Today sees the release of the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe [MCU], ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’. You may wonder what on earth this has to do with Northumberland Archives? It turns out that Joan Boocock, wife and muse of the legendary comic book writer, Stan Lee, was born and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Joan’s parents, Norman Dunton Boocock and Hannah Clayton, were married at the parish church of Gosforth St. Nicholas on 8 November 1920. The entry from the marriage register held in the Archives shows that Norman was a Clerk and was living at 2 Woodbine Road at the time of the marriage. Hannah was living at 5 Field Street which was a 15 minute walk from Norman’s house.
Joan was born on 5 February 1922 and we can find her in the baptism register, again for Gosforth St. Nicholas. The baptism took place on 9 March of that year, and we can see that the family were now all living at 5 Field Street, Hannah’s old family home. Joan’s mother is listed as ‘Nancy’ in this entry, and we can only presume this was a mistake on the part of the Vicar, or that it was a nickname of Hannah’s. The Field Street house still stands today, and we did take a little trip to locate it.
Joan moved to America as a war bride after the Second World War, before meeting and marrying Stan Lee in 1947. Stan claimed that Joan was the inspiration behind Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man’s first girlfriend; she also lent her voice to various characters in several Marvel cartoons during the 1990s, and made a cameo appearance in ‘X-Men:Apocalypse’ in 2016.
Although she died in 2017, aged 95 years, today we remember Joan Boocock Lee and acknowledge her part in an incredible legacy that continues to thrive today.
We bought this property circa 1982 and converted it from a pair of flats into a house. We lived there until July 2007 when we sold the property. I often wondered about it’s history, well I know now.
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