Excelsior! : The Amazing Life of Stan Lee
by Stan Lee, George Mair
List Price:
Our Price: $8.28
You Save: $5.72 (41%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.00 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: George Mair, Stan LeeEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2002-05-07
ISBN: 0684873052
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Fireside
Book Reviews of Excelsior! : The Amazing Life of Stan Lee
Book Review: Fun read
Summary: 4 Stars
There's something about this book that draws great parallels to Lee's own Marvel comics - despite the flaws, it's human, and it's a lot of fun. There are plenty of details he could have touched upon more, as you'll gather from the other reviewers. Particularly interesting is his account of his early days at Atlas/Marvel, how he got to be there, his own inhibitions about working in an industry which society deemed 'inferior,' and other such personal issues. He mainly (and wisely) dodges the Kirby and Ditko rifts, for the most part - he extends equal credit to them, and makes himself the better man in the process. Still, for the most part, like I said, he mainly avoids the issue.
The Marvel history is better documented elsewhere, but it's Lee's human touch that makes it more interesting. These are stories - not objective at all, of course - from the man who was in the midst of all of them, and it's certainly a more interesting account than any historian can give.
If you've ever heard Lee speak (and if you're a comic fan, you almost certainly have), then you know he has an inimitable voice - it's something he touches on in the book, even. And that's what makes this book so effective for me - Lee's voice. The entire time I was reading Lee's passages, my 'reading voice' was the exact same as the sound of Stan Lee, and that's an impressive thing. His own sly self-deprecating humor, his corny and warm-natured jokes, his responses to the events going around him in the comic industry - it's all, without a doubt, told in Stan's voice. It's like a documentary narrated by him.
If Stan is the narrator, then George Mair is the director of the documentary. He does an equally good job with it, and it strikes a great balance between the two.
Overall, it's a solid, fun read. There are better-documented accounts of Marvel's history around, and if that's what you're looking for, this might not be the best for you. If you're interested in Stan The Man himself, this is a fantastic book, and it offers -some- insight into the Marvel Style from the one who started it all.
Summary of Excelsior! : The Amazing Life of Stan Lee
The man behind Spider-Man, The X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, and a legion of other superheroes tells his own amazing story in a book packed with punch, humor, anecdotes, and a gallery of never-before-seen photographs.Stan Lee is the most legendary name in the history of comicbooks. The leading creative force behind the rise of Marvel Comics, he brought to life some of the world's best-known heroes and most infamous villains. His stories, featuring super- heroes who struggled against 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 the super-human. In the process, he created a new mythology for the twentieth century.
In this treasure trove of marvelous memories, Stan tells the story of his life with the same inimitable wit, energy, and offbeat spirit that he brought to the world of comicbooks. He moves from his impoverished childhood in Manhattan to his early days writing comicbooks, followed by military training films during World War II, through the rise of the Marvel empire in the 1960s to his recent adventures in Hollywood.
The story of a man who earned respect by blazing new creative trails in a storytelling form once dismissed as just for kids, Excelsior! is an inspirational story about following one's vision, no matter the odds. Yet it's also the story of how some of the most exciting and memorable characters in the pop-culture universe came to thrill a generation.
Cartooning Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Terrific Graphic Novels & More
Excelsior! : The Amazing Life of Stan Leeby Stan Lee, George Mair
Fireside; Published: 2002-05-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.28
Price in other shops:
Secrets in the Shadows: The Art & Life of Gene Colanby Tom Field, Gene Colan
TwoMorrows Publishing; Published: 2005-07-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.89
Price in other shops:
The Absolute Sandman, Vol. 1by Neil Gaiman
Vertigo; Published: 2006-11-01; Hardcover Comic; Book
Best price: $69.94
Price in other shops:
Alias Omnibus (Marvel Comics) (Max Comics)by Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Gaydos
Marvel Comics; Published: 2006-04-12; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops:
Daredevil Legends Vol. II: Born Againby Frank Miller
Marvel Comics; Published: 1990-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $32.95
Batman: Year Oneby Frank Miller
DC Comics; Published: 2007-01-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.53
Price in other shops:
Watchmen (Absolute Edition)by Alan Moore
DC Comics; Published: 2005-10-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $150.00
Batman: The Dark Knight Returnsby Frank Miller
DC Comics; Published: 1997-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.92
Price in other shops:
The Crowby J. O'Barr
Star Trek; Published: 2002-09-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.15
Price in other shops:
Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson Omnibusby Frank Miller, Roger McKenzie, David Michelinie, Klaus Janson
Marvel Comics; Published: 2007-04-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $193.00
Similar Books and other products
Superman on the Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us About Ourselves and Our Societyby Danny Fingeroth
Continuum International Publishing Group; Published: 2004-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.32
Price in other shops:
Kirby: King of Comicsby Mark Evanier
Abrams; Published: 2008-02-22; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.00
Price in other shops:
The Marvel Vault: A Museum-in-a-Book with Rare Collectibles from the World of Marvelby Roy Thomas, Peter Sanderson
Running Press; Published: 2007-10-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.94
Price in other shops:
Marvel Visionaries: Stan Leeby Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, John Romita, Steve Ditko
Marvel Comics; Published: 2005-02-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.44
Price in other shops:
The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed Americaby David Hajdu
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 2008-03-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.52
Price in other shops:
Stan Lee: Conversations (Conversations With Comic Artists Series)University Press of Mississippi; Published: 2007-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.11
Price in other shops:
Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in Americaby Bradford W. Wright
The Johns Hopkins University Press; Published: 2003-09-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.90
Price in other shops:
The Comic Book Makersby Joe Simon, Jim Simon
Vanguard; Published: 2003-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.43
Price in other shops:
Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and the American Comic Book Revolutionby Ronin Ro
Bloomsbury USA; Published: 2005-07-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $24.76
Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Bookby Jordan Raphael, Tom Spurgeon
Chicago Review Press; Published: 2004-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops: