Stan Lee

The Man behind Marvel

By: Bob Batchelor

Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins

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.

©2017 Rowman & Littlefield (P)2018 Tantor

Mostly Good Stan Lee Biography

Overall a good book about an amazing person. The reader did a nice job. My one complaint is that at times it felt like the author was repeating himself or presenting things in an odd order.

💥💥🦸‍♂️🦸‍♂️🕸🕸💥🗯🕷🕷" CLASSIC"

EXCELLENT COVERAGE OF A PERSON WHO DEFY ALL ODDS WHEN THE WORLD WAS AGAINST HIS DREAMS AND VISION AS A PERSON WE ALL CAN DRAW INSPIRATION FROM HIS BODY OF WORK BUSINESS OWNERS , STUDENTS EVEN THE AVERAGE JOE MY 2 FAVORITE PART IN THIS BOOK IS WHEN THE NARRATOR SAYS THERE IS A SPIDERMAN IN ALL OF US WE CAN OVERCOME ALL FEARS AND TRANSFORM AND THE SECOND FAVORITE PART IS WHEN THINGS DONT GO YOUR WAY WE CAN ALL " HULK OUT" THIS MEANS GET MAD LOVED THIS BOOK ITS A MUST HAVE .....

Thank you Stan

This was a great book. It is very informative and brings out what we all love about Stan Lee. I only met him once but he was a hero to me and always will be.

Stan Lee

Hearing the story of Stan Lee and how growing up and becoming the man behind Marvel's comic . Stan Lee was a great artist and story teller.

So Moving I was Almost Brought to Tears Many Times

I didn't really know what to expect going into this book. I was hoping to at least gain a greater historical understanding of the powers that be behind Marvel's characters and the origin story of the origin stories. But, what I got something far more powerful and moving on top of my expectations.

Excelsior!