Lee, Stan 1922–

(Stanley Martin Lieber)

PERSONAL: Born Stanley Martin Lieber, December 28, 1922, in New York, NY; name legally changed; son of Jack (a dress cutter) and Celia (Solomon) Lieber; married Joan Clayton Boocock, December 5, 1947; children: Joan C., Jan (deceased). Education: Attended high school in New York, NY.

ADDRESSES: Home—Los Angeles, CA. Office—Marvel Enterprises, 10 East 40th St., New York, NY 10016.

CAREER: Comic-book writer, editor, publishing executive, and film and television producer. Timely Comics (then Atlas Comics; now Marvel Comics), New York, NY, editorial assistant and copywriter, 1939–42, editor, 1942–72, publisher and editorial director, 1972–; associated with Marvel Productions, Los Angeles, CA. Adjunct professor of popular culture at Bowling Green State University; gives lectures on college campuses. Film appearances include as a hot dog vendor in X-Men, Twentieth Century-Fox, 2000; as a bystander in Times Square in Spider-Man, Columbia, 2002; as himself in Mallrats, Gramercy, 1995; and in shorts and cameo appearances. Narrator and voice-over actor for animated series based on Marvel Comics, including Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, NBC, 1981; The Incredible Hulk, NBC, 1982; The Fantastic Four, syndicated, 1994; Iron Man, syndicated, 1994; and Spider-Man, Fox, 1994. Film and television producer; executive producer on films such as Captain America, Columbia, 1991; Blade, New Line Cinema, 1998; X-Men, 2000; and Spider-Man, 2002. Executive producer of television series, including Biker Mice from Mars, syndicated, 1993; Silver Surfer, Fox, 1998; The Avengers, Fox, 1999; and X-Men: Evolution, WB, 2000. His character Stripperella debuted in an animated feature, 2003. Military service: U.S. Army, 1942–45; became sergeant.

MEMBER: American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, National Cartoonists Society, Academy of Comic Book Arts (founder and president), Friars Club.

AWARDS, HONORS: Six Alley awards, 1963–68; award from Society for Comic Art Research and Preservation, 1968; Eureka Award, Il Targa (Milan, Italy), 1970, for world's best comic writing; annual award from Popular Culture Association, 1974; publisher of the year award from Periodical and Book Association of America, 1978; award from Academy of Comic Book Arts; honorary degree from Bowling Green State University.

WRITINGS:

(With John Buscema) How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1978.

Dunn's Conundrum (novel), Harper & Row (New York, NY), 1985.

The GOD Project (novel), Grove & Weidenfeld (New York, NY), 1990.

(With George Mair) Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee (autobiography), Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2002.

COMIC BOOKS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS

The Mighty Thor, illustrated by Jack Kirby, Lancer Books (New York, NY), 1966.

Spider-Man Collector's Album, illustrated by Steve Ditko, Lancer Books (New York, NY), 1966.

Origins of Marvel Comics, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1974.

Son of Origins of Marvel Comics, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1975.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Origins of Marvel Villains, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1976.

The Superhero Women, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1977.

The Best of Spidey Super Stories, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1978.

(With John Buscema) How to Draw Comics the Marvel Wa y, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1978.

The Incredible Hulk, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1978.

The Silver Surfer, illustrated by Jack Kirby, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1978.

Marvel's Greatest Superhero Battles, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1978.

Doctor Strange, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1979.

The Fantastic Four, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1979.

Captain America, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1979.

Stan Lee Presents the Best of the Worst, Harper (New York, NY), 1979.

Complete Adventures of Spider-Man, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1979.

(Presenter) The Uncanny X-Men, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 1984.

The Best of Spider-Man, Ballantine Books (New York, NY), 1986.

Marvel Masterworks Presents Amazing Spider-Man (originally published as The Amazing Spider-Man, numbers 1-10), illustrated by Steve Ditko, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 1987.

Marvel Masterworks Presents The X-Men (originally published as The Uncanny X-Men numbers 1-10), illustrated by Jack Kirby, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 1987.

Monster Masterworks, Marvel Entertainment Group (New York, NY), 1989.

Silver Surfer: Judgment Day, illustrated by John Buscema, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 1988.

The Enslavers ("Silver Surfer" graphic novel) Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 1990.

Marvel Masterworks Presents the Silver Surfer, illustrated by John Buscema, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 1991.

Marvel Masterworks Presents Thor, illustrated by Jack Kirby, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 1991.

Marvel Masterworks Presents Daredevil (originally published as Dardevil, the Man without Fear, numbers 1-10), illustrated by Wally Wood, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 1991.

Marvel Masterworks Presents Doctor Strange (originally published as Strange Tales, numbers 110-111, 114-141), illustrated by Steve Ditko, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 1992.

Marvel Masterworks Presents Iron Man (originally published as Tales of Suspense, numbers 39-50), illustrated by Don Heck, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 1992.

Captain America, the Movie!, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 1992.

The First Startling Saga of the Silver Surfer: The Coming of Galactus!, illustrated by Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 1992.

Just Imagine Stan Lee Creating the DC Universe (includes Just Imagine Stan Lee's Batman, illustrated by Joe Kubert, Just Imagine Stan Lee's Wonder Woman, illustrated by Jim Lee, Just Imagine Stan Lee's Superman, illustrated by John Buscema, Just Imagine Stan Lee's Green Lantern, illustrated by Dave Gibbons, Just Imagine Stan Lee's Aquaman, illustrated by Scott McDaniel, (with Michael Uslan) Just Imagine Stan Lee's JLA, illustrated by Jerry Ordway, and Just Imagine Stan Lee's The Flash, illustrated by Kevin Maguire), DC Comics (New York, NY), 2002.

EDITOR

The Ultimate Spider-Man, Byron Preiss Multimedia (New York, NY) 1994.

The Ultimate Silver Surfer, Byron Preiss Multimedia (New York, NY) 1995.

The Ultimate Super-Villains, Byron Preiss Multimedia (New York, NY) 1996.

The Ultimate X-Men, Byron Preiss Multimedia (New York, NY) 1996.

(With Kurt Busiek) Untold Tales of Spider-Man, Byron Preiss Multimedia (New York, NY) 1997.

(With Peter David) The Ultimate Hulk, Byron Preiss Multimedia (New York, NY) 1998.

X-Men Legends, illustrated by Mike Zeck, Berkley Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Author of syndicated comic strips, including My Friend Irma, 1952, Mrs. Lyons' Cubs, 1957–58, Willie Lump-kin, 1960, The Incredible Hulk, and Spider-Man. Also editor of television scripts.

ADAPTATIONS: Included among the many media adaptations of Stan Lee's work are The Incredible Hulk, a television series broadcast by Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS-TV), and a number of television specials featuring Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and Captain America, broadcast by CBS-TV. Major motion pictures involving Lee's creations and cocreations include X-Men, Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Hulk.

SIDELIGHTS: Stan Lee is the cocreator of many of Marvel Comic's most popular superheroes, including Spider-Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the X-Men, Iron Man, and the Fantastic Four. "Lee's metamorphosis from bespectacled kid in the Bronx to living symbol of a billion-dollar entertainment empire is every bit as impressive as any superhero origin story," wrote L.D. Meagher on the CNN Web site. As a youth, Lee was an avid reader, deeply immersed in the world of books and words. He was strongly influenced by swashbuckling actor Errol Flynn, as well as literary heroes such as Tom Swift, the Hardy Boys, and boy detective Poppy Ott. These characters kept Lee immersed in prose fiction and the fantasies spun out with the written word. Fueled by the desire to be a great novelist, Lee began writing early in life, winning the New York Herald Tribune essay contest three times in a row while in his early teens. At age seventeen, Lee—then known as Stanley Lieber—accepted a job with Timely Comics, owned by cousin-in-law Martin Goodman. Lee started with menial office chores and some proofreading for the company's line of comics. Within a year, however, Lee was doing some writing for Timely—his first published writing in comics was, ironically, a two-page text piece that appeared in Captain America, Number 3. He signed the piece "Stan Lee," reserving his real name for use on the serious works of literature he expected to write once he finished his stint in comics. "Circumstances conspired against him," stated a writer in St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture.

In the early 1940s, Lee found himself writing whatever material that Timely Comics' chief employees, editor/writer Joe Simon and artist/writer Jack Kirby, didn't have time for, according to an essayist in Authors and Artists for Young Adults. When Simon and Kirby left to work for rival DC Comics and begin forging stellar reputations for themselves in comics, both singly and as a team, Lee inherited their entire workload. At age twenty, Lee became the editor and main writer of a major comic-book publisher. Over the next two decades, Lee wrote prolifically, almost superheroically, in a wide range of genres, from westerns to romances, horror to science fiction, and perhaps most significantly, superheroes and costumed adventurers.

By the late 1950s and early 1960s, comics were in a protracted slump, near death and barely limping onward. The industry had suffered a tremendous blow in the 1950s with accusations by psychologist Frederic Wertham that comics were responsible for, among other things, juvenile delinquency. Wertham's views, codified in the book Seduction of the Innocent, were taken seriously, and senate hearings were held on the matter. Combined with difficulties with distributors, the once-robust comics industry seemed doomed. Publishers were trying different ways to revive interest in their books. Superheroes, minor figures compared to the popular horror and science fiction comics of the 1950s, were again getting some play in the comics' pages. In 1960, Atlas (formerly Timely) publisher Goodman noticed the success of the "Justice League of America," or "JLA," a team book published by rival DC. Goodman suggested to Lee that he create a superhero team along the lines of the JLA. Lee, by then "tired of following trends and cranking out hack work," took a gamble on his wife's advice, remarked the writer in St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Lee's wife advised him to write the book however he wanted; at best, Goodman would like it, and at worst, he'd fire Lee, which would allow Lee to leave the industry as he'd been planning. In response, Lee created The Fantastic Four, which appeared in 1961 and became the keystone of what would eventually be known as The Marvel Universe and a publishing epoch called The Marvel Age of Comics.

Other titles quickly followed the successful Fantastic Four. In collaboration with artist Jack Kirby, Lee was cocreator of characters such as the Incredible Hulk, the X-Men, and the Mighty Thor. In 1962, Lee and artist Steve Ditko created the Amazing Spider-Man. Appearing in Amazing Fantasy, Number 15, the final issue of a comic featuring predominantly science fiction and twist-ending fantasy stories, Spider-Man was well received and remained consistently popular from the feature's inception. Lee and Kirby began fleshing out The Fantastic Four, a team of four superheroes who argued, sulked, and fought among themselves more like a family than a group of colleagues—indeed, Sue Storm (the Invisible Girl) and Johnny Storm (the Human Torch) were siblings; Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) would eventually wed Sue; and Ben Grimm (the Thing) was a close friend of Reed's. "In collaboration with Jack Kirby, Lee made 'The Fantastic Four' grander, wackier, and at the same time, more human than anything the competition was producing," wrote the St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture essayist. "Most of the grandeur came from the imagination and pencil of Jack Kirby, but the humanity and sense of fun came from the dialogue and captions written by Stan Lee." Throughout the 1960s, Marvel's characters evolved and took on a greater sophistication as The Marvel Age of Comics unfolded. "The Marvel Age brought its own sensibility and vernacular expressed by characters who developed through their adventures instead of merely bouncing over tall buildings in a single bound from one escapade to the next," wrote Frank Houston on the Salon.com Web site.

Frequently credited with having revolutionized the comic-book industry, Lee created characters who appeal not only to the traditional adolescent comic-book audience, but also to college students. In Quest, Lee offered this explanation of the broad appeal of his work: "For the younger reader, there were colorful costumes, action, excitement, fantasy, and bigger-than-life adventures. For the newly proselytized older reader, we offered unexpectedly sophisticated plots and subplots, a college-level vocabulary, satire, science fiction, and as many philosophical and sociological concepts as we could devise."

Among the "sociological concepts" or social problems that Spider-Man comics have dealt with over the years are drug abuse, pollution, and racial injustice. "From 1967 to 1973, Spider-Man addressed himself to every important issue confronting American Society," wrote Salvatore Mondello in his essay on Spider-Man for the Journal of Popular Culture. "Once contemporary issues were discussed, 'The Amazing Spider-Man' became a subtle persuader, fashioning and reflecting public and popular attitudes under the rubric of entertainment." It was during this period that Spider-Man's popularity on college campuses blossomed. "In an era demanding relevance," Mondello noted, "few magazines were more typical or current than Lee's comic book."

Critics provide several explanations for the popular appeal of Lee's comic-book characters. One oft-cited explanation is that each of Lee's heroes, in addition to having a variety of superpowers, has flaws—human failings with which readers can identify. Peter Parker, a postgraduate science student whose encounter with a radioactive spider left him with spider-like superpowers, is one example. As Spider-Man, Parker uses his web-spinning powers to fight such villains as the Cyclone, Doctor Octopus, the Kingpin, and the Lizard. An impressive superhero, Parker is nonetheless a pitiable character who suffers from financial worries, dandruff, and an overprotective aunt. "Sure, he's a superhero," Lee admitted in Quest. "Sure, he's a regular one-man army. Sure, he's practically indestructible. But you're a lot better off. You seem to handle life's little vicissitudes far better than he can. Even though he's a living legend, you can feel superior to him. Now, how can you help but love a guy like that?" Though comics have long been considered part of the children's demographic, Lee avoided focusing on any particular age group. "When I was at Marvel, in all honesty, I tried to write stories that would interest me," Lee said in an interview for Brandweek. "I'd say, what would I like to read? Then I'd try to write them clearly enough so that a youngster could enjoy and appreciate and understand the story, and I tried to write them intelligently enough so that an older person would enjoy it, too." Lee's work helped spark the revolution in thinking that comic books were not simply a children's entertainment medium, a renaissance that persists today with the increasingly popular form of graphic novels and consistent adult interest in traditional-form comic books.

The audience for Lee's comic books eventually grew to include college students and professors. Several colleges now offer courses on popular culture that feature many of Lee's characters, and Lee himself discusses his creations in lectures on college campuses. He is recognized by colleagues and literary critics alike for his significant contributions to the comic-book industry and to the comic book as an art form. According to Jeanette Kahn, publisher of Superman comic books, among others, at DC Comics, Lee is "the living superhero for the American comic industry."

With collaborator George Mair, Lee presented an autobiographical account of his life and industry history in Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee. The book's title is based on one of the many catchphrases Lee used in his bombastic work for Marvel Comics. He would often conclude text pieces or his "Stan's Soapbox" editorial feature with the word "Excelsior!" as a combination of signature statement, rousing cheer, and exhortation to his readers to bigger and better things—though few probably knew that Lee had adopted the word because it sounded noble and dignified, and that excelsior was actually a type of packing material. In the book, Lee traces his career from the early days of comics in the 1940s to his height as the living embodiment of Marvel Comics. The Stan Lee persona is evident throughout the book, observed Stephen Weiner in Library Journal. The narrative "tone is warm, straight-talking, and simultaneously confident and insecure—the same traits with which Lee imbued his superheroes."

A detailed critical biography of Lee appeared in 2003. Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book, by Jordan Raphael and Tom Spurgeon, provides a detailed examination of Lee's development as a writer, his role in the creation of Marvel comics and in the comic-book renaissance of the early 1960s, and his place in the inexorable decline of the industry throughout the 1990s. Both Raphael and Spurgeon are well-steeped in the history and current state of the comic industry as both fans and serious journalists in the comics field, and their work is "an earnest, well-researched portrait of Marvel's mostly beloved living icon," wrote Richard Pachter on the Miami Herald Web site. Along with the positive side of Lee's long tenure in the industry, the authors also dissect the darker elements, including assertions that Lee has long accepted more credit for the creation of the early Marvel characters than he was due, at the expense of artist collaborators such as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. Raphael and Spurgeon "give Lee his due for shepherding Marvel Comics to the apex of the industry," Meagher wrote on the CNN Web site. "They also deflate some of the claims Lee, his fans, and his company have made about the role he played in giving birth to some of Marvel's iconic characters." Still, "the authors make an unimpeachable case for [Lee's] accomplishments as an editor, packager, production manager, and promoter," Pachter remarked, roles that "may have had more significance than the actual comics" in the company's growth as it outstripped rival publishers such as DC Comics.

Lee continues to be active in the print and video entertainment industry. In 2001, Lee formed his own production company, POW! Entertainment, which has secured deals with a number of companies for both children's entertainment features and programs for older viewers. POW! (at first glance a tribute to stereotypical comicbook sound effects, but which Lee says stands for Purveyors of Wonder) focuses on movies, television shows, and animation, according to an interview with Lee on the GameNow Web site. Lee was signed by video game producer Activision in late 2003 to work on games based on Marvel Comics characters. In July, 2003, Lee's character Stripperella debuted in an animated feature on TNN, later to be known as SpikeTV. With the tagline "Stripper by night, superhero by later night," the show follows the adventures of Erotica Jones, a stripper turned do-gooder who combats crime with fighting moves direct from the brass pole and with clever gadgets concealed in skimpy clothing and cosmetic cases. The show courts the adult male audience sought by SpikeTV with its double entendres, ribald storylines, and abundant animation of the female form. Although the character may be considered a bit of a departure from Lee's usual wholesome super characters, it is a parody rather than a straightforward drama, "a funny spoof of superheroes," wrote Shawn McKenzie on the Entertain Your Brain! Web site. Heavy with "pop-culture references, celebrity voices, and music-video pyrotechnics," the show provides a look at what might happen if Stan Lee "went to work for MTV," wrote Hal Erickson on the MSN Web site.

Lee's post-Marvel undertakings have not all been successful. An experiment in creating online comics ended in failure for Lee when one of his partners in Stan Lee Media was hit with criminal charges and the company failed. Bankruptcy proceedings at Marvel Comics resulted in contract difficulties for Lee—he had been under perpetual contract with the company he helped build, but Marvel's financial problems let Lee out of his exclusive deal. Eventually, Lee also sued over compensation from some of the highly successful Marvel-based films that have appeared since Blade and X-Men blazed onto the screen. But these setbacks came to be little more than the type of temporary defeat that Lee consistently used to create drama for his characters. He continues to write, produce, and create in the field that he has embraced for more than six decades.

Lee's quirky, soul-searching superheroes have entertained generations of avid readers, sparked nascent imaginations, increased vocabularies and reading abilities, and inspired philosophical contemplation of deceptively simple concepts such as "with great power comes great responsibility." In comics, "Lee's career is basically 'a meditation on the potential of the most damaged individuals to transcend the self-destructive society in which they operate,'" wrote the essayist in Authors and Artists for Young Adults. "For this new generation of superheroes, the super power itself is one element of their angst. In creating such a cast of unwilling heroes, Lee and company also revamped the idea of what constitutes heroism in America."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Authors and Artists for Young Adults, Volume 49, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 2003.

Berger, Arthur Asa, The Comic-Stripped American, Walker (New York, NY), 1973.

Contemporary Literary Criticism, Volume 17, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1981.

Harvey, Robert C., The Art of the Comic Book, University Press of Mississippi (Jackson, MS), 1996.

Jones, Gerard, and Will Jacobs, The Great Comic Book Heroes, Prima Publishing (Rocklin, CA), 1997.

Kraft, David Anthony, Captain America: The Secret Story of Marvel's Star-Spangled Super Hero, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1981.

Kraft, David Anthony, The Fantastic Four: The Secret Story of Marvel's Cosmic Quartet, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1981.

Kraft, David Anthony, The Incredible Hulk: The Secret Story of Marvel's Gamma-Powered Goliath, Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1981.

Lee, Stan, and George Mair Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee (autobiography), Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2002.

Raphael, Jordan, and Tom Spurgeon, Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book, Chicago Review Press (Chicago, IL), 2003.

St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 2000.

PERIODICALS

AdWeek, May 1, 2000, Steve Pond, "Marvel Comics' Master Creates New Heroes for the Web," p. 30.

Best Sellers, March, 1985, review of Dunn's Conundrum, p. 454.

Booklist, February 1, 1990, review of Marvel Master-works Presents Amazing Spider-Man, p. 1080; November 1, 1995, Carl Hays, review of The Ultimate Silver Surfer, p. 458; November 1, 1995, review of The Ultimate Silver Surfer, p. 461.

Books & Bookmen, review of Dunn's Conundrum, p. 30.

Bookwatch, January, 1996, review of The Ultimate Silver Surfer, p. 1.

Brandweek, May 1, 2002, Steve Pond, interview with Stan Lee.

Comic Book Marketplace, July, 1993, Bob Brodsky, "Maestro of the Marvel Mythos," pp. 28-54.

Entertainment Weekly, May 24, 2002, Marc Bernardin, review of Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee, p. 90.

Independent (London, England), June 27, 2002, "How I Got Here: Stan Lee, Creator of Spider-Man," p. 15; July 1, 2002, Charles Shaar, "The Monday Book: The Amazing Life of Mr. Marvel by His Biggest Fan," p. 12.

Industry Standard, March 19, 2001, Laura Rich, "The Trials of a Comic-Book Hero," p. 45.

Interview, October, 1991, Henry Cabot Beck, "The Amazing Stan Lee," pp. 110-111.

Journal of Popular Culture, summer, 1976; fall, 1994, "Cultural and Mythical Aspects of a Superhero: The Silver Surfer, 1969–1970," pp. 203-213.

Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 1984, review of Dunn's Conundrum, p. 977; November 15, 1989, review of The GOD Project, p. 148; October 15, 1994, review of The Ultimate Spider-Man, p. 1366.

Library Journal, December, 1984, review of Dunn's Conundrum, p. 2298; January, 1990, review of The GOD Project, p. 148; December, 1994, review of The Ultimate Spider-Man, p. 139; October 15, 1995, review of The Ultimate Silver Surfer, p. 91; May 15, 2002, Stephen Weiner, review of Excelsior!, p. 93.

Listener, July 18, 1935, review of Dunn's Conundrum, p. 29.

Locus, January, 1995, review of The Ultimate Spider-Man, p. 50.

New Republic, July 19, 1975.

New Statesman, April 19, 1985, review of Dunn's Conundrum, p. 109.

New York Times, December 31, 1979; October 21, 1999, Frank Houston, "Creator of Fantastic Four Is Ready to Spin More Tales On-Line," p. D8; May 3, 2002, Peter M. Nichols, "How Spidey Was Hatched," p. E3.

New York Times Book Review, September 5, 1976; November 18, 1979; April 7, 1985, review of Dunn's Conundrum, p. 90; January 14, 1990, review of The GOD Project, p. 23.

Observer (London, England), April 14, 1985, review of Dunn's Conundrum, p. 23.

People, January 29, 1979.

Publishers Weekly, January 4, 1985, review of Dunn's Conundrum, p. 60; November 8, 1985, review of Dunn's Conundrum, p. 59; November 24, 1989, review of The GOD Project, p. 59; October 11, 1993, review of How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way, p. 56; October 11, 1993, review of the "Marvel Masterworks" series, p. 56; October 22, 2001, review of The Alien Factor, p. 54.

Quest, July-August, 1977.

Rolling Stone, September 16, 1971.

San Francisco Review of Books, March, 1995, review of The Best of the World's Worst, p. 36.

School Library Journal, May, 1996, Karen Sokoll, review of The Ultimate Spider-Man, p. 148; May, 2002, James O. Cahill, review of The Alien Factor, pp. 179-180.

Science Fiction Chronicle, June, 1995, review of The Ultimate Spider-Man, p. 38; May, 1996, review of The Ultimate Silver Surfer, p. 61; April, 2002, review of Five Decades of the X-Men, p. 50.

Tampa Tribune, March 8, 2002, "Caught Up Again by Hero Spider-Man," p. 1.

Time, February 5, 1979; February 14, 2000, "Look Up on the Net! It's … Cyber Comics: Stan Lee Takes The 7th Portal and Backstreet Boys On-Line," p. 76.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), February 18, 1990, review of The GOD Project, p. 7.

USA Today, January 4, 1985, review of Dunn's Conundrum, p. 3D.

Variety, September 17, 1986, Tom Bierbaum, "Stan Lee's Imperfect Heroes Lifted Marvel to Top of Heap," pp. 81-82.

Video Business, April 22, 2002, Lawrence Lerman, "Along Came a Spider-Man," p. 24.

Village Voice, December 23, 1974; December 15, 1975; December 13, 1976.

Voice of Youth Advocates, June, 1985, review of Dunn's Conundrum, p. 132; October, 1995, review of The Ultimate Spider-Man, p. 207; April, 1997, review of The Ultimate X-Men, p. 48.

Wall Street Journal, August 23, 1999, Colleen DeBaise, "Spider-Man Creator Takes Comics to the Web," p. B6F.

Washington Post, February 4, 1992, Richard Harrington, "Stan Lee: Caught in Spidey's Web," p. D1.

World & I, review of The Silver Surfer, p. 435.

ONLINE

Animation World Web site, http://www.awn.com/ (July, 1997), Michael Goodman, "Stan Lee: Comic Guru."

CNN.com, http://www.cnn.com/ (May 4, 2002), "Stan Lee: 'Insectman' Just Didn't Sound Right," interview with Stan Lee; (October 8, 2003), L.D. Meagher, "New Biography Offers Context for Marvel Comics King," review of Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book.

Entertain Your Brain! Web site, http://www.entertainyourbrain.com/ (July 4, 2003), review of Stripperella.

GameNow Web site, http://www.gamenowmag.com/ (October 1, 2003), "Call Me Stan," interview with Stan Lee.

Green Man Review On-Line, http://www.greenmanreview.com/ (November 7, 2003), Michael M. Jones, review of Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book.

IGN FilmForce Web site, http://www.filmforce.igm.com/ (June 26, 2000), Kenneth Plume, "Interview with Stan Lee"; (April 20, 2002), Kenneth Plume, "Nuff Said—An Interview with Stan Lee."

Lambiek, http://www.lambiek.net/ (November 7, 2003), biography of Stan Lee.

L.A. Weekly On-Line, http://www.laweekly.com/ (January 4-10, 2002), Jonathan Vankin, "The Neurotic Superhero: Stan Lee and His Human Marvels."

Miami Herald On-Linehttp://www.miamiherald.com/ (September 1, 2003), Richard Pachter, "Comic-Book Industry Comes to Life in Authors' Hands," review of Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book.

MSN, http://entertainment.msn.com/ (November 7, 2003), review of Stripperella.

Onion A.V. Club, http://www.theonionavclub.com/ (June 20, 2001), Tasha Robinson, "Stan Lee."

Salon.com, http://www.salon.com/ (August 17, 1999), Frank Houston, "Brilliant Careers: Stan Lee."

Spiderman Insider Web site, http://www.spidermaninsider.com/ (November 7, 2003), biography of Stan Lee.

Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book Web site, http://www.stanleebook.com/ (November 7, 2003).