Customer Reviews

Marvel Visionaries: Stan Lee

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(REVIEW WRITTEN BY BILLY INNES)

For the generations whose first exposure to stellar comic-book writing came from reading the likes of Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, the Hernandez Brothers or Art Spiegelman, then Stan Lee might seem a bit wooden or stilted by comparison. Still, it is pretty important to remember that many of the fine writers listed above may not have ever written a word for comic-books if not for the ground-breaking innovations brought forth by Stan Lee.

During the height of the "Marvel Wars"...when the artists who had worked for Marvel (including such greats as Jack "King" Kirby) were fighting to get their original artwork (a way of generating extra revenue for these artists is to sell their original penciled pages)...there was much criticism hurled towards Stan Lee. Criticism towards Stan Lee regarding his business practices...after all, it was Lee who failed to relinquish access to the Marvel artists' original artwork...may have been justified. In the midst of that controversy, though, came criticism aimed at Lee regarding his writing abilities. Rumors began to spread that Lee seldom fully scripted or plotted a full issue of the comic books that bore his name. Some rumors went so far as to claim that Stan Lee could not write a complete sentence in English to save his life.

All one needs to do is look at other of the books in the MARVEL VISIONARIES series to dispel such rumors. Granted, Stan Lee was often as good as those with whom he collaborated (and with artists such as Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Wally Wood...just to name a few of many greats...one could not ask for finer artists) and, without a doubt, such artists were often elemental in helping Lee with plotting and pathos. Still, if one looks at the MARVEL VISIONARIES book devoted to the work of Jack Kirby, one notices that the finest stories are those where Kirby is given the credit as artist and Lee is given the credit as writer. When Kirby is credited as writer (issue 200 of CAPTAIN AMERICA or the issue of THE ETERNALS), the art remains majestic, but the writing is stiff and wooden. In other cases...such as Kirby's "What If" take on what life would be like if the Fantastic Four were the Marvel Bullpen, the writing is downright cringe-worthy.

The collection devoted to Stan Lee is probably the finest of the MARVEL VISIONARIES series. Much of this is due to our being able to see Lee's development as a writer (going from one-dimensional stories from Marvel's Golden Age to stories of great might and power as represented by the DAREDEVIL and SILVER SURFER issues included in this collection). And, of course, another joy of this book is being able to feast one's eyes on the wide range of talent that comes from the palette of wonderful artists who laid pencil to paper for Marvel.

As one who remembers many of these issues when they first appeared, reading this volume was much like a happy trip back in a Time Machine. It brings to mind the days when I found the soap-opera-like story of a superheroes true identity to be every bit as engaging (if not more so) than the grandiose battles of good versus evil. It brings back memories of story-lines that crossed over various comic-book titles, so that one had the feeling that the Marvel Universe really existed on some other plain (all one need do is read the titles from DC titles...or the lesser Charleston or Dell to see how profound this method was). Lee elevated many of the characters from cardboard caricatures and breathed life and believability into them. Sure, they've probably not aged as well as our imaginations remember many of these comic-books and characters, but they still are often breathtakingly a wonder to behold when one considers just how innovative and revolutionary these works were!

Even if you're not a huge Stan Lee fan, this is a must-have to get a good sense of how comics have evolved into what they are today. This collection gives you a good sampling from throughout Stan's career and while he may not be the best writer when compared to people working today, he helped create a mythological universe in Marvel that other companies soon followed. It would be many years until another writer would come along and change the game as much as Stan has and this collection will show you why.