Bob Batchelor is a cultural historian who has written or edited more than two dozen books on popular culture and American literature, including books about John Updike, The Great Gatsby, and Mad Men. Batchelor lives in Oxford, Ohio and teaches at Miami University.
This unauthorized biography by cultural historian Batchelor (Mad
Men: A Cultural History) is as much a history of Marvel Comics and
the comic book industry as it is of Stan Lee, the man largely
credited with transforming the comic book industry into a pop
culture colossus. Batchelor begins with Lee’s childhood in New York
City during the Great Depression, to which he attributes Lee’s
strong work ethic and ambition. A workaholic from an early age, Lee
joined the comic book industry at its infancy, learning the ropes
from writer Joe Simon and artist Jack Kirby, who were his mentors
at Timely Comics (later renamed Marvel Comics). By age 19, Lee had
already taken over as editor-in-chief. Aside from the first chapter
on his childhood, the book mainly glosses over Lee’s personal life,
focusing primarily on his career. Batchelor shows how Lee led his
team of writers and illustrators with a can-do spirit, working with
his staff in employing snappy dialogue and colorful graphics to
concoct a dynamic new medium. Introducing racial diversity, serial
storytelling, current events, and emotional conflict, the boastful
Lee and his team devised a marvelous universe of new characters,
who connected strongly with readers by displaying emotional
weaknesses that equaled their physical strengths.... Batchelor
successfully shows how this dreamer and risk-taker perfectly
captured the cultural zeitgeist and assisted in creating 'fairy
tales for grown-ups.'
*Publishers Weekly*
Meet Stanley Lieber: movie fan, adventure-story fan, budding
writer. Young Stanley started in the comic book business as an
assistant to Timely Comics’ head writer, Joe Simon, and to artist
Jack Kirby. Along the way, as he graduated from assistant to
writer, he became known as Stan Lee and wound up revolutionizing
the comic-book business: in partnership with some of the great
artists (Kirby and the legendary Steve Ditko, among others), he
created Spider-Man, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and
other familiar superheroes. What made Lee’s creations special was
his insistence on giving them recognizable human traits and flaws;
these weren’t idealized superheroes but real people with special
abilities. This is a solidly researched and written biography of
Lee (who is in his mid-nineties now).... [Lee] is a hugely
entertaining story, and the author tells it well.
*Booklist*
Where Batchelor succeeds most is fleshing out the settings and
context along the narrative spine of Lee’s life. To understand
Lee’s emerging choices as a teenager, for instance, is to
comprehend the rise of the pulp book business, the branching out of
comic strip publishing and the convergence of colorful men looking
to make a buck after World War I, even if it meant making
connections with the Mob. Superheroes are first embraced by
American readers not yet economically lifted by the postwar boom.
[Stan Lee:] The Man Behind Marvel is a thorough primer for the
newcomer to the tale of Lee’s legendary 1960s rise. Batchelor
delves into not only how Lee worked as an editor — the creative
freedom he gave many artists worked to his advantage, too — but
also how he built himself into a celebrity brand synonymous with
the Marvel name.
*The Washington Post*
Bob Batchelor's bio of Stan Lee is not only thorough and accurate,
it's also extremely well written. If you enjoy reading Stan's
stories, you'll enjoy the story of Stan just as much.
*Steve Englehart, novelist and comic book writer (The Avengers,
Captain America)*
An insightful and candid look at one of the twentieth century's
greatest myth-makers.
*Mark Waid, writer (Daredevil, The Fantastic Four, Kingdom
Come)*
Bob Batchelor's book takes us on a journey into the life and
imagination of Stan Lee, whose collaborations with Jack Kirby and
Steve Ditko laid the foundation of the Marvel Universe and
unleashed a creative explosion that continues to impact--and
transform--all of popular culture.
*J. M. DeMatteis, writer (The Amazing Spider-Man, Silver
Surfer)*
In this smartly written, deeply researched biography, Bob Batchelor
cuts through the hype and hyperbole to reveal the secret origins of
Stan Lee's thoroughly mythic life and art. It's one for both the
casual and hardcore fans.
*Brian Jay Jones, author of George Lucas: A Life*
Stan Lee is must reading for comics fans and anyone interested in
the creative process. A great book about a great man.
*Arthur Asa Berger, author of The Comic-Stripped American*
Impressively informed and informative, exceptionally well written,
organized and presented, Stan Lee: The Man behind Marvel is an
extraordinary biographer that is a 'must read' for the legions of
Stan Lee fans. Absolutely certain to be an enduringly popular
addition to both community and academic library Contemporary
American Biography collections....
*Midwest Book Review*
Readers will love this book even if they know the outcome of Stan’s
story. The thrill of this biography is not in Lee’s triumphs but in
following the Voice of Marvel through decades of doubts,
frustrations, and professional dissatisfaction before he achieved
his status as an American icon. Batchelor took readers back in time
with a highly descriptive style that would be at home in a novel. A
meticulously researched and fact-filled account accompanied
Batchelor’s breezy writing to analyze comic’s greatest bard….
Batchelor went on to fill in the blanks of history in an
approachable and informative manner. It was clear he put a great
effort into acquiring the multiple sources he cited regularly in
the Chicago style. Moreover, this book would be a blessing for
anyone seeking a secondary academic source on comics or the history
of Stan Lee…. Whether a reader is a comic historian or just a big
fan, Stan Lee: The Man Behind Marvel is chock-full of a thrilling
narrative, stories, and little-known trivia in the life of Stan
Lee….Stan Lee: The Man Behind Marvel is available on Amazon in
paperback or e-book and is a must-read for comic readers and
historians. Pick it up today!
*Geeks Worldwide*
[In this] energetic and entertaining biography.... 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
fifty 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 of readers.
*Forces of Geek*
Bob’s Batchelor’s Stan Lee: The Man Behind Marvel provides an
insightful look into not only the titular man himself, but also the
complex and captivating world of Marvel Comics growth and evolution
over the years.... Stan Lee: The Man Behind Marvel is an
exceptionally well researched book and even for those who are not
prone to reading non-fiction it will still engage you through the
well written prose. You also get to see some great photos of Stan
Lee in his younger days. I highly recommend this book to comic book
fans, regardless of your publisher preferences, and to anyone who
enjoys the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Netflix series. You will
come away with so much knowledge and a better understanding of how
Marvel has prevailed throughout the years through the exceptional
Stan Lee.
*TheNerdyGirlExpress*
How did Mr. Batchelor tell a story that all comic book aficionados
know in a new way and how did he make a comfortably mundane life
interesting? The author took a step back from the protagonist of
the biography and described the world and conditions that shaped
Mr. Lee, allowing the reader to explore their own understanding of
the character.... Mr. Batchelor offers us a book worth reading
because he does more than distill Mr. Lee’s many interviews. Stan
Lee teaches us that powerful writing comes out of adversity.
Without the restrictions and worries that surely influenced Mr.
Lee’s work, our shared cultural heritage would be different.
Perhaps most importantly, the author doesn’t skimp on the parts of
Stan Lee’s life that you really want to know about. We get detailed
tellings of the creation of the Fantastic Four, of Mr. Lee’s
working relationship with Jack Kirby, and his somewhat unfocused
later years. (Where do you go when you become a living legend by
your fifties and live into your nineties?) Whether or not you’re a
comic book person, Mr. Batchelor’s book is a worthwhile chronicle
of a writer’s life and offers other writers the opportunity to see
what it’s like to have your creative dreams come true in ways you
didn’t expect.
*Great Writers Steal*
The Man Behind Marvel is a handy document that not only tracks the
career of the best-known man in comic books, but also traces the
rise of Marvel from copycat also-ran to industry king.
*The Weekly Standard*
Bob Batchelor has done a very professional and well researched
job.... If you want to understand the principal creator of the
Marvel Universe, this new biography could serve as a one-stop
shop.... Batchelor clearly knows what he’s doing, being the author
of cultural studies on subjects ranging from Mad Men ... to The
Great Gatsby. If you want someone to provide an objective,
outsider’s analysis of the life and work of Stan Lee, then it would
be hard to find a cultural historian more qualified than Batchelor.
This is especially true for readers who haven’t dived into the
story of Marvel comics before. For all fellow baby boomers—remember
how Stan the Man used to sign off all those
Soapboxes—Excelsior!
*Bookpleasures.com*
[Bachelor] does a great job with the obviously meticulously
researched information he provides so if you’re something of a
newbie to Marvel or don’t recognize him beyond his name and the
cameos he makes in his movies then this would be a good book for
you.... Bachelor is well-known for his unbiased analysis in
cultural studies of popular works and figures so you’d be
hard-pressed to find a better work done.
*Artistic Bent*
As a cultural historian, Bob Bachelor has evidently done vast and
in-depth research of Stan Lee and his path to becoming a central
figure in American pop culture, as well as the birth and evolution
of the modern day comic book industry.... [It's] a pleasant
read.... [I]f you want a heavily researched book that gives a solid
analysis of the comic book industry and the man that heavily
influenced its transformation, then this book is for you.
*Word of the Nerd*
There is a lot of content in this book. I think it will be a
valuable resource for enthusiasts, students of ephemera, and future
historians. I appreciated the incredibly detailed footnotes and
reference sections. Amazingly thorough job.
*Nonstop Reader*
Stan Lee is one of the most recognized names in comic book history,
a deserving accolade because of his momentous contributions as a
Marvel Comics administrator, editor, writer, and creator of some of
the world’s favorite pop culture icons. Of course, his penchant to
stay in the limelight through self-promotion and self-reinvention,
and his good fortune to remain active into his mid-nineties, were
also to his advantage. Batchelor (Miami Univ.) does an admirable
job of piecing together the verifiable facts and anecdotes about
Lee, with non-supported “Stan legend” and murky details (e.g.,
about his ancestry), bits of history about the comics and society
of the times, and plot synopses of comic books created by Lee and
his cohorts. He points to decisive periods when Lee questioned
being “only” a comics writer, and when he deviated from his
publisher’s wishes and moved into new directions. Lee and Marvel’s
downsides, such as his professional squabbles with Jack Kirby and
others, and the company’s financial woes of the nineties, are not
spared, but what is lacking is a picture of “the man behind Marvel”
in a non-professional, out-of-the-company light. Stan Lee is a
well-researched, lucid addition to superhero comics history and
comics biography more generally.
*CHOICE*
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