A Marvelous Life

The definitive biography of the belovedΓÇöoften controversialΓÇöco-creator of many legendary superheroes, A Marvelous Life: The Amazing Story of Stan Lee presents the origin of ΓÇ£Stan the Man,ΓÇ¥ who spun a storytelling web of comic book heroic adventures into a pop culture phenomenon: the Marvel Universe.

"[Fingeroth''s] intimate yet balanced account, highlights LeeΓÇÖs humanity, humor and even humility. But it doesnΓÇÖt ignore how his canny self-promotion at times shortchanged his collaborators and constrained his own choices." ΓÇöWall Street Journal

Stan Lee was the most famous American comic book creator who ever lived.

Thanks, especially, to his many cameos in Marvel movies and TV shows, Lee wasΓÇöand even after his 2018 death, still isΓÇöthe voice and face of comics and popular culture in general, and Marvel Comics in particular. How he got to that place is a story that has never been fully toldΓÇöuntil now.
With creative partners including Jack Kirby and Steve DitkoΓÇöwith whom he had tempestuous relationships that rivaled any superhero battleΓÇöLee created world-famous characters including Spider-Man, Iron Man, the XΓÇôMen, the Avengers, and the Hulk!

But LeeΓÇÖs career was haunted by conflict and controversy. Was he the most innovative creator to ever do comics? Was he a lucky no-talent whose only skill was taking credit for othersΓÇÖ work? Or was he something else altogether?

Danny FingerothΓÇÖs A Marvelous Life: The Amazing Story of Stan Lee attempts to answer some of those questions. It is the first comprehensive biography of this powerhouse of ideas who, with his invention of Marvel Comics, changed the worldΓÇÖs ideas of what a hero is and how a story should be told.

With exclusive interviews with Lee himself, as well as with colleagues, relatives, friendsΓÇöand detractorsΓÇöFingeroth makes a doubly remarkable case for LeeΓÇÖs achievements, while not ignoring the controversies that dogged him his entire lifeΓÇöand even past his death. With unique access to LeeΓÇÖs personal archives at the University of Wyoming, Fingeroth explores never-before-examined aspects of LeeΓÇÖs life and career, and digs under the surface of what people thought they knew about him.

Fingeroth, himself a longtime writer and editor at Marvel Comics, and now a lauded pop culture critic and historian, knew and worked with Stan Lee for over four decades. With his unique insights as a comics world insider, Fingeroth is able to put LeeΓÇÖs life and work in a unique context that makes events and actions come to life as no other writer could.

Despite F. Scott FitzgeraldΓÇÖs famous warning that ΓÇ£There are no second acts in American lives,ΓÇ¥ Stan Lee created a second act for himself that changed everything for him, his family, his industry, and ultimately for all of popular culture. How he did itΓÇöand what it cost himΓÇöis a larger-than-life tale of a man who helped create the modern superhero mythology that has become a part of all our lives.