Book Review: Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir by Stan Lee, Peter David, Colleen Doran (Illustrator)

In this gorgeously illustrated, full-color graphic memoir, Stan Lee—comic book legend and cocreator of Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, the Incredible Hulk, and a legion of other Marvel superheroes—shares his iconic legacy and the story of how modern comics came to be.

Stan Lee is a man who needs no introduction. The most legendary name in the history of comic books, he has been the leading creative force behind Marvel Comics, and has brought to life—and into the mainstream—some of the world’s best-known heroes and most infamous villains throughout his career. His stories—filled with superheroes struggling with personal hang-ups and bad guys who possessed previously unseen psychological complexity—added wit and subtlety to a field previously locked into flat portrayals of good vs. evil. Lee put the human in superhuman and in doing so, created a new mythology for the twentieth century.

In this beautifully illustrated graphic memoir—illustrated by celebrated artist Colleen Doran—Lee tells the story of his life with the same inimitable wit, energy, and offbeat spirit that he brought to the world of comics. Moving from his impoverished childhood in Manhattan to his early days writing comics, through his military training films during World War II and the rise of the Marvel empire in the 1960s to the current resurgence in movies, Amazing Fantastic Incredible documents the life of a man and the legacy of an industry and career.

This funny, moving, and incredibly honest memoir is a must-have for collectors and fans of comic books and graphic novels of every age.

Christmas 2015 gift from my boss. Cue “Do you know who he is?” “Something to do with Marvel ain’t he?” “Something….?” Sputters. Sometimes I think she does it to wind me up, other times….

Anyway, Stan Lee turned 93 in 2015, and with the 75th Anniversary of Marvel comics, it was apparently time to produce his backstory in comic book format.   Due to the time span and the size of the book (a multi-volume, 1000+ page tome this ain’t), this doesn’t go into too much depth as to any event, and some are handled lightly if not at all.  Lee’s mother’s death is handled in a single frame, his father’s death not at all. Steve Ditka leaving Marvel and Spiderman gets a page, the legal troubles over the movie licencing gets 5.

Lee says he doesn’t know why Ditka, Kirby et al left Marvel (or incarnations thereof) and whilst I didn’t necessarily believe him (is he really that self-absorbed that he knew nothing?) it’s easy to see this book for what it is and gloss over the negatives/omissions.

It’s a light-hearted and amusing tale of a man who has seen much in his 90+ years, knows that he’s probably been used along the way by various people (including Governments, Hollywood, Presidents etc), but who remains upbeat, positive, and is intent on getting as much out of life as possible, even when things are potentially bad (e.g. the death of his second daughter at 3 days old is mentioned so that he can recognise that it happened, but he’s not prepared to dwell on it).   As a man in his 80s, to start getting a new wind in cameos in practically ALL the Marvel movies and TV programs seems to be a delight to him – there is plenty of footage out there if you care to look for it.

The story never gets too “heavy”, Colleen Doran—Lee manages to impart enough of the “Stan Lee” bravao/self -esteem so that the reader never has to worry about “Jeeze, not again” for Lee’s positivity to be too wearing.

In the end, the book is only as good as the source material. I know it’s flawed, but it’s a happy read and you come away feeling that anything can happen!