Stan Lee
Stan Lee, the co-creator of the Avengers, Spider-Man, the X-Men and many other Marvel characters, was always in publishing, but he came to superheroes later in life. At age 40, Lee was frustrated with working in comics and wanted to quit, but his wife Joan convinced him to make one last book the way he wanted to rather than listening to his boss’ attempts to follow market trends. Lee co-created the Fantastic Four with Jack Kirby, and suddenly his career transformed as he spent the next few decades coming up with colorful superhero stories.