Stan Lee

A glossy cover without substance inside. You know how when your grandpa tells stories that as he gets older the stories get retconned so he sounds more and more like a hero? Stan Lee has been doing this since the '70s. Stuff that just happened by chance or that Ditko or Kirby came up with, Lee says came to him after some inspiration or consideration. Sure, Stan. Anyone who has seen him speak at a con knows he was all hot air and self-hagiography. Lee became a salesman in the '70s, and frankly he had to, to stay in the biz. And it was through his ruthless salemanship that comic books became as influential as they became to you and me. Did he screw over Kirby and Ditko? Most certainly. Roy Thomas is the one who says the smartest thing in this doc-that Kirby and Ditko and Lee were able to do what they did only because they worked together. But for the most part that of nuance is missing from this CBS Sunday Morning-style puff piece. The story of Lee and Marvel needs to be told alongside the story of the commercialization/corporate takeover and cheapening of the value of comic book heroes. That's the crossover event I want to see.

I'm not a professional art critic, but as an ordinary person that only knew Lee by its achievements not by the processes to get there, this documentary gave me a wider and deeper perspective not only about how Lee was a genius in the using of empathy but also in translating the reality around him (especially the youth one) into something amazingly simple and accessible to the mass audience, in a very different and lighter way that institutions and governments do so. To be honest, I've never truly understood why Marcel comics was much more effective then DC get into the heart of all generation, race, origin ranges of people around the world, now I got it.

A fascinating look at Lee's life & the creation of Marvel comics. Interesting history & stories about these famous characters that carry the infectious positivity of Lee's. The editing, score, & set design are emotional.

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. A fascinating look at Lee's life & the creation of Marvel comics. Interesting history & stories about these famous characters that carry the infectious positivity of Lee's. The editing, score, & set design are emotional.

. .

. A fascinating look at Lee's life & the creation of Marvel comics. Interesting history & stories about these famous characters that carry the infectious positivity of Lee's. The editing, score, & set design are emotional.

The better title would have been stan lee and building marvel comics. It's a mix of animation and actual footage. Even archival film from the bombing of pearl harbor. Stan lee narrates his own story. Of course, he died in 2018, and this didn't come out until 2023. One wonders if he had prepared this in advance, for when he passed. Some interesting tales of events along the way, how he came up with various characters, or why some issues don't carry the stamp of comic book approval. Some controversy over who should have credit for the different parts of the empire. We hear some recordings of interviews with lee and jack kirby. It's a shame that the director didn't have a one on one interview with just jack kirby, or the new owners of marvel, when it got sold. Kirby died in 1994, so it would have had to take place before that! A really professional documentary looks at the subject from all angles, and most of the material told here seems to be from lee's point of view, and mostly told by lee himself. Directed by david gelb, who has been nominated for emmys and grammys. An interesting story, for sure. And pretty good.

In many ways this did not surprise. In his own words Stan the Man inflates and regurgitates his own modest history to that of superhero status. Though in many ways a progressive and forward thinking creator this only shovels more turf on the graves of his equally illustrious collaborators and only can be read as an extended advertisment for his home at Disney+.

With a cutup narration delivered awkwardly scattershot from Lee himself, here is a smoke blowing look into a lifetime of one mans aparently singlehanded endeavor to create a world beating comic book company.

Disingenous and self serving. Avoid.

See instead, 'In Search Of Steve Ditko', on YouTube, which at least allows more room for dissenting voices.

2/10.