Stan Lee (1922–2018) began his career with wartime Timely Comics, and staying the course throughout the Atlas era, Stan the Man made comic book history with Fantastic Four #1, harbinger of a bold new perspective in story writing that endures to this day. With some of the industry’s greatest artists, he introduced hero after hero in Incredible Hulk, Amazing Spider-Man, X-Men, and more, forming a shared universe for rival publishers to measure themselves against. After an almost literal lifetime of writing and editing, Lee was involved in movies and television via his company POV! Entertainment. He was Marvel’s chairman emeritus and best-known public representative.

John Romita is a comic book artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man and for co-creating characters like The Punisher and Wolverine. He was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2002.