Book Review: True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee by Abraham Riesman

February 17, 2021

About:

True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee by Abraham Riesman is a biography of the famous writer and editor, mainly concentrating on debunking many of his claims over the past decades. Mr. Riesman is a journalist writing mostly about culture and arts.

  • 416 pages
  • Publisher : Crown
  • Language : English
  • ISBN-10 : 0593135717

Book Review: True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee by Abraham Riesman
My rat­ing for True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee5
Buy True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee from Amazon.com*
More Books by Abraham Riesman*
Books by, or about, Stan Lee*

Thoughts:

I have been a fan of comic books for many years, its American mythology for better or for worst. True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee by Abraham Riesman reinforces many of the rumors, as well as innuendos which were roaming around the comic book universe. Much of the book focuses on the creator credit of many beloved characters, especially his very public and litigious fight with Jack Kirby.

Indeed many fans which believe Stan Lee is the creative genius which the Marvel empire was built upon. These fans may have issues with the book. On the other hand, nothing in this book is Earth shattering, or something that hasn’t been invoked previously, but is packaged in a concise, well researched package.

The book asserts that Stan Lee was a loving husband, doting father, an excellent boss, knowledgeable editor, certainly creative, and a genius self-promoter. On the other hand, he is a credit hog (which we all knew), prone to attract con-men which took advantage of him in his late age, and it seemed that his creative genius peeked in the late 60s, and he spent the next six decades trying to recapture that magic.

Stan Lee gets full credit in this book for being decades ahead of his contemporaries. Mr Lee, after all, conceived the interconnected fictional universe now knows the Marvel Universe. These days it seems obvious, but that innovation of having a shared, overarching story-line were admired characters can interact and team up cannot be overstated.

Mr. Riesman is attempting to tell the truth, let alone staying away from rumors and innuendos and states so when possible. In all honesty, I thought that the author actually erred on the side of scholarship than fandom. The author furthermore sees Stan Lee as a remarkable, talented man with a vision not many people have, or even understand. Stan Lee is indeed responsible for getting the Marvel brand out, selling it, and making it cool.

Buy True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee from Amazon.com*
More Books by Abraham Riesman*
Books by, or about, Stan Lee*

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I got this book for free
*Ama­zon links point to an affiliate account

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The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee
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Wrap Up

True Believer The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee

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