Comics have long been part of our culture even if today their circulations are so much smaller due to the development of other distractions such as gaming. However only one comics creator has ever become a household name and that's Stan Lee.
Marvel Comics gradually came out of Martin Goodman's Timely Comics company founded in the forties and edited by Stan though until the creation of The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, The Hulk, Iron Man, Thor and Doctor Strange their comics were just some of those available on the racks.
It was Stan's ability to connect with his readers through Soap Boxes and letter pages that created a read fandom for his characters and comics. Of course Stan Lee did not create this fictional universe on his own. Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko were also instrumental in making Marvel different and distinctive to the competition.
A Marvellous Life by Danny Fingeroth (Simon & Schuster HB £20)takes us through Stanley Lieber's life including the highs and lows warts and all since Stan the showman sometimes attracted ire from his fellow creators and peers but his contribution to making Marvel and the industry grow up is considerable.
Having recently read a rather dire book about Ditko one of the things I would recommend about this book is that you learn a fair amount about Ditko and Kirby in these pages. In fact it's rather a "must" read for any fan. Of course Stan wasn't perfect but he gave us a show and that we all enjoyed it is beyond question.
Marvel Comics gradually came out of Martin Goodman's Timely Comics company founded in the forties and edited by Stan though until the creation of The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, The Hulk, Iron Man, Thor and Doctor Strange their comics were just some of those available on the racks.
It was Stan's ability to connect with his readers through Soap Boxes and letter pages that created a read fandom for his characters and comics. Of course Stan Lee did not create this fictional universe on his own. Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko were also instrumental in making Marvel different and distinctive to the competition.
A Marvellous Life by Danny Fingeroth (Simon & Schuster HB £20)takes us through Stanley Lieber's life including the highs and lows warts and all since Stan the showman sometimes attracted ire from his fellow creators and peers but his contribution to making Marvel and the industry grow up is considerable.
Having recently read a rather dire book about Ditko one of the things I would recommend about this book is that you learn a fair amount about Ditko and Kirby in these pages. In fact it's rather a "must" read for any fan. Of course Stan wasn't perfect but he gave us a show and that we all enjoyed it is beyond question.
Before this book was released I obtained a copy of Alter Ego #161 ($9.95) which is a tribute to Stan Lee and contains an article about Marvel Comics around the world particularly focusing on Marvel UK and it's predecessors such as Alan Class and Power Comics which helped promote the Marvel brand in this country.
...there currently a petition to have a statue of him placed in NYC
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