Blurb

From the mean streets of Depression-era New York City to recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Lee’s life has been almost as remarkable as the thrilling adventures he spun for decades. From millions of comic books fans of the 1960s through billions of moviegoers around the globe, Stan Lee has touched more people than almost any person in the history of popular culture.

In Stan Lee: The Man behind Marvel, Bob Batchelor offers an eye-opening look at this iconic visionary, a man who created (with talented artists) many of history’s most legendary characters. In this energetic and entertaining biography, Batchelor explores how Lee capitalized on natural talent and hard work to become the editor of Marvel Comics as a teenager. After toiling in the industry for decades, Lee threw caution to the wind and went for broke, co-creating the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Hulk, Iron Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, and others in a creative flurry that revolutionized comic books for generations. Marvel superheroes became a central part of pop culture, from collecting comics to innovative merchandising, from superhero action figures to the ever-present Spider-Man lunchbox.

Batchelor examines many of Lee’s most beloved works, including the 1960s comics that transformed Marvel from a second-rate company to a legendary publisher. This book reveals the risks Lee took to bring the characters to life and Lee’s tireless efforts to make comic books and superheroes part of mainstream culture for more than 50 years.

Stan Lee: The Man behind Marvel not only reveals why Lee developed into such a central figure in American entertainment history, but brings to life the cultural significance of comic books and how the superhero genre reflects ideas central to the American experience. Candid, authoritative, and utterly absorbing, this is a biography of a man who dreamed of one day writing the Great American Novel, but ended up doing so much more – changing American culture by creating new worlds and heroes that have entertained generations.

Review

Note: I only got to read about 90 percent of this book. It had to be returned when I had about a chapter left. Close enough.

This is the second Marvel history book I have read this year, following Marvel Comics: The Untold Story. And to be clear, the majority of this book was just a rehash of Marvel history. The early stuff does go over Stan’s family history and upbringing, and that was pretty cool to read. And even some of the stuff from his coming up through the 40s and 50s. But once we get to the 60s comic book, this was by and large just a counting of the characters created and the comic book sales, successes and failures.

I had forgotten or missed some of the post-Marvel editing days stuff. The fraud case, the digital forays failing, etc. I wish I had caught the final chapter, but not enough to go get the book again. My To Be Read is ridiculous enough as is.

3 of 5 stars. Probably 2, but I’m a nerd so it gets an extra star.