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

Raphael, Jordan; Spurgeon, Tom

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1556525060 ISBN 13: 9781556525063

Publisher: Chicago Review Press, 2003

Synopsis

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 current motion picture madness and comic industry woes. Included is a complete examination of the rise of Marvel Comics, Lee’s work in the years of postwar prosperity, and his efforts in the 1960s to revitalize the medium after it had grown stale.

Read more about Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book at www.stanleebook.com.

About this title

About the Author:

Jordan Raphael has written for numerous publications, including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and The Globe and Mail. He lives in Los Angeles. Tom Spurgeon edited The Comics Journal and has written for Seattle's The Stranger. His syndicated newspaper comic strip, Wildwood, appeared in more than 12 million homes daily. He lives in Silver City, New Mexico.

From Publishers Weekly:

Stan Lee, the cocreator of pop cultural icons like Spider-Man, the Hulk and the X-Men, has long been the subject of debate within the comics community, and Raphael and Spurgeon aim to set the record straight in this well-researched and entertaining book. In the late 1960s, Lee elevated himself into the public eye as the face of Marvel Comics, adopting a colorful persona along the way. Left behind were his c-creators, artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, who never received the credit they deserved. At age 17, in 19TK, Lee (n‚ Stanley Lieber) took a job as an all-purpose assistant at his cousin Martin Goodman's comic book company, Timely. A frustrated novelist, Lee remained at Timely, shielded by Goodman from the industry's mid-century tumults, and eventually he transformed the company into Marvel Comics, steering it and himself into pop culture history. The authors portray Lee as a constantly enthusiastic, slightly daffy figure who turned a Depression-era work ethic and real bursts of creativity into something special. For all of his faults, the authors give Lee proper credit for being a fast and exciting creator who gave superheroes real-world problems and anxieties and used this realism for its maximum potential. Raphael and Spurgeon also chronicle Lee's decades in the wilderness of Hollywood, trying and failing to get decent films made from Marvel properties. Writer Raphael and cartoonist Spurgeon have put together a solid narrative well interwoven with the history of comics. As they demonstrate well, Lee's story is the story of mainstream comic books and one that is important reading. 12 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Chicago Review Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1556525060
• ISBN 13: 9781556525063
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 306