Early work In 1941, Lee was made the editor of
Timely Comics, the future Marvel Comics, then a division of a publishing company owned by a relative,
Martin Goodman. There Lieber began illustrating
comic books; his first known credit is
penciling and
inking the four-page
crime comics story "Cop on the Beat", by an unknown writer, in
All True Crime #44 (
cover-dated May 1951). In 1951, he enlisted in the
U.S. Air Force, beginning four years of
military service. He again drew for his brother, editor
Stan Lee, at the 1950s forerunner of
Marvel Comics, known generally as
Atlas Comics, though whether on staff or freelance is uncertain. Regardless, his next confirmed credit is penciling and inking the three-page story "A World to Conquer" in
Journey into Unknown Worlds #52 (Dec. 1956), followed by stories in such Atlas
romance comics as
Love Romances,
Love Tales,
Stories of Romance,
True Tales of Love and
The Romances of Nurse Helen Grant in issues
cover-dated April to August 1957 and July 1958. In 1958, following an economic downturn for the publisher and the firing of virtually all the comics staffers save Lee, "Stan said he wanted somebody to help him write, and he had nobody then; he was doing it all himself. I said, 'I'm not really a writer.' He said, 'Oh, I've read your letters.'"
Marvel superheroes and the Rawhide Kid Under Stan Lee plots, Lieber would go on to script the debut
origin stories and other early appearances of the
superheroes
Thor (co-created with artist
Jack Kirby) in
Journey into Mystery,
Iron Man (co-created with Kirby and
Don Heck) in
Tales of Suspense, and
Ant-Man (co-created with Kirby) in
Tales to Astonish. As Stan Lee recalled, in his trademark jocular style, in 1974, Lieber in 1999 remembered circumstances less hyperbolically: "Thor was just another story. I didn't think about it at all. Stan said, 'I'm trying to make up a character,' and he gave me the plot, and he said, 'Why don't you write the story?'" Under Lee's plotting, Lieber's eight Thor stories also introduced the Marvel characters
Loki,
Odin, and
Balder, from the pantheon of
Norse mythological gods; their home,
Asgard; and
Bifrost the Rainbow Bridge, which connected that realm to Earth. After the debut Iron Man story in
Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963), however, Lee replaced Lieber with
Robert Bernstein, writing as "R. Berns", for the next seven issues before Lee took over the reins himself for a few stories.
Don Rico, writing as "N. Korok", followed for a two-issue stint. Lee then took over as regular writer for the next few years. Lieber wrote the first nine Ant-Man stories (following the character's non-costumed introduction months earlier) in
Tales to Astonish #35-43 (Sept. 1962 - May 1963) before veteran
Ernie Hart did five issues, followed by Lee taking over. As Lieber explained, Lee Lieber, who credits Lee as a good editor, writer and writing teacher, said his brother made very few editorial changes to Lieber's scripts. "He would go over it and ... if it were in the early years, he might correct or change a line or two. But he always used it. ... I never had to, you know, go home and do it again. He was very easy, he was showing me ... and he'd make some little corrections. And as time went on, he had fewer to make." Lieber largely left superheroes to write and pencil what would be his signature series, the Marvel Western
Rawhide Kid, beginning with issue #41 (Aug. 1964) and continuing through 1973 (after which it became a reprint title). With the end of his run on
Rawhide Kid, Lieber found little further Marvel work. He scripted and occasionally also drew the odd Western or
Sgt. Fury war-comics story or a standalone tale in one of the Marvel
line of black-and-white magazines such as
Vampire Tales or
Haunt of Horror. He considered seeking work at rival
DC Comics, as some other Marvel writers and artists did, but found, "I was the only one who could never do that because that was the price for Stan being my brother. So I could never do that. ... They would have thought Stan Lee is sending over a spy or something you know. I would see what they're doing and go back or whatever the hell it was. So I couldn't do that, I couldn't work." As Lieber, in a 1999 interview, described his experience as editor: When Atlas went under in late 1975, Lieber received six months severance pay and spent time trying to devise a newspaper
comic strip for syndication. Lee then offered him the editorship of
Marvel UK, the New York City-based
imprint that produced black-and-white reprint comics for the
UK market, as well as new stories of the superhero
Captain Britain. With co-scripter
Gary Friedrich primarily, Lieber wrote the hero's seven-page lead feature in the weekly
Captain Britain #24-37 (March 23 - June 22, 1977), and, with co-writer Jim Lawrence, Captain Britain adventures in Marvel UK's
Super Spider-Man #233-246 (July 27-Oct. 26, 1977). Lieber also wrote and penciled two Spider-Man stories, in
Web of Spider-Man #21 and 25 (Dec. 1986, April 1987). written by Lee and syndicated by the
Register and Tribune Syndicate. He additionally began writing it in early 1979. Though he gave up the role of regular artist in Spring 1979 and the role of regular writer in mid-1982, he would still write and draw the occasional installment until the strip's end in September 1982. Lieber said Lee gave a rare compliment on the Hulk strip, telling his brother, "[I]t's very good. Also I think it's even more dramatic than [the] Spider-Man [comic strip]". Lieber also penciled the Sunday page again from 1990 through at least 1995. He retired from pencilling the strip in July 2018. His final strip ran September 8, 2018. ==Awards==