Publishers Weekly
09/23/2019
In this enthusiastic biography of Stan Lee (1922–2018), Fingeroth (Superman on the Couch), one-time writer and editor at Lee’s longtime employer Marvel Comics, tells the story of the man who helped create comic legends including Spider-Man and Black Panther. Born Stan Leiber in New York City, Lee was “a classic American success story,” who turned infectious moxie, geniality, and restless creativity into a career. Starting in comics as a teenager, Lee became a whirlwind of editorial energy (he did not draw) at Marvel Comics, which prided itself on more human, “neurotic,” characters than DC’s simplistic supermen. Lee’s voice, promulgated through punchy story lines and chattily self-deprecating columns within each issue directed at readers, built a fun, self-aware image perfect for a maturing audience. As the industry competed with television, Lee and artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko reinvented comics by combining “simultaneously cynical and idealistic” perspectives with a strong humanism, spinning off the Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, the Avengers, and the X-Men while addressing social ills like racism. Fingeroth’s insider account is likely too long on Marvel’s business permutations, but this biography is a fittingly ebullient tribute to a man who never failed to add one more exclamation mark. This is a sure hit for comics fans of all camps. (Nov.)
From the Publisher
"[Fingeroth's] intimate yet balanced account, highlights Lee’s humanity, humor and even humility. But it doesn’t ignore how his canny self-promotion at times shortchanged his collaborators and constrained his own choices." —Wall Street Journal
"Across a lifetime of creativity, collaboration and endless hustle, Stan Lee saw possibilities no else could imagine and made them real. And if you want to understand how Lee and Marvel did it, Danny Fingeroth's new book A Marvelous Life is the place to start. As a lifelong fan of Spider-Man, The X-Men, Star-Lord and the rest, it was delightful introduction to a guy I'd never met but felt I'd known my whole life." —Adam Frank, NPR
"Enthusiastic...a fittingly ebullient tribute to a man who never failed to add one more exclamation mark. This is a sure hit for comics fans of all camps." —Publishers Weekly
"Detail-packed....Fans of comics culture will enjoy Fingeroth's tribute to his legendary boss." —Kirkus Reviews
"Lee remains a pivotal figure in the superhero genre that's come to dominate popular culture, and Fingeroth, a comics veteran who worked closely with Lee, gives evenhanded treatment to his accomplishments and foibles." —Booklist
"A high-demand biography for fans of Lee and Marvel comics." —Library Journal
"A fascinating peek behind the curtain at Lee’s legendary bullpen. Comics fans will appreciate the inside lane knowledge of Kirby and Ditko’s feuds with Lee and the epiphanies of their collaborations." —Forward
"His life’s work, as it turned out, was serious enough, and Fingeroth honours it with a book that is as much an affectionate biography of a business as it is of the man who made it."
—Sunday Times (UK)
"A must-read for anyone who wants to learn more about one of comics' greatest and most polarizing figures." —SYFY WIRE
"Drawing information from Lee's own archives, firsthand experience, others who knew the most famous comic book creator who ever lived, and many more sources, Fingeroth strives to be both factual and fair to all parties, concerned throughout this complicated and controversial life history. This gripping and entertaining read offers an account not only of one man but also of Marvel Comics itself, along with the lives impacted along the way." —Psychology Today
"This one might be the comic-lovers go-to gift for the 2019 season. Danny Fingeroth takes readers on a deep dive into Stan’s life, stuffing this book with balanced analysis and long-lost stories. It’s a page turner and there’s something for everyone inside." —Ed Catto, Pop Culture Squad
"There’s more about Stan Lee in this roller coaster of a book than I thought I'd ever want to know. But I couldn’t stop reading it. Danny Fingeroth gives us, page after page, rapid and cogent insights into the Marvel world, the comics universe, and Stan Lee as innovator, ring master, high-stakes gambler, con man, and an indefatigable charmer. And visionary, as well Stan would want to take the book apart, and put it together again." —Jules Feiffer (assisted Will Eisner on The Spirit, and authored The Great Comic Book Heroes)
"There have been several bios of Stan, including ones attributed to himself, but Danny's is the best so far! I think this will become the standard source about Stan's life." —Peter Sanderson, comics scholar and historian
"Fingeroth seems to cover everything with extensive research, interviews, his personal relationship with Stan and the archives at the University of Wyoming. It’s just a great look at Stan Lee and for comic book fans, a great behind the scenes look at how they were developed and made.” —Red Carpet Crash
"Lieber’s origin story is as good as any of the characters he would go on to create, and Danny Fingeroth’s new biography, A Marvelous Life: The Amazing Story Of Stan Lee, tells it well." —AV Club
“Danny understands Stan's special talent of blending together the diverse creations of his myriad collaborators into a coherent universe with a single voice which made each of us feel it had been created for us alone. I'm glad Stan's bio was written and he was the one to write it.” —Scott Edelman, award-winning comics and science fiction writer and editor
"Danny Fingeroth has written an essential book for anyone interested in the popular culture that surrounds us. More than just his critical role in the creation of many comics for Marvel, but the films that dominate the theaters are impossible to imagine without Stan Lee." —James Danky, University of Wisconsin-Madison (School of Journalism and Mass Communication); Co-author of Underground Classics (The Transformation of Comics into Comix)
"It’s wonderful—even-handed, affectionate but not hagiographic, and genuinely insightful." —Professor Ben Saunders, Director of Comics Studies, University of Oregon
FEBRUARY 2020 - AudioFile
Marvel Comics writer and editor Danny Fingeroth narrates his biography of his friend and mentor, Stan Lee, in a friendly and jovial manner that Lee would appreciate. Lee, who transformed comic books from children's pablum to adult fare with creations like Spider-Man and the Avengers, never planned a life in comics. A frustrated novelist, he imbued his characters with humanity and personality, breaking ground in the comics of the 1950s and ‘60s. He also made many cameo appearances in the popular Marvel comics movies. Fingeroth narrates Lee’s story with love and admiration, revealing aspects of Stan the Man's life even his biggest fans never knew. M.S. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2019-08-26
Pow! Zam! If it's connected to comic superheroes in the last half-century, Stan Lee almost certainly had something to do with it.
Stanley Martin Lieber (1922-2018) was no superhero. He was litigious, scrappy, and inclined to take sole credit for the work of many hands. However, writes former Marvel Comics editor and writer Fingeroth (The Rough Guide to Graphic Novels, 2008, etc.), Lee had an uncanny handle on pop culture and a sense of what comic-book fans wanted. "Was Stan Lee at the right place at the right time—or did he make his time and place the rights ones?" The answer one derives from the author's longish, detail-packed account is, both. Another conclusion is that the comics business is no laughing matter. As Fingeroth writes, one editor in a comics mill when Lee's career was just taking off routinely rejected freelance pieces but then had them redone by his favored circle, and some artists and writers who should be better known, such as the long-suffering Jack Kirby, were eclipsed by people like—well, Stan Lee. One result, Fingeroth suggests, was the comix revolution of the 1960s, when creators took more financial risks but kept more of the proceeds as well as the rights to their own creations: "No one owned Mr. Natural but his creator, Robert Crumb. Mister Miracle—who no one ever denied was created by Jack Kirby—was owned by DC Comics." Lee read the zeitgeist correctly when he sensed that the superheroes who populated Marvel Comics were right for Hollywood, making the transition from televised cartoon series to A-list films. Fingeroth also credits Lee, in between lawsuits, for helping popularize the various comics conventions that have become staples of nerd culture. "From what you know of Stan Lee," he remarked when asked if Lee still enjoyed attending the conferences in his later years, "do you think he'd rather die at home, alone, in his sleep, or being adored by five thousand people in a convention auditorium?"
Fans of comics culture will enjoy Fingeroth's tribute to his legendary boss.