Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book

by Jordan Raphael and Tom Spurgeon

Book Overview

Based on interviews with Stan Lee and dozens of his colleagues and contemporaries, as well as extensive archival research, this book provides a professional history, an appreciation, and a critical exploration of the face of Marvel Comics. Recognized as a dazzling writer, a skilled editor, a relentless self-promoter, a credit hog, and a huckster, Stan Lee rose from his humble beginnings to ride the wave of the 1940s comics books boom and witness the...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1556525060
• ISBN13: 9781556525063
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press
• Length: 306 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Stan is his own man, and has taken lumps to prove it.

In comicdom, there are a few creators (Stan Lee, Jim Shooter, various editors at DC Comics, et al) who are seen as bad guys for one reason or another. Here we have what I think is a balanced account of Stan Lee, who has been seen as everything as a genius to a thief to a visionary to a hack. Did Stan lie about his creator status of the Marvel Universe. Yes. Did he overstate his role in the creation of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Doctor Doom, etc.? Yes, and he has sometimes stated as much (with an uncomfortable squirm, I bet). Is he a bad guy for doing so? Well....if honest is the best policy, Stan is one for bad policies, I guess. Love him or hate him, he IS one of the great figures in comic books and it is easily argued that without Stan Lee's contributions, comic books would not have been the social force and just plain fun that they were in the 1960's and certainly Marvel would not be, to this day, on top of the heap of comic book companies. This book is well-written and holds back only in the slightest. Stan gets the black eye he deserves. But he also gets the pat on the back he deserves, too. I'll now go on to read his own "Excellsior" with one eye on this book to remind me of the hype that Stan is famous for pulling. This is a fast read and very entertaining. It offers super pictures (which Ronin Ro's biography of Jack Kirby sadly lacks) of Stan at various stages of his life. ALL Marvel fans and fans of the Silver Age of comics should read it! Nuff Said!

A fantastic read.

I pray when they get around to doing a book on the life of Kirby they do as well.This was a fast and enjoyable read on the life of Stan "The Man" Lee. He comes off almost like Forrest Gump in the sense that he is in the middle of all the events that shaped the four color world of comics. Some of the connects were quite interesting.Very fun to read and not a pander-piece.

Well-researched, even-handed, and hugely entertaining.

Ignore the rather pitiful review from the writer who takes rather a lot on themself by claiming that all comic fans (and "Star Trek" fans as well) want is to hide from the awful attentions of the "mainstream" (i.e.; the real world), and be left alone. Having spent much of my life as a comics/SF/fantasy enthusiast,I can testify that many of them take great comfort in the idea that they are special, persecuted, and somewhat beyond the comprehension of non-fans, the "mainstream", and other people they conceive of as "outsiders". Well, they're not. This book is in no way, shape, or form "tabloid journalism" as claimed, but an excellent and thought-provoking examination of a pivotal, highly creative, yet slightly ambiguous figure in pop-culture. Lee's talent and influence are nowhere denied by the authors, and yet it's hard not to be a little uncomfortable with the efficiency with which he wound up assuming virtually all credit for creating a lot of hugely profitable superheroes that were, pretty clearly, co-created and plotted by Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. I've never really thought that Stan deliberately hogged the glory; It's just that he was so effusive, so outgoing and personable, whereas Kirby and the extremely private Ditko were not, that fans just sort of gravitated toward the idea that Stan was the mastermind. He could certainly have done more to dispel this notion, but it was good for business, and having seen Stan give a lecture once in the early 70's, I can bear witness to the fact that the audience regarded him as almost a holy object. It can be awfully hard to make yourself contradict complete adulation. The result was that Kirby and Ditko were, for years, relegated to the status of simple illustrators, drawing the pictures that brought to life what we all presumed were Lee's great imaginative visions, rather than as the indispensible creative forces that they were.Read Jack Kirby's immediate pre-Marvel CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN stories, compare them to the early FANTASTIC FOUR, then tell me who you think deserves the most credit for the FF.This very readable book does a very fine job of covering the life of the man,without either worshipping or denigrating him unfairly, but using Lee as a prism through which the history of the "silver age" of comics is viewed. And it's a lot of fun, as well. Far from crawling into a hole and asking to be "let alone", I say, "more please". Incidentally, if you're interested in the subject of the history of the modern comic book, I can highly recommend THE COMIC BOOK HEROES, by Jones and Jacobs, a terrifically readable behind-the-scenes history of above-ground comics from the beginnings of the silver age. But, be careful to pick up the large,revised and updated version; it's almost completely rewritten from the original 80's version, which pulls most of its punches. The revised edition is the one with the behind-the-scenes coverage; you know: the stuff that the publishers like to publicly pretend neve

Balanced, readable and fun - for comic and pop culture buffs

As a fan of comics since the late 60s who "grew up" with Stan Lee, as well as someone who didn't know a lot about the details of the industry, I found this book hard to put down. It was entertaining on two fronts; first, as a detailed and objective look at Lee's career in comics, and second, as a history of the comics biz and Lee's / Marvel's impact on the industry for better (in the 60's) and worse (the 80's to the present).While the authors clearly admire Lee (the book is dedicated to him), they are objective, balanced and frank about Lee's career, motivations, impact on American pop culture and missteps. While celebrating Lee, it also takes some wind out of the sails of Lee's persona and track record. The book also delves into the backgrounds and significance of key artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko (and others) who are so intimately linked to Lee's creative output and legacy.I particularly liked the chapter that recreates in text the entire first issue of the Fantastic Four. Believe it or not, it works! The book is also somewhat bittersweet, even depressing, for a comics fan like me. Given the impact, fun and cultural relevancy of Marvel comics in their heyday it is sad to see how, in large part due to the industry itself, the comics industry today is shrunken, derivative and culturally irrelevant.

The True Story of Marvel

Stan Lee is one of the best-known names in comic books. He's credited with creating some of the most beloved superheroes of our time including The Hulk, The Fantastic Four and Spider-man. What most people don't really know is the real story behind the creation of these characters. Anyone who's read Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay will notice a great deal of similarities between Stan Lee's origins, which the authors meticulously recreate, and the fictionalized settings Chabon created for his book. Raphael and Spurgeon have written a fair and honest tribute to the work of Lee and in doing so, tell the story of the comics medium as a whole. Stan Lee: The Rise and Fall of the American Comic is about as smart and entertaining as biographies come.