Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir by Stan Lee

Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir Reviews

• 
  Peter Derk

  I don't mind saying it brought a tear to my eye. The story of the lonely kid who grew up to be Stan Lee. Pretty awesome.
  
  The best bit about this book, I feel like they really captured Lee's voice. Reading it FEELS like Stan Lee talking. Full of great anecdotes. The end get a little list-y, lots of stuff happening without much context, but such is life.
  
  There is a weird thing that's addressed here. The relationship between Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
  
  For those who don't know, Jack Kirby was the artist behind a lot of Marvel's greatest creations. Fantastic Four, Thor. And for those who aren't familiar with why lots of people think Kirby deserves more credit, it's because of the Marvel Style, coined and created by Stan Lee.
  
  Marvel Style goes like this: If I'm writing and you're the artist, I give you the general idea of the plot, the characters, and the story. You then illustrate the entire thing, with action and word balloons, and then I come back and fill in the dialog. So the thing is, when we call Jack Kirby the artist, Marvel Style meant he shaped the story a lot more than someone who was drawing to a very specific script with greater detail in the outlines and actions.
  
  And lots of people look at Stan Lee as someone who took more credit than he deserved. Who is really responsible for these stories? How much does the look trump the idea? How much does the shape of the story consist of the story's creation?
  
  It's an interesting question. For example, we accept that James Patterson plots stuff and has other writers do the actual writing. So who wrote those books? We credit writers on improv TV shows, and yet the actors have a lot to do with the creation of those characters.
  
  I don't think it's very useful to say who did exactly what and what percentage of a character is his costume versus the story outline plus dialog. Because there's no definition for this stuff, and we could go back and forth all day.
  
  Instead, I'll invoke a more modern pair, Jobs and Wozniak. J and W are almost the archetype for something we see in a lot of modern, self-starting companies and industries. You've got your quieter programmers, and you've got a boisterous salesman. The salesman slowly becomes the face of the company. And then there's a backlash about how much creation the salesman did versus the Woz.
  
  But part of me feels like the backlash is our own fault. We create the Jobs. We are the ones who read the interviews. We are the ones who want a company to have a face, and excuse me for saying it, I don't think we're ready for a company to have a face that's a nerd. Or unattractive. Or might have a flat personality. And we also have a lot of people who get into something like drawing or writing comics because they like drawing or writing comics, and they aren't particularly interested in running a company.
  
  Jack Kirby wasn't Stan Lee's employee. Stan did try to offer Kirby a job a couple of times, and Kirby turned it down in favor of remaining freelance.
  
  My base opinion on this, I don't feel like there would be a Marvel comics without Stan Lee AND Jack Kirby. And probably Steve Ditko too.
  
  But my larger opinion has to do with a story:
  
  I went to my first comic convention in 2002. It was a weird experience, I'll tell you that. And one of the people they brought out was (if I'm remembering correctly) Martin Nodell, artist who did the original concept art for Green Lantern. The dude would have been in his late 80's, and he didn't seem all that spry.
  
  He was selling sketches for something like $40. And they made an announcement during the day to try and drum up business.
  
  I regret that I didn't buy one. I was 18 and I didn't have a whole lot of money, but still. You know that a guy in his late 80's isn't selling sketches at a con because he's set, financially.
  
  And this is the larger opinion: Comic companies royally fucked the original creators, without exception. I think Stan Lee has done quite well for himself, but he has less than $100 million in the bank. I'm not totally ready to weep for a millionaire, but here's the context: Robert Downey Jr. made $80 million for playing Iron Man in one movie. So there you go. There are people today involved with these characters and stories that have made a shitload of money and have absolutely nothing to do with their creation or, really, their current stories.
  
  And that's what bothers me a lot more. That doesn't feel right. I feel, just a little, like fans are whipped up into this idea of who should be getting a bigger piece of the celebrity pie, meanwhile neither Stan nor Jack have gotten what they deserve. It doesn't have to be about these two men sharing this tiny slice of the pie. It should be about "Holy shit, this is THE biggest pie in the world, and we can do justice to its creators by giving them a nice share without really changing our bottom line."
  
  I will also say this.
  
  Kirby's family did bring forth a lawsuit to try and halt Marvel projects, the big Marvel movies, asserting that Kirby was the copyright holder. The case was set to go to the Supreme Court when Marvel settled out of court, just last year, in fact.
  
  I feel the tragedy here is that Marvel handed over a bag of money, and the Kirby's walked away from what could have been a precedent-setting case. If it was found that Kirby really DID own the copyright, then he'd be cut in on the characters he created. Which would mean that Steve Ditko would have a pretty good shot at some of the Spider-Man money. Which would mean that the Martin Nodell's of the world might actually be able to retire after creating an iconic comic character. They wouldn't have to work in their 80's.
  
  To be fair, I don't know all the details of the case. Maybe there was no shot. Or maybe the legal fees were too tremendous. I don't know.
  
  All I really know is that I wish I lived in a world where these creators got paid for the work they did.
• 
  Alp

  3.75/5
  
  Interesting and entertaining book.
• 
  Craig

  This is a very fun and entertaining autobiographical reminiscence of Lee's life presented quite appropriately in graphic novel form. He has come under fire in more recent years for some of his views and business deals and other such, but the fact remains that he was instrumental in creating and presenting the most recognized and admired band of characters in our current world. This book presents the story of his early years, the golden era of Marvel, and the ups and downs of his experiences after leaving New York for Hollywood. There's quite a bit of humor (including an Army VD poster, of all things), and the reproductions of some of the classic Marvel covers are great. Some of the events seem white-washed or glossed-over, such as his internet company and his relationships with Kirby, Ditko, and others, but I believe that holds true for almost everyone's autobiography. His desire to entertain and to have a positive influence on readers comes through, and Peter David has adapted his story quite well, and Colleen Doran's art is quite enjoyable as well. Willie Lumpkin, Irving Forbush, and I recommend it.... Excelsior!
• 
  Grace Arango (G-Swizzel Books)

  In loving memory of Stanley Martin Lieber.
  May he ever rest in peace.
  
  I reread this graphic memoir and it was difficult for me. I look up to Stan Lee. He made my life what is it today. He brought so much joy to my life and I cannot ever thank him enough. It's so hard to know he's gone, but I'm so glad he left an amazing legacy with him.
  
  He taught me that I could be a hero if I chose to be, and that's now how I live.
  
  He was, is and will forever be a role model to me.
  I'm thankful for your trials and triumphs, Stan.
  Excelsior!
  
  --------
  Original Review (2016):
  
  This Graphic Memoir gave me all the happy and nostalgic feels.
  It's so awesome that Stan Lee did his autobiography in the awesome and colourful comic style format. GAHHH!! This made me wait to give him a hug! I honestly appreciate everything that he has done and his positive attitude in everything, even though his road to Marvel's success was not easy.
  
  It was also so great to see his inspiration behind our favourite heroes such as The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, The Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, The X-Men, Daredevil and Doctor Strange and some parallels they had to classic literature or society in the present day and age. Also the competition with DC comics and how even though it was discouraging, he pushed through it and come out stronger. Honestly, if I feel anything after read this graphic memoir, I feel inspired!
  
  This is a must read for any Marvel fan out there! You would not want to miss this.
  Stan Lee is a true hero. Not all heroes wear capes ;)
• 
  Colleen Fauchelle

  I didnt grow up reading comics so didn't know much about Stan Lee. So when I saw this shiny cover I thought I would give it a read. This is a graphic Memoir of Stan Lee's working life with snipits of his personal thrown it. It was good and I am happy with what I learnt. It is bright, colourful and cherry.
• 
  Sean Gibson

  Reviewed for Kirkus Reviews:
  https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...
  
• 
  Martel

  Perfect for a first approach of Stan Lee's story and the Marvel universe. If you're a fan, old or new, you'll probably already know the majority of this book's content.
  I listened to the audiobook, and the good thing about it was, it almost felt like a conversation: there was no linear story, but more a series of anecdotes the narrator remembers with fondness, sometimes with a little regret. Stan stays very modest about his personal life and family, we get a few glimpses of his childhood and fantasy life and a little more about his work and collaborations, all wrapped in his usual humor. All together a nice moment.
  
  RIP, Stan, you changed the world's mythology forever.
• 
  Dave Schaafsma

  The graphic memoir by Stan Lee, or one of them. In other words, there are other versions of this story that he and others have told via biographies. Coleen Doran did the artwork on this one, and Lee had held shaping the narrative. It is light and breezy and captures the energy and enthusiasm of the author, his voice, or at least the one with which we are familiar today. It's a kind of surface tale, with little complication, which one just might expect from a book entitled Amazing Fantastic Incredible. Most Marvel people know all the facts, really, and have one way or the other heard versions of the stories. It's fairly episodic, kind of random in that it throws in entertaining anecdotal memories here and there.
  
  Stan Lee is one of the greatest names in comics history, and as of today, he is still alive, and a justifiably liked folk hero. He deserves much credit for having an amazing imagination and having invented lots of great characters and stories. Much of the comics mythology of the twentieth century he is in part responsible for. If you want an introduction to Marvel and Lee, this is one place to start, but it doesn't dig very deep. The one interesting aspect of this is that many people know that wonderful artists such as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko all played second banana to Lee, who got all or at least the lion share of the credit for everything. Who should get credit for these stories? Up to debate, I guess. I only know what I read. And I know plenty people came to resent Lee for various reasons.
  
  One thing I read here is that Lee is working hard to name and credit his collaborators in a way many didn't feel he adequately did before. I appreciate that. He never seems to understand why people didn't want to work with him after having done so for a time. He seems baffled by it, in this memoir, at least. And I don't all the facts, but I think it isn't as simple as Lee makes things out to be here.
  
  That said, this is pretty fun, colorful, light and bright. Not my idea of a great tell all bio or memoir. But fun to have it in comics form.
• 
  Fabian

  Took long enough to validate how much part of the subconscious this man inhabits inside the American brain. He reveals much: his personality shines through. That it is in the medium he himself excel(sior)ed at makes this a treat and a half.
  
  R.I.P. Storyteller-Man.
• 
  L. McCoy

  I was expecting to enjoy this but I wasn’t quite expecting this masterpiece in comics!
  
  What’s it about?
  Stan Lee gives us an autobiography in comic book form.
  
  Why it gets 5 stars:
  The story is very interesting. It’s not just about his comic book career BTW.
  The artwork is fantastic, giving this book a fun, cartoony and colorful look that really makes it pop!
  The narrative is creative and excellent.
  I learned more about Stan Lee and even comic books in general. Everyone knows that Lee is one of the most influential people to comic book culture who created many characters but apparently he also opened the door for many things in comics. There’s some other interesting things learned here too!
  This comic is emotional but in a good way. It’s not something that makes you depressed while reading (I don’t like that kind of emotional), it’s the good kind of emotional.
  This book has a lot of humor throughout. In some ways it’s kind of a comedy as well as an autobiography because of the jokes and narrative, I know some people may not care for the sound of that but it actually works super well.
  There are some really good easter eggs.
  There’s a brief anti-censorship bit when talking about the comics code authority. It is very well written.
  There’s another brief bit with Stan’s tips for comic book writing, that’s pretty cool.
  The ending is a great way of wrapping everything up.
  
  Overall:
  If you’re a fan of comic books this is one that you should definitely read! This book is essential reading for fans of Marvel for sure.
  This book is remarkable or perhaps I should say amazing, fantastic, incredible!
  Excelsior!
  
  5/5
  
  PS- R.I.P. Stan Lee
• 
  Jim

  A quicky autobiography by Stan Lee. I wish he'd narrated more than the intro, but the other narrators were good. There were a lot of sound effects & some explanation to make up for the lack of graphics, so a good production.
  
  It's very much from Stan's side of the fence. I've never paid too much attention to his falling out with Jack Kirby, but heard a couple of versions. This one was very brief. Stan claims ignorance & agrees that he & all the other artists are co-creators. Says he's made a lot of statements & even written a letter to that effect. His overview of the creative process certainly bears this out. Apparently he'd come up with a rough idea, tell them to draw it, & then go back & write the dialog afterward. I would have been interested in more details.
  
  He mentioned his cameos & I agree that they're fun & have become expected. He briefly mentioned Stripperlla, although not the law suit & that it only lasted one season. That was a shame. It's a great cartoon - basically secret agent Pamela Anderson who hides her identity behind her pole dancing. What's not to love about that?
  
  I hadn't realized all the fuss with corporate buy-outs, name changes, & the rest. Sounds like a real mess, but he paints a fast, rosy picture. He was born in 1922, so is now 96 years old, but seems to be going strong, thankfully. It will be a sad day when we lose him.
  
  I'd guess that the paper version would be better, but this was fun.
• 
  Angie

  Honestly.. this book was never on my radar. I may or may not have heard about it. A friend of mine loaned it to me though since he knows I like comics so of course I had to read it. I do think this is a perfect memoir for Stan Lee. The comic reads very friendly, and of course as I read it I read it in Stan Lee's voice. The comic talks about Lee's young life which wasn't the easiest. Though... I do think he was in the right place right time to get his comics written. I thought that sometimes the comic was too light hearted for me to really care about Lee's life. At the same time though I don't enjoy non-fiction or biographies and this one I did enjoy. So I suppose this format was perfect for me.
  
  I did learn a lot from this comic... one of the biggest things I learned was that he doesn't write his comics. WHAT you say???? I say the same thing. Apparently Stan Lee just comes up with the idea of a character, someone else actually writes the story. This is Marvel's style (DC does it different I guess). Let me explain this a little more. At Marvel someone gives the illustrator an idea and the ILLUSTRATOR draws the story out. Then someone comes a long and writes the story. I did a little more research in this and it turns out a lot of people are upset with Stan Lee from the early days when he was at Marvel. In this story Lee mentions a lot of people (perhaps to make up for not giving these people credit in the past) including someone named Jack Kirby. Kirby has the most complaints with Lee. Kirby's family actually took Marvel to court saying he owns the copyright to quite a few of the characters. It almost went to the supreme court but the case was settled by Marvel in 2014.
  
  I think that the comic book industry drama of the early days is what most people who are long time Stan Lee fans want to read about and it was avoided. I was supposed to see Stan Lee once at the Denver Comic Con but he canceled a week or two before he was supposed to be there. Still bummed about that. Great illustrating in the comic. It's really neat to read about someone's life in comic form. Colleen Doran drew it (also known for the Sandman series) and does a fantastic job. In the end, it really is too bad that comic books writers/illustrators don't make a lot of money. It's like people who write songs for music artists. You just don't get the appreciation you should. All in all this was a fun read.
• 
  Jamie

  Much better than the biography - Excelsior!: The Amazing Life of Stan Lee, which was written before Marvel settled with the estate of the late Jack Kirby, so they had to dance around the legal issues of Jack's contributions to the Marvel Universe.
  
  The new memoir deals with Jack, Steve Ditko, and a few other areas missed in the traditional bio.
  
  Colleen Doran's artwork is perfect.
  
  Enjoyable read.
• 
  Melki

  I was amazed by how much I enjoyed this, considering I had very little interest in either Lee, OR super hero comics. Lee tells a dynamic, AND engaging story, packed with humor and joy.
• 
  Lexi Kruse

  This was such a treat! As a Marvel lover, it was so cool to see the story directly from Stan Lee’s eyes. The art in this memoir was beautiful and the audio was amazing so as a whole this was just a perfect read. So that’s it - that’s the review because it’s Stan Lee, what more did you need to be convinced to read this?
• 
  Margaret Robbins

  This book was super fun to read, especially since I love Marvel Comics and wanted to learn more about Stan Lee's life. In particular, I wanted to learn more about what he was thinking while he created the X-Men and Spiderman, and I did. He also gives some great tips for writers of any genre. His story is a great "rags to riches" tale, as he was from a family of Jewish Romanian immigrants who struggled during the Great Depression. Yet he read a lot and excelled in school, and he started off as an editorial assistant for a comics company. He did not have a fancy education, but he read and wrote a lot and worked hard and managed to succeed. I definitely plan to write in my blog about why I would recommend this book for teaching. This is such a good read and beneficial to teachers and comics scholars alike. It was the perfect choice for my graphic novels/comics book club at Avid Bookshop in Athens. :)
• 
  Maria Kramer

  The writing is snappy and I learned a thing or two about comic history. Great for newbs and old comic fans alike.
• 
  Sravya

  A light, heartwarming graphic novel. Liked the humor and illustrations.
• 
  Jason Mehmel

  Not exactly a tell-all memoir, instead essentially another sales pitch for a particular perspective on events and situations. The most interesting parts of this book are the parts where Stan essentially tries to acknowledge something difficult or problematic in his history by skirting past it as quickly as possible.
• 
  TJ

  What a FANTASTIC read! I wanted to honor Stan Lee by finally reading this biographical graphic novel, and I’m so glad I decided to do so now. I highly encourage anyone interested in his life or feel a connection to him to give this a read. The ending definitely pulled on my heartstrings, and his recent passing only adds to it. What a man! Excelsior! 5/5 Stars.
• 
  Jessica

  Won in First Reads giveaway.
  
  This is a bright and simple autobiography in comic form. I suggest it for children and people, like me, who only know Marvel through movies and tv shows. Die-hard Marvel fans might be amused by it.
• 
  SpookySoto

  3.5/5
  
  This is a very cool memoir, is in comic / graphic novel format. It was very interesting and informative, I feel I got the chance to know Stan Lee a bit more.
  
  If you're a fan of Marvel Comics, Marvel movies or Comics in general I highly recommend it.
• 
  Cyndi

  What a wonderful piece for fandom. Mr. Lee's voice tells the tale of a life filled with ups, downs, soul mated love and following your own path. Definitely a good read.
• 
  Mary Ellen

  I thought this was a super fun way to do an autobiography! It's perfect for Stan Lee. I really loved learning more about him. There were a few things in there that shouldn't have shocked me, but did anyway. Did you know he wrote a comic strip about a girl named Stripperella? Pole dancer by day, superhero by night? I mean- the man is a male chauvinist for sure. And a little obsessed with himself. I imagine a biography written about him by other people in the business would have a different take on a lot of the things he takes credit for. He does give some great shoutouts to some amazing artists though. And there are a few places where he admits that he did make a few mistakes.
  Overall the book has a pretty great message. He revolutionized superheroes. While Superman and the other heroes of the time were practically perfect in every way, he wanted his superheroes to have blaring flaws and weaknesses. I love that. He was a big advocate of humanizing them. His characters were easy to relate to. I think that's why the Marvel movies do so well. We all see a little bit of ourselves in the characters. We love them and hate them- like we do ourselves.
  Anyway, overall an interesting read in a fun format.
  
• 
  High Plains Library District

  Stan Lee. There's never been a more influential person in comics.
  
  What you'll find out in this book is that it wasn't always easy. Even remotely. In 2019 people will proudly make Captain Marvel a box office smash. In the 60's? Stan would lie about what he did for a living because if you told someone you wrote comics, you'd never earn their respect. It's sort of hard to believe today, but it's true. Before Stan, comics were thought of as garbage entertainment for children.
  
  We've done a good job remembering Stan for his creativity, but reading this book will help you remember him for his advocacy. He was constantly on the circuit, speaking at college campuses about the legitimacy and importance of comics. He was adding heavy issues into books from early on. Most of all, maybe the most important thing he did, Stan respected readers of comics in a way that most publishers never did.
  
  Stan has made our lives amazing, for sure. I'm not going to say you owe it to the guy to read this book. But if you've got an extra hour and the slightest interest in comics, it's a fine way to remind yourself how great he really was.
  
  ~Peter
• 
  mina

  This was an adorable audiobook; I really loved the sound effects and I had no complaints about the way the story was told—stream of consciousness way which I would usually dislike. It was interesting to see how someone that’s so famous became to be; to be honest I didn’t know what exactly he did for Marvel but I thought it was more than give an idea to the illustrators. All in all I liked this one even though it was too short.
• 
  Kyle

  I loved Stan Lee's sense of humor and the funny vignettes, such as the back and forth of Iron Man's nose. I enjoyed learning more about his family members. I also picked up on new things (for me at least) including the series of DC characters as imagined by Stan Lee! I'll have to check those out!
  
  Unlike some other reviewers, I never felt that he slighted any other Atlas/Marvel Comics staff. In fact, I learned more about artists, writers, etc. than I had known before. It felt like a well-balanced presentation.
  
  Fantastic design, layout, and wonderful artwork. Now my seven year old wants to read it!
• 
  Fadi Ashy

  I guess everyone who's into Comics knows who Stan Lee is, but we never wondered what was his life about and this comic has been an amazing recap to all of it, it was fun to read made me laugh and cry. what an enjoyable piece of art.
  
  Thanks for everything Stan <3 RIP
• 
  Graham

  Excelsior! Pretty comprehensive biography of Stan ‘The Man’, though It skirts over some details e.g. bad business dealings. Plus, no mention of Marvel’s first foray into animation - how could they not mention the classic Spider-Man cartoon (especially when they acknowledge the Nicholas Hammond live action flop)? Otherwise, a great read.
  ‘Nuff said.
• 
  Chrisie

  So Stan Lee passed away recently and I realized I knew very little about his life or career beyond the obvious (characters he'd created). I wasn't expecting this to be in graphic novel/comic style but of course it was a perfect medium for the man who (by his own account and most everyone else's) basically made comics what they are today.
  
  It was written from his point of view so I'm sure there's more to the stories of workplace and industry issues but it was a nice little view into the early days.
  
  And his love for his wife above all was so touching. I'm so sad he was without her these last few years.
  
  His legacy will most certainly live on.