Stan Lee, 95, discharged from hospital to comic fans' relief

Stan Lee had been admitted with "shortness of breath" and "an irregular heartbeat" on Jan 31, 2018. PHOTO: REUTERS

Marvel comics legend Stan Lee, 95, has reportedly been discharged from hospital after being admitted on Wednesday (Jan 31).

Lee, who co-created popular comic characters including Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-men and Thor, had been admitted with "shortness of breath" and "an irregular heartbeat", entertainment news site Hollywood Reporter said.

He was discharged on Thursday, ABC news reported. Lee, born Stanley Martin Lieber, told the news site that he was "feeling great".

"I'm glad I spent that evening in the hospital. It did me a lot of good. It probably did my fans a lot of good. It kept me off their backs for the evening. But I'm feeling good now and I can't wait to get in there and tangle with all the competition," he said in a Skype interview.

Lee's health has been in the spotlight after he cancelled appearances at two major comics conventions last year.

He has cancelled an appearance for this weekend as well, ABC news reported.

Although the nonagenarian did not make any reference to his hospital trip on his social media accounts, scores of fans wished him a speedy recovery online.

Instagram user wolves_of_will wrote: "Hope you feel better @therealstanlee we're all rooting for you!"

On Twitter, a user named Dylan wrote: "Please be okay". Kyle Von Lanken wrote on Lee's Facebook page: "Get better, Stan. The world wouldn't be the same without you."

Lee told ABC news: "It's nice to know that somewhere in the world there are still people who care about what I say or do."

"And it's nice to know that somewhere in the world there are always people who are fans who care about what people do - the people they're interested in. And I think having fans is one of the greatest things. I can never say how grateful I am for it."

Lee has held several top positions at Marvel, including editor-in-chief, chairman and publisher of Marvel Comics as well as director of Marvel Entertainment Group.

Along with fellow comics icon Steve Ditko, he introduced Spider-man as a syndicated newspaper strip that has spun off several money-making films, television series, as well as toys and merchandise.

Lee is now a member of Marvel Comics' editorial board, and remains Marvel's chairman emeritus.

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