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Stan Lee And The Rise And Fall Of The American Comic Book by Jordan Raphael and Tom Spurgeon
01/10/2004 . Source: Laura Kayne 
pub: Chicago Review Press/Independent Publishers Group. 304 page enlarged paperback. Price: $24.95 (US). ISBN: 1-55652-506-0. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.ipgbook.com
Chicago Review Press/Independent Publishers Group
With the recent release of successful films based on comicbook characters, Stan Lee is once again a name on people's lips. Now in his eighties, he is still active in promoting Marvel and its characters and obtained executive producer credit for the first Sam Raimi 'Spider-Man' film.
Raphael and Spurgeon have reacted to this (new) rise in the popularity of Lee and Marvel by writing what they describe as 'at once a professional history, an appreciation of, and a critical exploration of Stan "The Man" Lee and his contributions to popular culture'. It attempts to neither glorify nor criticise Lee, but to give a well-rounded, informative and accurate view of Lee's life, his relationship with Marvel and, to a large extent, they have succeeded in this.
They begin with the success of 'Spider-Man' in 2002 and trace the story forward to that point from Lee's initiation in the comic-book industry, keeping roughly to a chronological account of Lee's life and the development of Marvel and characters associated with him. Readily admitting that is almost impossible to separate the man from the company, Raphael and Spurgeon have not tried. As a result, 'Stan Lee And The Rise And Fall Of The American Comic Book' reads as a brief history of Marvel and characters centred around the man most associated with them. This is not a bad thing but a more biographical view of Lee and his life may have made for a more intriguing (and different) book. As a commentary on Stan Lee as icon, though, this is an easy-to-read, informative and well-researched text. It is created through various interviews and sources, including interviews with Lee (carried out by Jordan Raphael but not directly for this book), his family and friends and copies of his personal and business correspondence.
The story of Stan Lee is generally agreed to be almost as fantastic as that of his characters. Born Stanley M. Lieber, Lee came 'from humble beginnings' to work for his cousin-in-law at Timely Publications at the age of seventeen, gradually working his way up to editor. The myth is of a brilliant writer, who wanted to write the great American novel, gaining school and local-newspaper-competition-prizes and taking Timely by storm. Raphael and Spurgeon challenge this story, wanting to portray Lee as more human, but it is clear that separating man from the myth produced largely by himself is not easy. The book tells of Lee's rise within the comic-book industry of the 1940s and 1950s. Later, Timely would become Marvel and Lee would give it a revamp, creating the company's most successful and popular characters.
The issue of the actual creation of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk and others is well dealt with here. Over the decades there has been much controversy as to the full extent of Lee's input into these characters. Wanting to give credit where due, but not completely idolise Lee, Raphael and Spurgeon suggest that the majority of Marvel's comic heroes were co-created in a group environment, often with the artistic talents of Steve Dikto and Jack Kirby and the snappy dialogue and style of Lee. Lee is described as a great storyteller and the story he most enjoyed telling was his own. 'Stan Lee' is perhaps the biggest and best creation of Stanley M. Lieber. He provided an iconic figurehead for the company and much-needed PR, eventually becoming as much of a brand and image as Marvel itself. In this way he would forever be associated with Marvel, known as a creator of characters instead of purely a writer or editor. His catchphrases and publicity drives, such as 'Excelsior!' and 'Stan Lee Presents' put him as the public face of Marvel and he seems to have done the job well.
Later chapters of the book describe the various rise and fall periods of the success of both Marvel and Lee, his bid for Hollywood success, lectures and comments as 'expert' on comic books and his ill-met Internet company, before coming full-circle and up-to-date with a concise summary. For fans of Marvel, Stan Lee or even those just intrigued by the myth of 'Stan the Man' this is a worthwhile book. In its attempt to provide an accurate take on Stan Lee, though, perhaps the only conclusion it can lead to is that there cannot be an accurate telling, the truth unknowable, the story unfinished. This book provides some theories though, as well as interesting facts and information on Lee and Marvel, presented in an accessible and enjoyable way.
Laura Kayne 
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