Yesterday, the world heard the heartbreaking news of Joan Lee, the wife of Marvel mastermind Stan Lee had passed at the age of 93. After 70 years of marriage, Joan had stood by Stan’s side and was the inspiration for much of his most successful work. It’s no wonder the story of how they met is even more beautiful than their long lived marriage…
During an interview with THR’s special solute to Stan Lee’s 75th anniversary in comics, he opened up about how him and Joan met.
“When I was young, there was one girl I drew; one body and face and hair. It was my idea of what a girl should be. The perfect woman. And when I got out of the Army, somebody, a cousin of mine, knew a model, a hat model at a place called Laden Hats. He said, ‘Stan, there’s this really pretty girl named Betty. I think you’d like her. She might like you. Why don’t you go over and ask her to lunch.’ Blah, blah, blah.
Stan continued: “So I went up to this place. Betty didn’t answer the door. But Joan answered, and she was the head model. I took one look at her — and she was the girl I had been drawing all my life. And then I heard the English accent. And I’m a nut for English accents! She said, ‘May I help you?’ And I took a look at her, and I think I said something crazy like, ‘I love you.’ I don’t remember exactly. But anyway, I took her to lunch. I never met Betty, the other girl. I think I proposed to [Joan] at lunch.”
