggernaut; DC managed to bounce back in a big way with the release of Aquaman, which is currently swimming toward a billion-dollar box office payday. For the godfather of superheroes, the work has truly been done right.

Avengers: Infinity War is now available on home video. Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, Avengers: Endgame on April 26, 2019, and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5, 2019.