(Image source from: variety.com)

Stan Lees company POW! Entertainment posted an open letter criticizing Bill Maher severely in response to the comic book legends death.

The company posted the letter on Monday in response to a blog post written by Maher that chided the Marvel icon after he died on November 12, reports variety.com.

Maher's initial blog post criticized American adults for taking comic books seriously and questioned the validity of Lee's legacy.

In response, Lee's company wrote: "Mr. Maher: Comic books, like all literature, are storytelling devices. When written well by great creators such as Stan Lee, they make us feel, make us think and teach us lessons that hopefully make us better human beings.

"One lesson Stan taught so many of us was tolerance and respect, and thanks to that message, we are grateful that we can say you have a right to your opinion that comics are childish and unsophisticated. Many said the same about Dickens, Steinbeck, Melville and even Shakespeare."

The letter also calls Maher's statements "disgusting", before emphasizing the importance of Lee's work in providing hope for readers who have felt different or have been bullied.

"But to say that Stan merely inspired people to 'watch a movie' is in our opinion frankly disgusting," the letter read.

"Countless people can attest to how Stan inspired them to read, taught them that the world is not made up of absolutes, that heroes can have flaws and even villains can show humanity within their souls. He gave us the X-Men, Black Panther, Spider-Man and many other heroes and stories that offered hope to those who felt different and bullied while inspiring countless to be creative and dream of great things to come."

-Sowmya