And the famed comics writer Stan Lee, creator or co-creator of some of Marvel’s most well-known and beloved characters, died at the age of 95 in Los Angeles Monday. Stan Lee has been credited with helping to propel Marvel Comics to the world’s top publisher of comics. He served as editor-in-chief and later publisher for Marvel and created or co-created the widely popular characters Black Panther, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the Incredible Hulk, among many others. Stan Lee was embroiled in some controversy over his career as some claimed he stole credit from other artists, focusing the spotlight on himself at the expense of his co-creators. In 1968, Stan Lee penned an essay about the threat of racism, writing, “Bigotry and racism are among the deadliest social ills plaguing the world today. But, unlike a team of costumed super-villains, they can’t be halted with a punch in the snoot, or a zap from a ray gun. The only way to destroy them is to expose them—to reveal them for the insidious evils they really are.”