Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir by Stan Lee and Peter David

Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir
by Stan Lee and Peter David

It seems only fitting that the official autobiography of legendary comics publisher and pop-culture icon Stan Lee would be printed in graphic novel format! Co-written by comics writer Peter David, with absolutely beautiful art by Colleen Doran, Lee roams backwards and forwards through his life and career, sharing anecdotes about the events that proved formative to his publishing/writing style, and the fellow comic book legends whom he worked with over the course of over 5 decades behind Marvel Comics.

Though Lee is frequently accused of not giving enough credit to the fellow creative types that worked with him in creating such iconic comic book characters as The Amazing Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, Iron-Man, Doctor Strange, The Uncanny X-Men and so many more, in this telling he certainly pays tribute to the many fellow artistes that were involved in those seminal events — Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and so many more. Lee’s autobiography is told with a great sense of self-deprecating humor, and Lee breaks the “fourth wall”, stopping to talk to the reader from the comic panels, even as the other illustrated figures wonder who he’s talking to.

Having had the opportunity recently to see Stan Lee live and in-person at a Kansas City Comicon (reportedly one of the last conventions the 93-year-old icon will attend), I’m proud to own a signed copy of this book, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Lee’s version of Marvel Comics history. Just keep in mind that other creators may have different interpretations of some of the events than Lee did!

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, by Sean Howe, How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way, by Stan Lee, How to Write Comics the Marvel Way, by Stan Lee, Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World’s Greatest Comics, by Lee Daniels or Comic Wars: How Two Tycoons Battled Over the Marvel Comics Empire, and Both Lost, by Dan Raviv.]

[ publisher’s official Amazing Fantastic Incredible web site ] | [ official Stan Lee web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you read this? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

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